“Indian apps and games have been receiving extraordinary interest from users, as well as investors,” said Purnima Kochikar, vice president, Play Partnerships, Google.
She was speaking at the launch of Appscale Academy, the company’s initiative with MeitY Startup Hub, which is part of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to drive innovation in the Indian app ecosystem.
“Apps and games built by Indian companies are also finding global audiences. For example, Ludo King has become one of the most played games globally.” Kochikar added
In 2021, the time spent by users outside India on apps and games created by Indian companies grew by 150% compared to 2019, she added.
To leverage this growth opportunity, Google has launched the Appscale Academy to identify, and support promising Indian startups and help them grow into successful global businesses.
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“Our cohort of 100 Indian startups are ensuring that a homegrown solution for many of our daily, critical, and unique needs is today just an app away,” said Jeet Vijay, CEO, MeitY Startup Hub, in a statement.
The startups were chosen from over 400 applications following a selection process that considered their ideas and innovation, product quality, product scalability, and talent diversity.
As part of the six-month programme, these companies will be trained through a customized curriculum designed to help them drive high-quality apps for a global market, including sessions on UX design, business model and monetization strategies, international expansion best practices, and data safety and security practices.
The startups in the cohort include BitClass (a live learning platform), Farmyng Club (a social platform for farmers to improve their livelihood), Kutuki (preschool learning app), Sunita’s Makerspace (a community to foster innovation), Stamurai (a platform offering affordable and high-quality speech therapy), LearnVern (a job-oriented skilling app offering courses in regional languages), and Vivasayam (an app promoting organic farming).
