Nasscom shortlists 200 startups for fifth phase of Konnect

IT software industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has shortlisted over 200 startups for the fifth phase of its 10,000 Startups programme 'Konnect'. Phase five is focused on identifying, supporting, incubating, and accelerating innovative technology startups in India.

The shortlisted startups will be pitching to over 100 investors in six locations and will have the access to participate in the accelerator pitch and mentoring Konnect sessions. The programme has support from more than 50 industry experts and close to 100 incubator partners.

The sessions will start in the first week of March across Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Kochi and Hyderabad, it said in a statement.

Rajat Tandon, vice president, Nasscom 10K Startups, said, "Phase 5 is going to be our biggest Konnect to date as we are aiming to create a greater impact across the early stage startup ecosystem."

Phase four of the Nasscom 10K Start-ups Konnect saw more than 150 startups taking part in pitch and mentoring sessions.

In its last four phases, a total of 11,000 startups applied, 1,100 shortlisted and 500 have been impacted by way of funding, acceleration and mentoring, Nasscom added. Among the startups were SmartVizX, Lazylad, EnglishDost, Flutura, SeekSherpa, Faircent, Hiree, Sliderule and CustomerXPS, to name a few.

Nasscom 10,000 Startups is a startup incubation programme launched in 2013 and supported by companies such as Microsoft, Google, Kotak, IBM, and Amazon Web Services. The idea is to incubate 10,000 domain-specific startups in the country by 2020.