US-based global startup accelerator Techstars will launch a new startup accelerator in India next month.

The new accelerator programme will be set up in Bengaluru and will support and back nearly a dozen early-stage ventures. To run its India operations, Techstars has appointed the former managing director of Microsoft Accelerator India, Bala Girisaballa, as president of its India operations. Girisaballa will lead Techstars’ entry into India.

For its India operations, Techstars has tied up with Bengaluru-based ANSR as a joint venture signed last year, which helps enterprises build and manage in-house or external accelerators and other startups-focused infrastructure.

Techstars has also set aside a separate corpus from its global $300 million startup fund to back early-stage startups in India.

Additionally, Techstars also plans to launch its corporate accelerator program wherein it will help top Indian companies and corporates to build their own in-house accelerator. Globally, companies such as Amazon, Walt Disney, Barclays, Comcast and Target have tied up with Techstars to launch corporate accelerator programmes.

The first batch of Techstars' India accelerator will open for applications in April and begin by the year end. It will operate out of Bengaluru and have a broad focus on hardware and software technology sectors.

The above development was first reported in LiveMint.

Typically, upon acceptance to Techstars’ 3-months accelerator programme, a startup is offered a $100,000 convertible note and also contributes $20,000, mostly used as stipend, and in return receives a 6% stock.

Related Reading -- 6 Startup Accelerators in India Recently Launched By Global Tech Leaders

Launched in 2006, Techstars has 40 accelerators around the world including in New York City, London and Paris. Since its launch, it has accepted more than 1,270 startups into its programmes and helped them raise over $4.4 billion in funding. It counts DigitalOcean, ClassPass, and Sphero among its graduates.

In last couple of years, more and more startup accelerators are coming up in Bengaluru including Fortune 500 companies. Last June, NetApp, a storage and data management firm launched its accelerator in Bengaluru followed by an another accelerator program by global advisory firm Zinnov, a month later. Prior to which, Mediaguru, a global media services company, has also launched startup accelerator program, in March 2017.
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