Tag Archives: accelerator

Google opens new innovation space in San Francisco for the developer community

Posted by Jeremy Neuner, Head of Launchpad San Francisco

Google's Developer Relations team is opening a new innovation space at 543 Howard St. in San Francisco. By working with more than a million developers and startups we've found that something unique happens when we interact with our communities face-to-face. Talks, meetups, workshops, sprints, bootcamps, and social events not only provide opportunities for Googlers to authentically connect with users but also build trust and credibility as we form connections on a more personal level.

The space will be the US home of Launchpad, Google's startup acceleration engine. Founded in 2016 the Launchpad Accelerator has seen 13 cohorts graduate across 5 continents, reaching 241 startups. In 2019, the program will bring together top Google talent with startups from around the world who are working on AI-enabled solutions to problems in financial technology, healthcare, and social good.

In addition to its focus on startups, the Google innovation space will offer programming designed specifically for developers and designers throughout the year. For example, in tandem with the rapid growth of Google Cloud Platform, we will host hands-on sessions on Kubernetes, big data and AI architectures with Google engineers and industry experts.

Finally, we want the space to serve as a hub for industry-wide Developer Relations' diversity and inclusion efforts. And we will partner with groups such as Manos Accelerator and dev/Mission to bring the latest technologies to underserved groups.

We designed the space with a single credo in mind, "We must continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down." The flexible design of the space ensures our community has a place to learn, experiment, and grow.

For more information about our new innovation space, click here.

Source: Google Developers Blog

Introducing the 5th class of Launchpad Accelerator!

Posted by Roy Glasberg, Global Lead, Google Developers Launchpad

To cap off another amazing year for Launchpad Accelerator, we're excited to announce the 5th class of our hands-on mentorship program. This includes a diverse group of startups from all over the world looking to tackle everything from streamlining medical records in Africato improving breast cancer screenings.

Launchpad Accelerator is Google's six month program that includes an intensive two week bootcamp in San Francisco and mentoring from 30+ teams across Google and expert mentors from top technology companies and VCs in Silicon Valley and globally. Participants receive equity-free support, credits for Google products and media training, and continue to work closely with Google back in their home country.

Class 5 kicks off January 29th, 2018 at the Google Developers Launchpad Space in San Francisco and will include 2 weeks of all-expense-paid training, as part of the the full 6-month program.

Here's the full list of participating startups (by region):

Africa

Nigeria

Helium Health

Paylater

South Africa

Aerobotics

Asia

Bangladesh

Maya Apa

India

Indonesia

Kulina

Pakistan

VividTech

Philippines

Ayananh

Thailand

Priceza

Vietnam

Monkey Junior

Europe

Hungary

Synetiq

Poland

Szopi

Russia

App in the Air

Voximplant

Latin America

Argentina

Etermax

Restorando

Brazil

Loggi

Nubank

Grupo ZAP Viva Real

Mexico

Clip

Kubo.financiero

Source: Google Developers Blog

Launchpad Accelerator is open to more countries around the world! Apply now.

Posted by Roy Glasberg, Global Lead, Launchpad Program & Accelerator

Launchpad Accelerator gives us an opportunity to work with and empower amazing developers, who are solving major challenges all around the world -- whether it's streamlining digital commerce across Africa, providing access to multimedia tools that support special needs education, or using AI to simplify business operations.

That's why we're doubling down on our efforts and opening up applications for the next class of the program to more countries for the first time starting today. Here's the full list of the new additions:

Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Tanzania, Tunisia & Uganda
Asia: Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan & Sri Lanka
Europe: Estonia, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus & Russia
Latin America: Costa Rica, Panama, Peru & Uruguay

They'll be joined by our larger list of countries that are already part of the program, including: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The application process for the equity-free program will end on October 2, 2017 at 9AM PST. Later in the year, the list of selected developers will be invited to the Google Developers Launchpad Space in San Francisco for 2 weeks of all-expense-paid training.

What are the benefits?

The training at Google HQ includes intensive mentoring from 20+ Google teams, and expert mentors from top technology companies and VCs in Silicon Valley. Participants receive equity-free support, credits for Google products, PR support and continue to work closely with Google back in their home country during the 6-month program. Hear from some alumnus about their experiences here.

What do we look for when selecting startups?

Each startup that applies to the Launchpad Accelerator is considered holistically and with great care. Below are general guidelines behind our process to help you understand what we look for in our candidates.

All startups in the program must:

Be a technological startup.
Be targeting their local markets.
Have proven product-market fit (beyond ideation stage).
Be based in the countries listed above.

Additionally, we are interested in what kind of startup you are. We also consider:

The problem you are trying to solve. How does it create value for users? How are you addressing a real challenge for your home city, country or region?
Does your management team have a leadership mindset and the drive to become an influencer?
Will you share what you learn in Silicon Valley for the benefit of other startups in your local ecosystem?
If you're based outside of these countries, stay tuned, as we expect to add more countries to the program in the future.

We can't wait to hear from you and see how we can work together to improve your business.

Participants from Class 4

Source: Google Developers Blog

Announcing the fourth class of Launchpad Accelerator featuring new countries!

Posted by Roy Glasberg, Global Lead, Launchpad Program & Accelerator

We're back at it again and excited to welcome an inspiring group of startups from all over the world for the 4th class of Launchpad Accelerator.

This time around, startups from Asia and Latin America will be joined by peers from Africa and Europe. In addition to expanding our reach, we’re also expanding our curriculum. We’ll help the startups dig deeper into machine learning and AI, to help them leverage Google’s latest technologies to scale their apps.

Launchpad Accelerator includes intensive mentoring from 20+ Google teams, and expert mentors from top technology companies and VCs in Silicon Valley. Participants receive equity-free support, credits for Google products, and continue to work closely with Google back in their home country during the 6-month program.

Class 4 kicks off July 17th, 2017 at the Google Developers Launchpad Space in San Francisco and will include 2 weeks of all-expense-paid training.

Here's the full list of participating startups (by region):