Meet eight startups selected by GSF for mobile accelerator programme

GSF Accelerator, a startup accelerator programme launched by former Reliance Entertainment president and GSF Superangels founder Rajesh Sawhney, has announced the names of the eight startups for its mobile accelerator programme.

The programme will connect entrepreneurs to peers, mentors, advisors and investors in India, Singapore, San Francisco, Hamburg and Berlin. Under the 14-week programme, the startups will go through mentoring and coaching sessions starting with seven weeks in India, four weeks in San Francisco, one week in Germany and finally one week in Singapore.

"The selected startups have diverse business models and target markets.  However, the common factor among them is their vision to build compelling mobile  experiences," said Sawhney.

GSF Accelerator has funded 33 startups in three batches so far since  its inception in 2012.

Following are the eight startups:

Joolz: It is a virtual mobile jewellery store, offering top brands on an interactive application. The company is led by entrepreneurs from Israel with experience in social application and jewellery markets and is preparing a beta launch in India soon.

NewsBytes: Started by IIT, IIM and Ivy League alumni, NewsBytes aims to reduce the information overload in a user's everyday news consumption. It provides concise and contextual news.

Gamezop: It is creating a mobile app-based social network for addictive casual games. It seeks to remove the friction of game discovery and downloads. Each user will be given a handful of new games each week, which can be played without downloading.

TalkMore: It is a mobile app which aims at simplifying the use of mobile phones. It analyses calls, messages and data usage on the phone to recommend the cheapest mobile plans. The team comprises three IITians with over 10 years of product experience each.

Magictap: The startup offers a cloud-based IoT platform that provides tools and services to build smart mobile applications. Its solution combines mobile proximity technology and an analytic platform to connect physical media to digital content via NFC and QR code.

Playselfie: It is a mobile camera app which allows users to express themselves and share moments with friends across the world.

Rentongo: It is an online and mobile marketplace for renting items such as scooters, bikes, furniture and appliances.  It is currently active in Bangalore, Pune, Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Townista: It is a mobile app to discover and book interesting things such as planning an outing in the city. It is currently available in Bangalore. The company was started by IIT Mumbai graduates. It is building a platform for event organisers to reach youngsters with interesting and innovative last minute offerings.