Apple startup accelerator in Bengaluru

Ever since Tim Cook has landed in India, he has been creating headlines. The latest being the announcement on working closely with dozens of Indian startups. Apple Inc plans to enter India's start-up ecosystem by setting up an accelerator unit, christened as a "design and development" start-up accelerator in India's Silicon Valley, Bengaluru.

He said in his statement, "India is home to one of the most vibrant and entrepreneurial iOS development communities in the world." This accelerator is expected to open sometime in early 2017. Tim added, "with the opening of this new facility in Bengaluru, we're giving developers access to tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers around the world."

Tim Cook met a few entrepreneurs in Bengaluru yesterday, looks like a run up to larger plans. He had a meeting with founders of four startups on Wednesday. He looked curious to understand what the country's young mobile app developers are building.

He met executives of home services application UrbanClap , software products maker Cynapse (also known as Numerics), online shopping application Sweetcouch and Avaz , which has developed speech therapy app for autistic children. If sources are to be believed, Apple Inc is thinking of a number of options, including plans to work with about 15-20 early stage startups in each batch of the accelerator programme.

These startups were selected by the team at Apple about a week ago. However, none of them were informed that they will be meeting Tim Cook. They were informed that they will be visited by a team from Cupertino, the city in California where Apple is headquartered, as part of a developer meeting in the coming week. The meeting was also attended by Apple's chief operating officer Jeff Williams and Oliver Schusser, vice president of iTunes International.

It is said that, as part of the accelerator programme, Apple may have two or three batches of startups every year. Each batch would have a period of about 3-5 months of learning.

NASSCOM President R Chandrashekhar welcomed this move and says, “Apple’s investment in Bengaluru through its iOS Development Accelerator will have far-reaching effects for the area’s rapidly growing and highly talented developer community.”  Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal added, “Apple’s support will help drive growth and accelerate progress among the country’s vast talent pool.”

Hence, Apple's intent seems clear, they are unlikely to invest in startups; instead, create conducive environment, including working space and mentorship for developers to "hone their skills." They want to bring them up to speed with its global standards and best practices.