Mentorship-driven Techstars Bangalore Accelerator has announced to invest $1.2 million in 10 innovating startups focused on efficiency and inclusivity, as it concluded its 2020 programme with a virtual Demo Day.
The startups which will receive $120,000 each are ChintaMoney, Fliqpay, Game Theory, FinKraft, Lancify, Lightwing, Odwen, Picxy, Q Blocks and Rose Bazaar, US-based Techstar said in a statement.
“This year, the Techstars Bangalore Accelerator brought together ambitious and enthusiastic founders, experienced mentors, investors and alumni for over 800 meetings, to fuel needed innovation and make powerful connections,” said Ray Newal, Managing Director, mTechstars Bangalore Accelerator.
While the majority of starup founders are of Indian origin – representing Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi – one team travelled to Bengaluru from Lagos, Nigeria.
The 10 teams met in Bengaluru for the first six weeks and then moved back to their home locations as the Covid-19 pandemic cast its net.
Techstars quickly shifted the programme to a virtual format to continue supporting the startups.
“While our pivot to virtual programming in light of the Covid-19 pandemic was unforeseen, we were able to draw more broadly on the global Techstars network through virtual engagements, which exposed our founders to even more connections and expertise”, said Newal.
Demo Day is the culmination of three months of rigorous focus on strategy development, customer insights, key metrics growth, and narrative creation, said the company.
ChintaMoney is an intelligent spending solution that improves financial wellness by helping people make informed purchase decisions.
Fliqpay is a cross-border payment system which makes it seamless and affordable for Africans to digitally transact with the rest of the world while Game Theory is a fitness experience that makes casual sports convenient, addictive, and exciting.
Lancify uses 60-day training modules to build a young workforce of experts on trending SAAS tools.
“Lightwing is an intelligent control system that dynamically optimizes cloud resources to reduce cloud costs by up to 90 per cent,” said the company.
Odwen is India’s largest and fully integrated on-demand warehouse network while Picxy solves the relatability problem in Indian digital content through highly contextual stock photos.
Q Blocks offers secure and affordable supercomputing applications on demand and Rose Bazaar aims to bring efficiency to the $1.2 Billion unorganized traditional flower supply chain through innovations in packaging and distribution.