Global ecommerce giant Amazon that launched its global startup program ‘Amazon Launchpad’ in India early this month has witnessed a huge spike in the number of applications in the country, especially from the smaller towns. The Indian arm of Amazon claims to have received over 400 applications in just two weeks of the launch.
Amazon’s idea to bring in ‘Launchpad’ was to give an added push towards the Indian government’s ‘Startup India’ initiative. Amazon.in’s global program ‘Amazon Launchpad’ witnessed close to 250 plus applications within 3 days of its launch. The program helps the startups, mostly product related, by providing them a launch plaftorm besides helping in marketing and distribution of their products through a dedicated store not only in the Indian market but also in all the global markets where Launchpad is available.
According to a statement by Amazon.in, most of the applicants are one-and-half-year-old startups and about 60% of the applicants have never sold on Amazon.in before. Electronics, health & personal care and grocery are among the major categories that have seen peak number of applicants. While bulk applications have been received from the metros, startups from tier 2 & 3 towns like Mehsana, Hubli and Thrissur have also come forward and applied. Similar interest has been seen with international applications coming in from countries including Singapore, US, Finland, Ireland and Italy.
Commenting on the initial success, Jason Feldman, Director Global Innovations, Amazon said: “We are excited to see the overwhelming response that Amazon Launchpad has received from the Indian startup community. We have been pleasantly surprised to see the creativity and enthusiasm from Indian startups and especially from those in the non-metro cities, so early. We hope more and more Indian startups join Amazon Launchpad and make the most of this exceptional opportunity to get access to big consumer markets nationally and internationally”.
Amazon Launchpad started with over 400 innovative products ranging from Wearable Technology, Smart Homes, Food & Beverage, Health monitoring, Educational Toys & more from more than 25 Indian startups leveraging Amazon’s marketplace expertise and infrastructure to create awareness and drive sales.
Amazon Launchpad has tied up with various partners operating in the ecosystem, such as DIPP’s Startup India initiative and offers startups a streamlined on-boarding experience, access to custom product pages with unique content, marketing support to aid product discovery, and access to Amazon’s global customer base & fulfilment network, all geared towards helping startups scale up their businesses and successfully launch their innovative products. This unique program, is helping Indian startups overcome many of the challenges associated with launching new products.