'Amazon Launchpad' to support Indian startups launched

New Delhi, Dec 5: In a move to help Indian startups launch, market and distribute their products to millions of Amazon customers across the country and globally through a dedicated store, Amazon India on Monday launched its much anticipated global programme - Amazon Launchpad in India.

To begin with, Amazon.in has partnered with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion's (DIPP) "Start Up India" initiative, IT industry's representative organisation Nasscom's "10,000 Startup" initiative and Indian Angel Network (IAN), among others, to help identify and enroll startups.

"By bringing Amazon Launchpad to India, we encourage innovation from the start-up community. India has great minds which invent amazing products and we will support their growth by helping customers discover their new products not just in India but other countries around the world," said Amit Agarwal, Vice President and Country Head, Amazon India.

The Amazon Launchpad store on Amazon.in features over 400 innovative products ranging from wearable technology, smart homes, food and beverage, health monitoring, educational toys and more. 

"Nasscom is excited to support and partner with the Amazon Launchpad programme in India. The timing couldn't have been better. The nascent but promising Indian hardware/IoT product ecosystem can now fully leverage the firepower of Amazon's distribution and marketing capabilities." added Dr R. Chandrashekhar, President, Nasscom.

Globally, Amazon Launchpad works with more than 100 venture capital firms, crowd-funding services, and accelerators/incubators. 

"Through this programme, small entrepreneurs and innovators can go leverage the Amazon platform to increase the scale of their businesses and even get easy access to global markets," noted Jason Feldman, Director Global Innovations, Amazon.

Even before its launch, over 25 Indian startups like Witworks, Leaf Wearables, Ducere Technologies, Seventh Sense Technologies have already joined the programme.

"The biggest roadblock for a hardware startup is not product development but finding early adopters for its product. Amazon Launchpad is just the right platform to find them," said Paras Batra, Director Sales and Marketing, Leaf Wearables.