8 Indian startups make it to Google's Launchpad Accelerator in US

The programme will include mentorship, access to Google Product Managers, seed funding and Google product credits

Eight Indian startups have been selected for the first-ever Launchpad Accelerator programme by Google that began in the Silicon Valley on Monday. These include urban laundry service Doormint, food technology startup Holachef, self-drive car rental aggregator JustRide, home rental network Nestaway, workplace discovery platform Super, media technology platform Murmur, English-language learning platform English Dost and video-sharing startup FranklyMe.

Seven startups from Indonesia have also made it to the programme.

Launchpad Accelerator is a six-month acceleration programme that includes mentorship and access to Google Product Managers, a startup package of seed funding and Google product credits. The startups will be eligible for a two-week all-expense-paid training programme at the Google headquarters in Silicon Valley.

According to Google, the accelerator programme is specifically targeted at companies that already have a product and are primed to scale. Currently, only mobile app startups in Brazil, India, and Indonesia are eligible for selection.

The selection process included submission of applications, which were evaluated by Google. Selected startups were asked to take part in a one-hour video conference or a face-to-face interview with a Google team member.

The startups were intimated about their selections about 20 days ago. According to Nestaway co-founder Deepak Dhar, the initial mentoring phase has already commenced. From Nestaway, chief executive officer Amarendra Sahu and chief technology officer Smruti Ranjan Parida are currently attending the two-week training programme at the Silicon Valley.