E-Commerce Platform Flipkart To Invest $500K In Six Early-Stage Tech Startups Through Its Accelerator Program

Flipkart Ventures, the investment arm of e-commerce behemoth Flipkart, will invest $500K in six startups Through its accelerator programme named Flipkart Leap Ahead. Flipkart wants to mentor and advise early-stage entrepreneurs through the accelerator programme so they may develop, scale, and create innovations for the country. The programme includes a 16-week mentorship programme for the chosen startups, which has been designed by Bain & Company.

We want to encourage startups in growing their businesses and provide solutions to address issues in the consumer internet and tech ecosystem via Flipkart Leap Ahead. By giving growth opportunities to aspiring entrepreneurs and extending our programme each year, we hope to serve as a catalyst in the expanding startup community, said Ravi Iyer, senior vice president and head of corporate development at Flipkart Ventures.

Daily mentor connects sessions with Flipkart leaders from all business, product, technology, and finance divisions will be part of the 16-week programme. At Demo Day, the program's culmination, the startups will pitch their concepts to investors and industry leaders. Dopplr, an insurtech firm using blockchain, Livwell, LogisticsNow, a deep tech startup, and NeuroPixel are among the six startups that have made the shortlist for the accelerator programme. Rightbot Technologies, a robotics business with a full stack of AI, and SellerApp, an intelligence company focused on sellers.

The six startups are developing a variety of solutions, including a metaverse with virtual stores, robotic supply chain solutions, AI-driven fashion cataloguing, data analytics-based business optimization, and freight intelligence, among others, to improve the experiences of both buyers and sellers, according to Flipkart.

The most recent development occurs at a time when Flipkart is under criticism from the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) for offering substandard culinary items. As a result, the CCPA fined the huge e-commerce company INR 1 lakh. Nidhi Khare, the chief commissioner of the CCPA, ordered Flipkart to return all 598 of the subpar pressure cookers that were sold on its website yesterday and to notify any unhappy customers.

Flipkart has moreover been on the Center's radar for a while. Industry organisations including CAIT requested that the government take action against the ecommerce player for engaging in anti-competitive activities and adopting deep pricing techniques. In May of this year, it was also reported that the regulatory agency CCI was looking through Flipkart's records to examine the financial transactions between the e-commerce company and its vendors.

On the other hand, Walmart, which supports Flipkart, recently announced that good results from both Flipkart and its American advertising subsidiary helped Walmart's global advertising division grow by 30% in the July quarter of 2022.