India Blockchain Accelerator Launched to Boost Startup Ecosystem

Telangana Blockchain District, anchored by the state government and Crypto unicorn CoinSwitch Kuber, on Friday announced the launch of the India Blockchain Accelerator aimed at empowering the thriving blockchain startup ecosystem in India.

After successfully launching and supporting eight innovative startups in the first edition of the T-Block Accelerator, the Telangana Blockchain District announced the India Blockchain Accelerator in partnership with Lumos Labs, a technology innovation management firm with expertise in running blockchain-based open innovation programmes in India.

This accelerator will aim at supporting and equipping innovative deep-tech blockchain startups with expert guidance and government accreditation.

This accelerator is further supported by global industry players Nervos Network, Stellar, Streamr, Filecoin and Neo Protocol as platinum sponsors, investment partners Lightspeed and Wodstock Fund, incubation partner Builders Tribe and programme partners, Guwahati Biotech Park, an Assam government led platform dedicated to accelerating entrepreneurship and technological development in northeast India, and Microsoft for Startups.

This four-month-long accelerator will be open to early-stage Web2 and Web3 start-ups and blockchain developers with interesting blockchain solutions solving real-world problems across multiple identified tracks.

The solutions could vary across the various identified tracks which include fintech, entertainment, sustainability infrastructure and tooling, agritech, logistics, and healthcare. Furthermore, the programme will be interspersed with numerous workshops, meetups, mentorship and training programmes to ensure a holistic growth of the start-ups with the right guidance and tools.

The participants will be eligible for government accreditation, incubation space, ecosystem support, and go-to-market support for their potent solutions. The start-ups also stand a chance to raise a pre-seed/seed investment of over $700,000 from investment partners Lightspeed and Woodstock Fund. These investments are contingent on the due diligence process and investment thesis fit with refusal rights afforded to both the funds and the founders.

The launch event was organised at T-Hub Foundation, IIIT-H Campus in Hyderabad with representation from the government bodies, global blockchain industry leaders, start-ups and members from the developer community.

Telangana's Principal Secretary, ITE&C and Industries, Jayesh Ranjan, CoinSwitch Kuber Founder and CEO Ashish Singhal, Lumos Labs Co-Founder Kaavya Prasad, and others attended the event.

According to the NASSCOM Cryptotech Industry in India report, the cryptotech industry has expanded over 39 per cent in the last five years. Apart from having a robust blockchain space, the technology and entrepreneurship sectors in India too have witnessed significant growth with more than 230 cryptotech startups and 34 Indian companies gaining unicorn status in 2021 itself according to the Venture Intelligence Unicorn Tracker.