The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), in collaboration with Google Cloud India, Antler in India, Paytm, Protean and Startup India has announced ‘Build for Bharat’ initiative. The initiative aims to tackle diverse challenges in digital commerce, promoting industry innovation to develop practical solutions in this space.
‘Build for Bharat’intends to tap into India’s technological and entrepreneurial potential with an expected participation of 200K+ participants representing startups, companies and colleges.Prioritising participative and ecosystem-driven framework, the initiative is organized at a national-scale across 50+ cities with top experts, leaders, VCs and incubators onboard.
To kick-start the initiative, an event took place on December 4, unveiling the problem statements for participants and extending an invitation for registration. Covering Retail, Mobility, F&B, Financial Services and Logistics sectors, the initiative is designed to deliver three distinct outcomes as follows:
● Category 1 — ‘NextGen Ventures’’ is designed to supercharge venture creation on ONDC. Open to aspiring founders exploring multiple ideas or early-stage founder teams working on an idea, this track provides a pathway to raising capital, launching, scaling companies, and incubating new businesses.
● Category 2 includes Scalable solutions and invites participation from organizations or individuals including students with focus on solving friction points faced by Network Participants.
● Category 3 includes Foundation solutions, exclusively for college students (18+) to identify proof of concept for the friction points faced by NPs.
Prizes and collaborations
Category 1 winners in ‘NextGen Ventures’ will enjoy opportunities from Antler in India and mentorship from industry stalwarts. They receive a chance to avail equity-free grants of up to INR 5 Crores.
Category 2 eligible winners are slated to receive Cloud credits from Google Cloud India for shortlisted teams and also for eligible winning startups.
Category 3 winners benefit from Google Cloud India’s contributions, including Cloud credits for shortlisted teams and also credits for eligible winning startups.
“We are excited to organize this nationwide initiative focused on building innovative solutions for India’s rapidly growing digital commerce ecosystem. Initiatives like ‘Build for Bharat’ will unleash the talent and potential of India’s startup and student community to drive meaningful impact at scale. Through grants, investments and recognition, we hope to nurture the best ideas into sustainable businesses,” said T Koshy, MD and CEO at ONDC.
Bikram Singh Bedi, managing Director at Google Cloud India, said “Google Cloud is committed to empowering India’s entrepreneurial energy and technical capabilities. The ‘Build for Bharat’ initiative, provides a platform to develop scalable solutions that can transform the digital ecosystem on a large scale. By bringing together students, startups and businesses, we aim to foster collaboration and innovation towards an inclusive digital economy.”
‘Build for Bharat’intends to tap into India’s technological and entrepreneurial potential with an expected participation of 200K+ participants representing startups, companies and colleges.Prioritising participative and ecosystem-driven framework, the initiative is organized at a national-scale across 50+ cities with top experts, leaders, VCs and incubators onboard.
To kick-start the initiative, an event took place on December 4, unveiling the problem statements for participants and extending an invitation for registration. Covering Retail, Mobility, F&B, Financial Services and Logistics sectors, the initiative is designed to deliver three distinct outcomes as follows:
● Category 1 — ‘NextGen Ventures’’ is designed to supercharge venture creation on ONDC. Open to aspiring founders exploring multiple ideas or early-stage founder teams working on an idea, this track provides a pathway to raising capital, launching, scaling companies, and incubating new businesses.
● Category 2 includes Scalable solutions and invites participation from organizations or individuals including students with focus on solving friction points faced by Network Participants.
● Category 3 includes Foundation solutions, exclusively for college students (18+) to identify proof of concept for the friction points faced by NPs.
Prizes and collaborations
Category 1 winners in ‘NextGen Ventures’ will enjoy opportunities from Antler in India and mentorship from industry stalwarts. They receive a chance to avail equity-free grants of up to INR 5 Crores.
Category 2 eligible winners are slated to receive Cloud credits from Google Cloud India for shortlisted teams and also for eligible winning startups.
Category 3 winners benefit from Google Cloud India’s contributions, including Cloud credits for shortlisted teams and also credits for eligible winning startups.
“We are excited to organize this nationwide initiative focused on building innovative solutions for India’s rapidly growing digital commerce ecosystem. Initiatives like ‘Build for Bharat’ will unleash the talent and potential of India’s startup and student community to drive meaningful impact at scale. Through grants, investments and recognition, we hope to nurture the best ideas into sustainable businesses,” said T Koshy, MD and CEO at ONDC.
Bikram Singh Bedi, managing Director at Google Cloud India, said “Google Cloud is committed to empowering India’s entrepreneurial energy and technical capabilities. The ‘Build for Bharat’ initiative, provides a platform to develop scalable solutions that can transform the digital ecosystem on a large scale. By bringing together students, startups and businesses, we aim to foster collaboration and innovation towards an inclusive digital economy.”
