Google shortlists 10 startups for its Launchpad Accelerator programme in India

**Google** on 31 August announced the first batch of 10 short-listed startups who will be part of its “Launchpad Accelerator” mentorship programme in India. The inaugural class will begin on 10 September at the Google office in Bengaluru. The startups will go through a two-week intensive mentorship boot camp, followed by customised virtual support for the remaining duration of three months, the company said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_4833631” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Google Logo[/caption] “The shortlisted startups are doing incredible work in areas ranging from, enhancing employability and earning-abilities of the blue-collar workforce to using satellite imagery to support farmers’ decision making process,” said Paul Ravindranath G, programme manager, Google India. Among the selected startups is CareNx, a smartphone-enabled fetal heart monitor for early detection of fetal asphyxia. “Vassar Labs” uses sensors, satellite and crowd-sourced data to provide decision-making support in sectors such as water, agriculture, education and more. Wysa is an AI-based chat therapy for mental health while MultiBhashi is a simplified language learning platform for blue-collar workforce and “Next Billion Indian” online users. “Genrobotics is a semi-automatic robot for manhole cleaning directed to bring the practice of manual scavenging to an end in India,” said Google. OliveWear is a connected health ecosystem of doctors to give personalised maternal care to pregnant women. Signzy ensures digital trust using AI and Blockchain to provide smart e-verification and risk prediction. A software platform, SlangLabs helps build multilingual voice interfaces for mobile apps, which enable app interactions via voice in addition to touch. ten3THealthcare is an early detection system for preventable clinical adverse events by monitoring real time, remote, and continuous vital signs of patients. Uncanny Vision is focused on vehicle analytics, people analytics and object analytics using AI-based Deep Learning models. “We are hopeful that with this programme of ours, we will be able to bring best of Google – our expertise, platforms, tools and core strengths including machine learning and AI, to help Indian startups build, scale and grow their offering,” said Ravindranath. Launchpad Accelerator India, which opened applications in July, is based on Google’s global Launchpad Accelerator programme.