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Silicon Road, a US-based early-stage venture capital firm, has opened applications for the second edition of its Indian Accelerator programme.
The Silicon Road Accelerator has been designed to attract 8-10 of the best food tech and retail start-ups to participate in a 4-month acceleration programme in Mysuru, beginning May 4, 2020.
The selected start-ups in the second cohort will receive seed funding of ₹25 lakh each in exchange for 5-7 per cent equity stake, with access to the best mentors in the food and retail space from the US, India and Israel; infrastructure support, and an ecosystem that will help them scale up. Interested start-ups grossing ₹25 lakh revenue per annum or more, can apply for the programme on http://siliconroad.vc/in/accelerators/.
“The start-ups will undergo sessions on growth hacking, product design, branding and marketing, along with multiple boot camps that will enable them to focus on the various core functions in the food and retail technology space. We hope to see more innovative retail and foodtech revenue generating start-ups in this edition” said Sanjay Srinivasmurthy, co-founder and Director, Silicon Road India.
The first cohort of the accelerator which received 370 applications, had seven start-ups including GetPY, IndiBean Coffee, Dhriti Bio Solutions, Ornativa Fashion, Q-Online, Meatup and Pickurflick. Of these, three received seed funding. This time around, double the number of applications are expected for the second cohort.
Srinivasmurthy said “We offer them free space in our facility for the next 6-10 months with access to all our mentors, our events and VC connects. We help these start-ups find co-founders and also review their progress every month and advise them to use the seed funding prudently on getting their business model right, rather than spend it on salaries.”
As a run up to the second cohort, Silicon Road recently organised a Global Food Technology Conference in Mysuru, called Silicon Road Innovation in Food Technology (SRIFT 2020). This event which had over 40 speakers saw top food MNCs such as Kellogg’s, Nestle, Unilever, Wrigleys, Mondelez, ITC, food tech research organisations, academia and start-ups participating. Several FoodTech start-ups and researchers came together to showcase their products and concepts. Silicon Road also helped to launch four new products from start-ups during the conference, including carbonated coffee in three variants, a pre-during-post workout drink for athletes and a sustainable packaging material made out of orange peel/powder and bamboo pellets.
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