Accenture Ventures creates global opportunities for Indian startups

Accenture Ventures partners with growth-stage startups that create innovative and disruptive enterprise technologies using an open innovation approach. Having established a strong footing in the Indian startup ecosystem over the last three years, Accenture Ventures has partnered with over 75 startup partners in India, and worked with many of them to develop and deploy use cases for Accenture's global and Indian clients.

At the core of Accenture Ventures' startup engagement is the highly successful and sought-after cohort program for deep-tech startups. In this program, Accenture Ventures selects up to five of the most disruptive startups operating in Deep Tech, and collaborates with them to develop solutions for issues faced by its G2000 clients. Startups also have access to a unique mentoring program where Accenture leaders invest time in providing guidance and support for issues related to go-to-market, pricing strategy and business model.

"We lead with innovation in everything and that reflects expanse of our startup partner ecosystem. Accenture Ventures is deepening its engagement with Indian startups to identify companies with the most innovative and challenging B2B use cases. Together, we will architect a new ecosystem of innovative startups for our G2000 clients across the world", says Avnish Sabharwal, Managing Director, Accenture Ventures, Accenture in India.

Some of the startups that Accenture has worked with include computer vision startup Uncanny Vision, customer experience software startup MintM, and AI-based conversational engagement platform Yellow Messenger.

Speaking on how the partnership with Accenture helped open doors to global clients, Raghu Ravinutala, CEO, Yellow Messenger, says, “Accenture Ventures opened for us opportunities with global customers that we would not have access to, by a long shot. Working with Accenture also helped us to understand the customer requirements better, for us to fine tune and position our product.”

Outlining how access to real word problems faced by clients helped them to make the solution market relevant, Ravi Jagannathan, Managing Director, KrypC Tech, says, "Accenture Ventures helped us with business validated use cases in Blockchain technology by introducing us to customers. This enabled us to understand customer pain points and fine tune our solution to provide an enriching experience through innovative use of blockchain””.

The Accenture Ventures Challenge

Accenture Ventures has launched the Accenture Ventures Challenge - an annual program to recognize and reward B2B startups who have solved some of the most “Innovative & Challenging business problems in the digital space”.

The inaugural edition of the challenge will focus on “Industry X.0” under 4 categories: Supply chain and logistics, R&D and engineering solutions, manufacturing, and support and services. The challenge aims to identify and reward innovative Industry X.0 startups in India.

Who can apply

If you are a startup with operations in India in any of the following Industry X.0 segments, if you have worked on B2B use cases, and have an annual revenue of at least $100,000, then this is the right opportunity for you. 

What’s in it for you

If you win the Accenture Ventures Industry X.0 Challenge 2018, here is what you get to accelerate your entrepreneurial journey:

• The opportunity to collaborate with Accenture and deliver innovative solutions for G2000 enterprises
• Opportunity to pitch to CXOs of Accenture’s Indian and global clients
• Invitation to join a special Industry X.0 cohort program (mentorship & all benefits of “Accenture’s Open Innovation Partner program") or co-creation opportunities at Accenture Ventures CoE at the highly talked about Accenture Innovation Hub in Bengaluru
• In addition to this, the winners will get an exclusive presentation opportunity to a group of highly influential industry influencers and business leaders in India.

The process

A jury comprising of Accenture leaders, industry experts (including Accenture clients), and VCs will select the finalists.

Finalists will be chosen on the basis of the uniqueness of their solution, the business benefits it offers and the scalability of the solution. Winners will be chosen by the jury after the final round of deliberations and announced during a grand finale on July 6, 2018.

Apply today!

To enter your startup for the Industry X.0 Challenge, fill out this application form.

Applications close on June 8, 2018, so hurry up and apply today.

Know more about Industry X.0 here.

Know more about Accenture Ventures here.