Airtel launches Startup Innovation Challenge in
partnership with Invest India

Invites early stage Indian startups to demonstrate solutions for 5G, IoT, Cloud Communications, Digital Advertising and Digital Entertainment

Top 10 startups shall receive cash prizes, have the opportunity to leverage Airtel’s Digital Innovation Lab and Global Partner Ecosystem. Select startups shall be offered the opportunity to on-board onto the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program

New Delhi, 09 December 2021: Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s premier communications solutions provider, today announced the launch of ‘Airtel India Startup Innovation Challenge in partnership with Invest India.

As part of the ‘Startup Innovation Challenge’ early stage technology companies are invited to demonstrate differentiated solutions in the following areas –

• 5G – Innovative B2C or B2B use cases and applications that can leverage high speed and low latency 5G technology.
• IoT - Creating innovative IoT solutions that can power the digital transformation journey of enterprises.
• Cloud Communication – Leveraging AI and ML technologies to create B2C or B2B products that can improve customer engagement and experience.
• Digital Advertising – Creating innovative and unique ad formats – both digital and otherwise that would make ads or brand promotions an enriching experience for the end customer.
• Digital Entertainment – Creating a platform or offering disruptive solutions in music, video or gaming that can support the growth of India’s content creator economy.

Applications will close on 24th January 2022 and the results will be announced on 14th February 2022. For more details on the Airtel Startup Innovation Challenge - Visit Here

The top 10 winners will win cash prizes, get access to Airtel's Innovation Lab and will be able to leverage Airtel’s advanced technology infrastructure to scale up their use cases and even co-innovate with Airtel’s engineering teams. A select few of the 10 startups shall be offered to be on-boarded onto the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program and hyper-scale their company with Airtel. Under this Program, startups gain access to Airtel’s core platform strengths of data, distribution, network and payments. Further, startups get access to Airtel’s global partner ecosystem and advisory from Airtel’s executive team.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel, said: “India’s startup ecosystem is now a globally celebrated story and our young technology companies are doing some phenomenal work in building solutions that solve hard problems. As a core enabler of this emerging digital ecosystem, Airtel is thrilled to be working with the Government of India to help early stage companies navigate their growth journeys and scale up quickly and sustainably. On behalf of Airtel, I invite companies to be a part of this challenge and benefit from Airtel’s deep technological capabilities.”

Mr. Deepak Bagla, MD & CEO, Invest India, said: “We look forward to enable India’s young technology startups through the Startup Innovation Challenge in partnership with Bharti Airtel. The Indian startup ecosystem is the third largest in the world, and we are delighted that through this challenge, growing startups will be able to showcase Made-in-India solutions that solve complex global problems. On behalf of Invest India, I invite early-stage companies to participate in this challenge”.

About Airtel

Headquartered in India, Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 480 Mn customers in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its networks cover over two billion people. Airtel is India’s largest integrated communications solutions provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. Airtel’s retail portfolio includes high speed 4G/4.5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber that promises speeds up to 1 Gbps with convergence across linear and on-demand entertainment, streaming services spanning music and video, digital payments, and financial services. For enterprise customers, Airtel offers a gamut of solutions that includes secure connectivity, cloud and data centre services, cyber security, IoT, Ad Tech and cloud-based communication. For more details visit www.airtel.com

About Invest India

Invest India, set up in 2009, is a non-profit venture under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

As the national investment promotion and facilitation agency, Invest India focuses on sector-specific investor targeting and development of new partnerships to enable sustainable investments in India. In addition to a core team that focuses on sustainable investments, Invest India also partners with substantial investment promotion agencies and multilateral organisations. Invest India also actively works with several Indian states to build capacity as well as bring in global best practices in investment targeting, promotion and facilitation areas.

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