SAP SE and the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (SAP-CIIE) at IIM-Ahmedabad have kicked off the second edition of their Startup Accelerator Program, with the goal of mentoring and building the capacity of 30 start-ups by 2017.
Originally launched in the Gujarat region, the program now aims to expand to Rajasthan and Pune, and develop depth in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, clean tech, water, and enterprise technology.
“The program seeks to help entrepreneurs from tier II and tier III towns drive sustainable economic growth and innovation, and make Digital India real,” said Adaire Fox-Martin, president, SAP Asia Pacific Japan.
The program will identify investable regional start-ups and bring them together with domain experts, angel investors and academics.
“SAP believes in fostering a sustainable economic environment by strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem and in this context through our partnership with CIIE, we are creating and mentoring a pipeline of investable startups,” said Dilipkumar Khandelwal, managing director, SAP Labs India.
SAP and CIIE also announced other initiatives to encourage over 200 up-and-coming youth entrepreneurs, and identify three entrepreneurs to become ‘Innovation Fellows’ at CIIE.
Last year’s accelerator program assisted eight start-ups.
