Amazon Partners With Startup India, Others To Boost E-Commerce Exports From India

On Tuesday, Amazon announced that it has partnered with Startup India, Sequoia Capital India and Fireside Ventures to launch an accelerator programme to support entrepreneurs introduce their products to worldwide audiences in the early stages.

The Amazon Global Selling Propel (AGSP) programme is established to help early stage start-ups (increased post-seed funding to pre-series A stage, if funded) in the area of consumer goods to launch in world markets and to develop global brands from India through the Global Selling programme of Amazon.

Amazon has developed a mentorship board as part of the Startup Accelerator, inclusive of Amazon leaders from India and around the world, VCs and senior leaders from Startup India.

The application process will be open for around three weeks, after which the accelerator will nominate 10 startups.

Mr. Abhijit Kamra, Director - Global Trade at Amazon India, said, “For the shortlisted participants, the programme will include a six-week 1:1 mentorship module where they will engage with Amazon leaders from India and worldwide and obtain first-hand information through e-commerce about establishing and scaling up export businesses.”

He said, “Under the export programme, Amazon Global Selling, Amazon would provide support for these startups to launch their goods worldwide.”

Sequoia Capital India and Fireside Ventures will then have the opportunity to show their business proposal to partner VC companies-Sequoia Capital India and Fireside Ventures, and three of them will get an opportunity from Amazon to win a total equity free grant of US$ 50,000.

Amazon will also facilitate open virtual peer-learning mentorship sessions by inviting established entrepreneurs and members of its mentorship board.

 

Technology adoption and digital transformation have laid the foundation for India to be at the leading edge of innovation, contributing to some of the world's best start-ups. There are several popular, emerging brands that have the potential to become international.

Mr. Deepak Bagla, MD and CEO of Invest India, said, “This is Amazon's timely initiative that can prove to be a huge move for startups to develop their business and enter international markets.”

Mr. Amit Agarwal, Global Senior Vice President and Country Head Amazon India, said, “With strong interest from exporters across India, Amazon Global Selling is experiencing tremendous momentum.”

He said, “We will continue to make exports convenient and open to businesses of all sizes with Amazon Global Selling and fulfil our commitment to ensure US$ 10 billion in e-commerce exports from India by 2025.”

Amazon Global Selling, launched in 2015 with about 100 exporters, today helps more than 70,000 Indian exporters to sell 'Made in India' goods through its 15 global websites and engage with clients in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Brazil, Japan, Australia and Singapore.

The programme took three years to hit US$ 1 billion in cumulative exports and expanded 100% in the next 18 months to cross the US$ 2 billion mark in India's cumulative exports.

The programme is rapidly improving India's exports and helping to create Indian global brands. Over 800 Indian MSMEs on the programme exceeded US$ 131,375 (Rs. 1 crore) in e-commerce exports sales in 2019.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.