Consumer goods manufacturer Unilever and e-commerce and cloud computing firm Amazon have partnered venture capital firm IDG Ventures India for an accelerator scheme, the Economic Times has reported.
The IDG Ventures India 2017 Innovation Program will target startups in the consumer technology, software, healthcare technology and fintech sectors that are looking to raise between $500,000 and $5m in seed or series A funding.
Unilever and Amazon are participating through respective subsidiaries Unilever Ventures and Amazon Internet Services, the latter operating as a branch of Amazon’s cloud computing division Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Unilever Ventures is an investor in IDG Ventures India, and both it and Amazon will consider making strategic investments in startups in the Innovation Program.
Successful applicants will meet technology mentors from Amazon Internet Services and other go-to-market contacts, and will receive additional incentives such as credit with AWS.
The VC firm ran separate programs in 2016 in partnership with VC fund and accelerator Axilor that focused on consumer technology and software. This year the idea is to bring all its innovation activities together in a single initiative.
The 2016 Innovation Program received almost 1,000 applications, six of which resulted in investments of $500,000 to $3m from IDG Ventures India.