Amazon Launchpad, HAX, and Kickstarter announce Startup C-Cube challenge

BANGALORE, INDIA: Amazon Launchpad along with hardware accelerator HAX, and crowdfunding community Kickstarter announced Startup C-Cube, a multi-level challenge for Indian start-ups in Bangalore on Tuesday.

The winning startup of the challenge will not only get support from the three organizations in its entire “concept-to-customer” journey but will also be provided resources for launch - both in India and in Europe/US, depending on the scalability of the idea. Additionally, the winning startup will receive a set of benefits valued at $500,000 to support its product journey.

Flagging off the challenge, Priyank Kharge, IT, BT and Tourism Minister, Government of Karnataka said, “This competition is a great way to encourage entrepreneurship among the many aspiring startups in our country. It’s a great way to not only showcase innovative ideas but to also get mentored by three of the best partners in the start-up space.”

In the first phase of its Concept-to-Consumer journey, HAX will provide the winning startup 3 months’ workspace in Shenzhen, China along with expert mentoring from a pool of over 50 international mentors; a 6 week ‘go-to-market’ boot camp in San Francisco and investment support of $375,000.

In the second phase, Kickstarter will provide a campaign strategist to give one-to-one advice on campaign messaging, promotion, PR, marketing, fulfillment and more, along with access to its community of 13 million backers.

Finally, Amazon Launchpad will help the winning startup gain visibility with marketing exposure and account management and support the winner for launch, both in India and in Europe/US, depending on the scalability of the idea.

Sateesh Srinivasan, Director and Global head of Amazon Launchpad said, “This is an opportunity for Indian Startups to get access to big consumer markets nationally and internationally. There is a booming entrepreneurial culture in India and through Amazon Launchpad, we hope to augment this in the Indian youth and contribute to the India story.”

Alan Clayton, Head of Entrepreneur Development, HAX said, “The SOSV funded HAX program has graduated hundreds of hardware entrepreneurs around the world; many of whom have gone on to raise substantial funds on the Kickstarter platform, and successfully deliver their product to customers via Amazon's Launchpad. We expect this unique collaboration will dramatically increase the chances for more startup teams to do well by doing good. Starting right here in India.”

“Indian backers have pledged nearly $5M to projects on Kickstarter in the last few years, and this ongoing dialogue between creators and backers is changing what new products get made, how they are produced, and who has the resources to make them. This has shown us there is a huge appetite for innovation in the region, and we hope this programme can help grow it further,” said Heather Corcoran, Technology Outreach Lead at Kickstarter.

All startups looking at participation in the competition must have a consumer physical software-enabled hardware product. The product must positively impact/address existing needs for a large customer base. The challenge is flexible on the stage of startup but should at least have a “looks-like and works-like” prototype and at the very latest be pre-series A.

The winner will be announced on January 31, 2018. Interested startups can apply for the challenge latest by January 15, 2018.