AWS and iTNT Hub Offer Support for AI Startups in Tamil Nadu

Amazon Web Services (AWS) India Private Limited* today announced that it is supporting Tamil Nadu Technology (iTNT) Hub to launch a generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup hub program, that will focus on accelerating the development of generative AI solutions for public-centric initiatives through the startup ecosystem in Tamil Nadu. The program will enable startups to collaborate with the industry to build public sector-focused solutions using generative AI, and will solicit and shortlist startups building solutions for government, healthcare, education, and non-profit sectors operating in the AI, generative AI, and deep-tech space. This new initiative was announced during ‘Generative AI Startup–Venture Capital’ mixer event held by AWS and iTNT Hub in Chennai.

iTNT as an innovation hub was established by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY, Government of India), and Information Technology and Digital Services Department (IT&DS, Government of Tamil Nadu), with industry support. The Hub located in Anna University, Chennai, is focused on building a unique deep tech innovation network in Tamil Nadu by leveraging the combined strengths of startups, innovators, academia, government, and industry leaders. This new program will provide mentorship to founders emerging from incubation programs of more than 570 engineering colleges affiliated with Anna University.

The generative AI startup hub program aims to support startups and innovators at all stages of maturity, including incorporated startups, mature startups, individual innovators, and pre-incorporated teams. Startups in incubation will have the opportunity to access research opportunities for industry collaboration, sectoral guidance to drive market disruption, and funding avenues.

“AWS recognizes the transformative potential of generative AI, the value it can offer to public sector organisations and citizens, and the role that startups can play in accelerating innovation and developing solutions for adoption,” said Sunil PP, Lead – Channels and Alliances, Public Sector, AWS India Private Limited*. “By collaborating with iTNT Hub, we aim to nurture a startup community that has core capabilities and strengths in generative AI, accelerate innovation using generative AI, and help public sector organisations implement solutions that can create positive and scalable impact in society.”

Startups eligible for this program will receive a range of benefits to enable their growth. They will be able to build a strong technical foundation by leveraging the expertise and resources from AWS, the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform. Each eligible startup will receive up to USD $10,000 in AWS credits to experiment and build with more than 240 fully featured services on AWS, including innovative generative AI services and solutions such as Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Q, Amazon SageMaker, AWS Trainium, AWS Inferentia, among others. AWS will also explore the possibility of onboarding startups to the AWS Partner Network (APN), subject to the fulfilment of eligibility criteria, which can enable these organisations with product acceleration, and market access and expansion.

iTNT Hub will further support the identified startups through its technical expertise and mentorship, guidance on business and funding fundamentals, and setting up industry connects for startups to understand market opportunities and build their solutions.

“iTNT Hub is dedicated to harnessing Tamil Nadu’s vast tech capability and fostering research, development and innovation across the state. This exciting collaboration with AWS gives startup founders access to mentorship, resources, and a community for the development of citizen-driven generative AI solutions. Collaborating with a global technology leader like AWS gives us access to the latest technology, innovation methodologies, and best practices, and enables startups to jumpstart their innovation and growth journey with subject-matter expertise on cloud and generative AI,” said Vanitha Venugopal, CEO, iTNT Hub. “Through this program, we aspire to strengthen the entrepreneurial environment for startups across Tamil Nadu, and empower those based in locations which typically have limited access to resources.”

The generative AI startup hub program will enable startups through webinars, technical workshops, and masterclasses. Selected startups will also benefit from industry connects, roadshows, hackathons, and customer engagements. The program will be governed by a steering management committee comprising executives from AWS India and iTNT Hub. Interested startups can read more here.