GiveIndia providing oxygen supplies to a rural hospital in India
As the pandemic has unfolded in India, it’s been humbling and inspiring to see individuals, communities, institutions, and governments work together to manage the impact of a crisis on a scale we haven’t experienced before. Technology has played a critical role, and our focus at Google has been on making sure people have the information and tools they need to stay informed, connected, and safe.
We have worked to surface timely and reliable health information, amplify public health campaigns, and help nonprofits get urgent support to Indians in need. In April, through our philanthropic arm Google.org, we announced grants totaling $18 million USD (135 Crore INR) to expand the reach of public health information campaigns and support emergency relief work.
Today, as India slowly emerges from the crisis of the past few months, we are turning our focus to helping strengthen India’s healthcare infrastructure and workforce -- especially in rural areas.
Building on our overall COVID-19 response, we are announcing new commitments to GiveIndia, PATH, Apollo Medskills and ARMMAN, focused on setting up oxygen generation plants and expanding the health workforce by strengthening COVID-19 management skills among frontline workers.
Google.org will support procurement and installation of approximately 80 oxygen generation plants in healthcare facilities in high-need and rural locations with new grants totalling approximately$15 million USD (109 Crore INR) to GiveIndia and PATH. The two organizations will work together to oversee the oxygen program, providing project management support — including procurement and installation of plants. PATH will identify the target locations and provide technical assistance for the project, working with state governments and other authorities, and complete the installation of the plants.
As part of our new commitment, Google is investing in the efforts of Apollo Medskills to help upskill 20,000 frontline health workers through specialized training in COVID-19 management. This will complement and strengthen the stressed rural health workforce and rural health systems.
To further bolster these efforts, Google.org will provide a $500,000 USD (3.6 Crore INR ) grant to nonprofit ARMMAN. ARMMAN will run skilling programs for 180,000 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and 40,000 Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) in 15 Indian states. It will also set up a call center to provide additional help and advice for ASHAs and ANMs where required.
Google is proud to be supporting these organizations as they build a bigger, better-equipped healthcare system, help India steady itself after the pandemic’s second wave and lay the foundations for a sustainable healthcare system over the longer term.
Posted by Sanjay Gupta, Country Head & Vice President, India
GiveIndia providing oxygen supplies to a rural hospital in India
As the pandemic has unfolded in India, it’s been humbling and inspiring to see individuals, communities, institutions, and governments work together to manage the impact of a crisis on a scale we haven’t experienced before. Technology has played a critical role, and our focus at Google has been on making sure people have the information and tools they need to stay informed, connected, and safe.
We have worked to surface timely and reliable health information, amplify public health campaigns, and help nonprofits get urgent support to Indians in need. In April, through our philanthropic arm Google.org, we announced grants totaling $18 million USD (135 Crore INR) to expand the reach of public health information campaigns and support emergency relief work.
Today, as India slowly emerges from the crisis of the past few months, we are turning our focus to helping strengthen India’s healthcare infrastructure and workforce -- especially in rural areas.
Building on our overall COVID-19 response, we are announcing new commitments to GiveIndia, PATH, Apollo Medskills and ARMMAN, focused on setting up oxygen generation plants and expanding the health workforce by strengthening COVID-19 management skills among frontline workers.
Google.org will support procurement and installation of approximately 80 oxygen generation plants in healthcare facilities in high-need and rural locations with new grants totalling approximately$15 million USD (109 Crore INR) to GiveIndia and PATH. The two organizations will work together to oversee the oxygen program, providing project management support — including procurement and installation of plants. PATH will identify the target locations and provide technical assistance for the project, working with state governments and other authorities, and complete the installation of the plants.
As part of our new commitment, Google is investing in the efforts of Apollo Medskills to help upskill 20,000 frontline health workers through specialized training in COVID-19 management. This will complement and strengthen the stressed rural health workforce and rural health systems.
To further bolster these efforts, Google.org will provide a $500,000 USD (3.6 Crore INR ) grant to nonprofit ARMMAN. ARMMAN will run skilling programs for 180,000 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and 40,000 Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) in 15 Indian states. It will also set up a call center to provide additional help and advice for ASHAs and ANMs where required.
Google is proud to be supporting these organizations as they build a bigger, better-equipped healthcare system, help India steady itself after the pandemic’s second wave and lay the foundations for a sustainable healthcare system over the longer term.
Posted by Sanjay Gupta, Country Head & Vice President, India
At Google, we have a longstanding commitment to bring the benefits of the internet to everyone. From 2015 to 2020, over 1.5 billion people across the world came online, and India has been the fastest growing contributor. But connectivity is only foundational, we need to come together to ensure that everyone has the support needed to participate and equal opportunity to gain from these developments.
This belief led us to embark on our most ambitious program till date called the Internet Saathi to help narrow the digital gender divide in India. Today, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, we are delighted to share that, in its six year journey, this joint effort with Tata Trusts has had a cascading impact benefitting over 30 million women across rural India, and contributed to narrowing the digital gender gap in India. The program was designed to impart digital literacy training to women across 300,000 villages in India, and it took the courage and non-stop efforts of over 80,000 women trainers called Internet Saathis to make this possible.
But even as we come together to salute and celebrate the success of these Internet Saathis, we know the progress on gender equity has been uneven, fragile, frustratingly slow, and equality and equal economic empowerment of women is a long way off. Post COVID-19, job cuts, income loss, and lack of access to education will prevent women and girls' economic advancement, particularly those from underserved communities, for generations to come. These alarming realities require swift and decisive action.
Today, at the virtual edition of Google for India event called Women Will, our CEO, Sundar Pichai, and President of Google.org, Jacquelline Fuller, made a series of announcements in support of the economic empowerment of women, both in India and globally, to create an ecosystem of entrepreneurship enablers to help narrow the gender gap.
Supporting 1 million women entrepreneurs in rural India
Based on learnings from the Internet Saathi program, and to continue to support women in rural India to pursue their ambitions and improve their livelihoods through entrepreneurship,we are introducing a new Women Will web platform. This will be complemented by community support, mentorship, and accelerator programs for rural women entrepreneurs.
Available in English and Hindi, the Women Will platform is designed especially for women aspiring to explore entrepreneurship. Through a “how to” curriculum on turning an interest into a business, managing an enterprise, and promoting it for growth, the platform will provide guidance and support to women who want to convert an existing hobby or talent such as tailoring, beauty services, home tuition, food processing, etc. into some income. To begin with, we will work with 2,000 Internet Saathis to help other women gain from this resource and start on their entrepreneurial journey.
Supporting 100,000 women agri-workers with NASSCOM Foundation in India
To support women with access to skills they need for the future, we are committing $500K in funding to NASSCOM Foundation through our philanthropic arm, Google.org. With this support, they will reach 100,000 women agri workers with digital and financial literacy training in the six states of Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. NASSCOM Foundation will also set up a helpline where women agri workers will be able to call and get further counselling on their entrepreneurship related queries.
US$25 million Google.org Global Impact Challenge for Women & Girls
As we make these commitments in India, we are very conscious that the disruption of 2020 has widened the gender equity gap globally. Post-COVID-19, a future of all-round prosperity is anchored in the guarantee of gender equity, and this requires concerted but bold efforts.
Google.org, which connects nonprofit innovators with the best of Google’s resources, is today launching a global Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls. Under this effort we will provide $25 million in overall funding to nonprofits and social organizations in India and around the world that are working to advance women and girls' economic empowerment and create pathways to prosperity. Selected Impact Challenge grantees will also receive mentoring from Googlers, Ad Grants, and additional support to bring their ideas to life. Visit g.co/womenandgirlschallenge to learn more about the Challenge and apply by 10 April.
Feature enablements on Search and Maps for women entrepreneurs
For many entrepreneurs, Search and Maps are their storefront. In order to make it easier for people to support women-led businesses, Google will enable search in English for “women-led” — “women-led restaurants,” “women-led clothing stores” and more — on Google Search and Maps. This is based on an opt-in feature on Google My Business where women-led businesses can identify as such on their Business Profiles. This will not only enhance the online presence of hundreds of women-owned businesses but customers can easily extend their support by purchasing from them, leaving a great review, and sharing their Business Profile.
GPay Business Pages for Homepreneurs
To empower homepreneurs, the vast majority of whom are women, Google Pay has announced the launch of Business Pages which enables them to create easy catalogues of their products and services and direct people to them through a unique URL. Interested buyers can chat with the homepreneur about their order and pay within the chat-based interface on Google Pay.
The success of the Internet Saathi Program has strengthened our belief that the impact of investments behind empowering women and girls is deeply rewarding and has long standing benefits for generations to come. At every level, the costs of exclusion are high, and the advantages of equity are manifold.
And as our CEO Sundar Pichai said, we have the opportunity to build a future that is more equal and more inclusive and we must take it, and we are committed to continuing our journey on this course.
Posted by Sanjay Gupta, Country Head & Vice President, Google India, and Sapna Chadha, Senior Director Marketing, Google India & South East Asia
Startups to get six months intensive mentorship and $50,000 in equity-free funding
On-demand wardrobe rentals, furniture and appliances rental service, top tutor help service, a platform for doctors to discuss medical cases with peers from across the country, an Indian word games for adults and kids, a service that allows you to earn money for playing games and a CRM app that helps grow your business through better lead management.
Meet the seven promising startups from India, who will join the third class of Launchpad Accelerator along with startups from Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico Argentina, Colombia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
These seven startups will join the six month long intensive mentoring program from Google for mid to late stage startups including a two-week all-expenses paid bootcamp that kicks off early next year (January 30, 2017) at Launchpad Space in San Francisco.
The program begins with determining each startup’s critical challenges, in order to deploy precise mentorship, actionable solutions, and Google resources to enable their product/service app to scale. The seven start ups will then get tailored expert guidance from Google engineers, product managers and other mentors from top technology companies and VCs in Silicon Valley. Additionally, they will receive equity-free support credits for Google products and work closely with Google for six months in their home countries.
Over the last one year, thirteen Indian startups have participated in the program and many have already gained from the program. Nestaway who was part of our first batch from India closed a $30M series C investment. MagicPin that offers deals and discounts for Restaurants, Spas, Salons implemented a progressive web app that has helped them to drive over 10% of their total daily transactions. Mobile social gaming startup PlaySimple just raised Series A funding of $4 million and they are now focussing on expanding their offerings. And most recently, JustRide, a startup that allows customers to rent out cars raised about $3 million funding from global investors.
We are delighted to help Indian startups in their journey and help them to scale and find success in their endeavors. Access to good mentoring and advice at early to mid stage can make a meaningful difference. Amarendra Sahu Co-founder of Nestaway from India, shares that, “Launchpad accelerator program made us believe that even we could build a world class product and the mentors helped us to understand what was needed to get there. We have recently asked for follow-on engagement with mentors. If you’re a startup who believes in changing the world through tech product then this is the program for you.”
