Chairman Mukesh Ambani, in their first-ever virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM), said that Indian startups hold a ‘very special place in our hearts,’ and there’s ‘no better partner’ for them than Jio, Reliance Industries’ digital arm. He was further quoted saying, “We are well-positioned to help Indian startups in a number of ways – whether it be in technology development, product development, distribution, market access, or even scale-up capital.”
Reliance has supported and mentored 27 startups in FY 2019-20. JioGenNext – Reliance’s startup-focused arm, mentored startups which raised more than $100 million in funding. JioGenNext was founded in 2013 and has been pushing the Indian startup ecosystem ahead. They have a two-tiered program wherein they support startups in building their business with intensive mentoring which is followed by a PoC with RIL/Jio. Startups are tracked for potential acquisition or investment or commercial partnerships as they start scaling up.
“We are inviting even more startups to join forces with us. We are ready to integrate them into our roadmap and to help them reach their full potential,” Ambani said.
Through the years, JioGenNext has had 11 batches totaling 136 startups. These startups worked with multiple verticals and Reliance’s startup accelerator has helped them scale up, get access to market resources, and raise capital. Of the 11 batches, three were theme-based cohorts – two in fintech space and one driving digital innovation in the SMB/Enterprise segment.
