Amazon's accelerator scheme to help Indian startups create global brands

The e-commerce giant has launched Amazon Global Selling Propel (AGSP), an initiative designed to provide dedicated support to emerging Indian brands and startups to reach customers the world over

E-commerce giant Amazon has launched Amazon Global Selling Propel (AGSP), an initiative designed to provide dedicated support to emerging Indian brands and startups to reach customers around the world. The Jeff Bezos-led company has partnered with Startup India to launch an accelerator programme to help early-stage startups in the consumer products space to launch in international markets. The aim is to create global brands from India through Amazon’s Global Selling program.

Amit Agarwal, global senior vice president and country head Amazon India said the Amazon Global Selling is witnessing tremendous momentum with increasing interest from exporters across India. 

“Our partnership with Startup India to launch this accelerator program will provide emerging brands an opportunity to bring their business propositions to life and help create globally popular brands from India,” said Agarwal. “With Amazon Global Selling we will continue to make exports simple and accessible to businesses of all sizes and fulfil our commitment of enabling $10 billion in e-commerce exports from India by 2025.”

As part of the Startup Accelerator, Amazon has constituted a mentorship board consisting of the company leaders from India and across the world. These also include venture capitalists and senior leaders from Startup India and Invest India who will engage with emerging brands. They would provide tailored resources and one-on-one mentorship on the global demand patterns. They would also provide insights into building successful exports business through e-commerce. The accelerator programme will provide startups with an opportunity to showcase their business proposition to partner venture capital firms – Sequoia Capital India and Fireside Ventures. The startups would also get a chance to receive a total equity-free grant of $50,000 from Amazon.

Deepak Bagla, managing director and chief executive of Invest India said the adoption of technology and digital transformation has paved the way for India to be at the forefront of innovation.

“This is giving rise to some of the best startups in the world. There are many promising, emerging brands that have the capability to become big and go global,” said Bagla. “This is a timely initiative by Amazon which can prove to be a big stepping stone for startups to build their business and get access to global markets.”

Amazon will also host open virtual mentorship sessions. These are focused on peer learning by inviting veteran entrepreneurs and members from its mentorship board for startups, to network and learn from their existing ecosystem.

“The mentors are very knowledgable about startups, cross-border (trade) and selling,” said Abhijit Kamra, director - Global Trade at Amazon India. “They would provide help across all the dimensions about what companies need (such as) best practices related to human resources,  finance and technology and consumer demand patterns in different countries.”

Kamra said a lot of successful consumer brands are expected to emerge from India which are going to be “loved” across the world. These are physical products related to categories such as personal care, food and beverage and even pet food brands.

The Covid-19 pandemic has unlocked new opportunities in exports for Indian businesses. It is creating growth and new markets in multiple product categories, according to a Drip Capital report. Items like personal protective equipment (PPE), sanitizers, disinfectants, and test kits have seen significant growth in value and depending on the trajectory of the pandemic in key export markets. These products may continue to contribute to export growth in the coming years as well, according to the report.

Endorsing India’s continuing rise as a global hub of manufacturing, US retail giant Walmart recently said that it will triple its exports of goods from India to $10 billion each year by 2027.