Google announces Startup School India initiative
The Hindu
Outreach targets 10,000 startups in small cities
Google on Wednesday announced an initiative, Startup School India, that aims to organise accumulated knowledge into a structured curriculum to enable startups in small cities overcome various challenges.
Google hopes that the programme will help 10,000 startups in tier 2 and tier 3 cities (smaller cities).
The nine-week programme, delivered virtually, will have fireside chats between Google leaders and collaborators from across the startup ecosystem, spanning fintech, business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-commerce, language, social media and networking, job search and other areas.
The curriculum will feature instructional modules on subjects such as shaping an effective product strategy, deep dives on product user value, building apps for next billion users in markets like India, driving user acquisition among others.
With nearly 70,000 startups, India is the third largest base for startups in the world. As more Indian founders lead their companies successfully to IPOs or unicorn status, it has sparked a virtuous cycle wherein their success stories have ignited aspirations among young Indians across the country.
No longer restricted only to larger cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai or Hyderabad, promising startups are mushrooming in centers such as Jaipur, Indore, Gorakhpur and other locations.
In fact, these account for nearly 50% of all recognised startups in India, at present.