Bangalore: Spark 10 invested in 13 Indian startups with a collective approximate valuation of over Rs. 50crore in the past 18 months. It aims to invest in 20 Indian and 10 UK promising startups in next one and half year – resulting in 40+ investee companies in their already impressive portfolio.
Spark10 accelerator has launched applications to its latest cohort today, as part of its newly designed accelerator program. Spark10 is an established name in the Indian startup community and has previously run two cohorts, in Hyderabad and Bangalore. In the past 18 months, it has invested in 13 Indian startups from fields ranging from Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, Cyber Security, E-Commerce to Nightlife discovery with a collective approximate valuation of over Rs. 50 crores.
The 2016 cohort saw the brightest of Indian startup-brains compete for selection to the first accelerator programme by Spark10. The nine startups mentored in this cohort gained immensely from the mentorship of the experienced team of entrepreneurs, investors and mentors of Spark10. Brisky, a personalized mobile app based nightlife discovery, sharing and booking, arguably, the first of its kind in India, has seen amazing success in Pune and Hyderabad and is planning to launch soon in Bangalore.
Cohort 2017 with four startups had more advanced stage startups than just MVP (Minimum Viable Product) stage ones, notable among them being Artivatic and NeoEYED. Artivatic is an Enterprise AI Platform, built on the patterns of Genomics Science, Psychology and Neuroscience Capabilities to automate decision making with prediction, personalization & recommendation in real time. Currently, it focuses on Finance & Telecom sectors. NeoEYED helps businesses and users get rid of passwords on mobile apps using implicit authentication based on your 30 different behavioural activities such as the way they hold their phone, interact with the screen, walk, run etc. NeoEYED solutions can protect from financial frauds and ransomware attacks such as the recent Ransomware attack that hit 99 countries and brought most of the global systems on hold including NHS in the UK and ATMs in India.
Atal Malviya, the CEO of Spark10 said that in the next 18 months, the company aims to invest in 20 Indian and 10 UK promising startups – that will result in approximately 40+ investee companies in their already impressive portfolio. With their new rolling cohort model in place now, Spark10 is well on the path to turn the dreams of many Indian startups to reality with their three pillars of visibility, capital and mentorship.
Their new programme is a rolling cohort, spanning over 6 months, where startups will be required to co-locate with Spark10 for only one week every month. To keep startups focused on their goal, there will be weekly reviews (remote and in person) and ongoing mentorship sessions, workshops and talks along with the opportunity to network and connect with experts from industry as well as investors. In India, existing and new accelerators are still trying to make the traditional model invented in 2005 work, while Spark10 offers flexibility and extended support so they help startups in all the crucial stages of growth.
Applications to Spark10’s new cohort open from June 14th, 2017. The applicants will undergo a time-bound selection process. Selected startups will receive mentorship and/or capital to build and scale their business as per requirement, for a small equity capped at 6% or up to a maximum investment amount of Rs. 20 lakhs. Spark10’s outreach partner for this cohort are Indore based Rethinkers (www.rethinkers.in), who will aid in reaching out to startups in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Rethinkers mentor and manage Madhya Pradesh Government’s first incubation centre at Indore. They also provide co-working space, technical and financial mentorship and other shared resources to startup teams.
Startups aspiring to be part of the new cohort can apply on Spark10’s website www.spark10.com
or visit the link https://spark10.typeform.com/to/bJ6nAB
