Deshpande Foundation’s Sandbox Startups Incubator today announced the opening of applications for the Incubation Program. Designed in association with Microsoft Ventures the program will help accelerate growth for Tier-II & Tier-III cities based startups in the social and for profit space. The program will commence on March 1, 2015.
Applications will be accepted online through Sandbox Start-ups’ website. Deadline for submitting application is January 31, 2015.
Deshpande Foundation along with Microsoft Ventures will mentor the startups under this incubator and give them access to their well-established resources, opportunities & a pool of investors, experts, professionals & inspiring entrepreneurs.
Summing up the aims of the incubator program, Naveen Jha, CEO, Deshpande Foundation India said
Sandbox Startups is a living laboratory and test bed for promising new ideas. It essentially gives contextual understanding for startups, so they can create innovative products particularly relevant to India. We provide budding entrepreneurs with a launch pad to help them realize the potential for entrepreneurship, all the way from testing product ideas and building prototypes, to setting up a viable enterprise. Nanopix-ISS, Safehands24x7, Nextdrop, Aquasafi and Logistimo are some startups that have grown multi-fold with support from Sandbox Startups.
Speaking at the occasion, Rajinish Menon, Director, Microsoft Ventures, India mentioned
When it comes to startups, today entire India is buzzing with innovation, not just the Metros. Microsoft Ventures and Deshpande Foundation have designed this program to ensure these startups have a level playing field and same opportunities which is available to a startup in Bangalore or Delhi. In last few years, under the Partnered Accelerator Programs, Microsoft Ventures has joined hands with various incubators and accelerators in India to develop initiatives and boost the Indian startup community and extend Microsoft’s offering to a wider audience. This program has already enabled and empowered hundreds of startups in India. Through our Partner Accelerator Program and other initiatives, we are working towards accelerating the startup ecosystem in India and Deshpande Foundation is one of our key partners in realizing that vision.
30 startups will be selected for incubation at Sandbox Startups’ incubation centres in Hubli [Karnataka] & Nizamabad [Telangana]. The incubation program looks to support for-profit or social startups with innovative product/service with a potential to disrupt markets and create impact on masses. The program is open for startups from all sectors.
About Sandbox Startups
Founded in early 2009, Sandbox Startups is being nurtured by visionaries and successful entrepreneurs. Over the years, Sandbox Startups has become a hotbed for startups and it has supported over 100 ideas scale.
About Deshpande Foundation
The Deshpande Foundation, founded by global business leader and philanthropist Dr.Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande and Mrs. Jaishree Deshpande, has operations in India, Canada and the USA. The Foundation is building an ecosystem of resources to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. The Foundation’s efforts surround around the unique “Social Innovation Sandbox” in Hubli, Karnataka & Nizamabad, Telangana to create an ecosystem similar to Silicon Valley with focus on Social Entrepreneurship.
In the last eight years, the “Sandbox” has gained remarkable success having supported over 100 Non-profit & Social organisations, proved over a dozen proofs of concepts for social innovation and impacted over six million people. For more information, visit Deshpande Foundation website.