Tim Cook's India visit: Apple to set up startup accelerator in Bangalore

BENGALURU: Apple will work closely with dozens of Indian startups, including some prominent ones, as part of its new accelerator programme, two people familiar with the development said.

The US tech giant is contemplating a number of options, including plans to work with about 15-20 earlystage startups in each batch of the accelerator programme, they said.

It may also work closely with larger developers and prominent startups such as Zomato, Snapdeal and Paytm to "evangelise a more detailed experience for Apple products", one of them said.


Full Coverage: Apple CEO Tim Cook's maiden visit to India

Apple on Wednesday announced an accelerator facility in Bengaluru that would support entrepreneurs and app developers. It is expected to open in early 2017.

"With the opening of this new facility in Bengaluru, we’re giving developers access to tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers around the world," said company CEO Tim Cook who landed in India late on Tuesday night.

A company spokesperson declined to share further details beyond Wednesday’s announcement. According to its initial plans, Apple is unlikely to invest in startups; instead, it plans to provide resources, including working space and mentorship, to app developers and startups that it will work with next year, the two sources said.

"Apple is not looking to individually invest in startups that it works with — they don’t want to set up a separate venture fund. Their model will be similar to the way the Microsoft Accelerator program taps into startups," said one of them. "Apple will work with both larger developers and smaller startups with high-potential product ideas."

Apple may have two or three batches of startups every year as part of the accelerator programme, with each batch lasting for about 3-5 months, the sources said. Both the sources requested anonymity as these discussions are confidential.

ET had reported on Monday that Apple would announce plans for a new accelerator programme during Cook’s maiden India trip.

The company, in a statement on Wednesday, said it would work closely with app developers to "hone their skills" and bring them up to speed with its global standards and best practices.

Deepinder Goyal, CEO of restaurant search platform Zomato, said Apple’s backing will help drive growth and accelerate progress among Indian developers. "This is a huge vote of confidence in India’s developer community and a tremendous opportunity to gain worldclass design and development expertise," he said.