Tag Archives: launchpad

TheVentureCity and Google Consolidate Miami as a Tech Powerhouse

Google Developers Launchpad Accelerator executes its graduation week for the startups in the second class of the program for Latin America
19 startups from 10 countries will enjoy access to the best that Miami and TheVentureCity have to offer

Miami, December 9, 2019. Once again, the status of Miami as an international tech hub is elevated with TheVentureCity playing host to the final week of Google’s startup acceleration program, Launchpad. The event marks the end of a 10-week immersion that began in Mexico, continued in Argentina, and concludes in South Florida; connecting startups with dedicated support to take their businesses to the next level.

This week, the 9 startups in the Launchpad program will meet with startups in TheVentureCity’s own Growth program. This is an opportunity for them to share experiences, engage with each other and grow. TheVentureCity has invited top venture capitalists (VCs) from around the U.S., Europe, and Latin America as an added benefit for startups on both programs.

“Being able to host this program for startups from across Latin America in Miami feels to me like a dream come true. It is an unparalleled occasion to showcase the amazing work that developers and entrepreneurs are leading in the region", said Paco Solsona, manager of Google Developers.

For Laura González-Estéfani, CEO and founder of TheVentureCity: “This initiative consolidates Miami as an epicenter of innovation and entrepreneurship by bringing together companies that think beyond borders. We believe that talent is evenly distributed around the world, but opportunities are unequal.”

Startups on the Launchpad Accelerator come from a wide span of Latin American countries, including Argentina, México, Colombia, Chile, and El Salvador. The companies graduating this week are: 123Seguro, Al Turing, Apli, DevF, Hugo, Jetty, Jüsto, Odd Industries, and TransparentBusiness. The participating companies from TheVentureCity are: Qempo, Cajero, ComigoSaude, Digital Innovation One, TheFastMind, eMasters, Alba, 1Doc3, Stayfilm and Erudit. While being an international group, these startups represent the talent, diversity, and richness of the continent.

The main benefit of hosting this program in Miami is to diversify thinking in the American tech ecosystem and to keep relevant stakeholders informed about the challenges being faced by startups across the region. This is the second time that Google and TheVentureCity partner up to support startups; last March, we successfully hosted the first-ever Google Developers Launchpad Start, a one-week version of the accelerator program, in Miami.

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About TheVentureCity

TheVentureCity is a new growth and accelerator model that helps diverse founders achieve global impact. Our mission is to make the global entrepreneurial ecosystem more diverse, international and accessible to fair capital. TheVentureCity supports founders with a global mindset to achieve their next big success.

About Google Developers Launchpad

Google Developers Launchpad is a startup accelerator program that empowers the global startup ecosystems to solve the world’s biggest challenges with the best of Google - its people, research, and advanced technologies. Started by you. Accelerated with Google.

Source: Google Developers Blog

Accelerating Japan’s AI startups in our new Tokyo Campus

Posted by Takuo Suzuki

Japan is well known as an epicenter of innovation and technology, and its startup ecosystem is no different. We’ve seen this first hand from our work with startups such as Cinnamon-- who uses artificial intelligence to remove repetitive tasks from office workers daily function, allowing more work to get done by fewer people, faster.

This is why we are pleased to announce our second accelerator program, housed at the new Google for Startups Campus in the heart of Tokyo. Accelerated with Google in Japan The Google for Startups Accelerator (previously Launchpad Accelerator) is an intensive three-month program for high potential, AI-focused startups, utilizing the proven Launchpad foundational components and content.

Founders who successfully apply for the accelerator will have the opportunity to work on the technical problems facing their startup alongside relevant experts from Google and the industry. They will receive mentorship on these challenges, support on machine learning best practices, as well as connections to relevant teams from across Google to help grow their business.

In addition to mentorship and technical project support, the accelerator also includes deep dives and workshops focused on product design, customer acquisition, and leadership development for founders.

“We hope that by providing these founders with the tools, mentorship, and connections to prepare for the next step in their journey it will, in turn, contribute to a stronger Japanese economy.” says Takuo Suzuki, Google Developers Regional Lead for Japan. “We are excited to work with such passionate startups in a new Google for Startups Campus, an environment built to foster startup growth, and meet our next cohort in 2020”

The program will run from February-May 2020 and applications are now open until 13th December 2019.

Source: Google Developers Blog

This is the Future of Finance

Posted by Roy Glasberg, Head of Launchpad

Launchpad's mission is to accelerate innovation and to help startups build world-class technologies by leveraging the best of Google - its people, network, research, and technology.

In September 2018, the Launchpad team welcomed ten of the world's leading FinTech startups to join their accelerator program, helping them fast-track their application of advanced technology. Today, March 15th, we will see this cohort graduate from the program at the Launchpad team's inaugural event - The Future of Finance - a global discussion on the impact of applied ML/AI on the finance industry. These startups are ensuring that everyone has relevant insights at their fingertips and that all people, no matter where they are, have access to equitable money, banking, loans, and marketplaces.

Tune into the event from wherever you are via the livestream link

The Graduating Class of Launchpad FinTech Accelerator San Francisco'19

Alchemy (USA), bridging blockchain and the real world
Axinan (Singapore), providing smart insurance for the digital economy
Aye Finance (India), transforming financing in India
Celo (USA), increasing financial inclusion through a mobile-first cryptocurrency
Frontier Car Group (Germany), investing in the transformation of used-car marketplaces
GO-JEK (Indonesia), improving the welfare and livelihoods of informal sectors
GuiaBolso (Brazil), improving the financial lives of Brazilians
JUMO (South Africa), creating a transparent, fair money marketplace for mobile users to access loans
m.Paani (India), (em)powering local retailers and the next billion users in India
Starling Bank (UK), improving financial health with a 100% mobile-only bank

Since joining the accelerator, these startups have made great strides and are going from strength to strength. Some recent announcements from this cohort include:

JUMO have announced the launch of Opportunity Co, a 500M fund for credit where all the profits go back to the customers.
The team at Aye Finance have just closed $30m in Series D equity round.
Starling Bank has provided 150 new jobs in Southampton and have received a £100m grant from a fund aimed at increasing competition and innovation in the British banking sector, and also a £75m fundraise.
GuiaBolso ran a campaign to pay the bills of some its users (the beginning of the year in Brazil is a time of high expenses and debts) and is having a significant impact on credit with 80% of cases seeing interest rates on loans being cheaper than traditional banks.

We look forward to following the success of all our participating founders as they continue to make a significant impact on the global economy.

Want to know more about the Launchpad Accelerator? Visit our site, stay updated on developments and future opportunities by subscribing to the Google Developers newsletter and visit The Launchpad Blog.

Source: Google Developers Blog

Launchpad Accelerator announces startup selections in Africa, Brazil, and India

Posted by Roy Glasberg, Founder of Launchpad Accelerator

For the past six years, Launchpad has connected startups from around the world with the best of Google - its people, network, methodologies, and technologies. We have worked with market leaders in over 40 countries across 6 regional programs (San Francisco, Brazil, Africa, Israel, India, and Tokyo). Launchpad also includes a new program in Mexico announced earlier this year, along with our Indie Games Accelerator and Google.org AI for Social Good Accelerator programs.

We are pleased to announce that the next cohort of startups has been selected for our upcoming programs in Africa, Brazil, and India. We reviewed over 1,000 applications for these programs, and were thoroughly impressed with the quality of startups that indicated their interest. The startups chosen represent those using technology to create a positive impact on key industries in their region and we look forward to supporting them and connecting them with startup ecosystems around the world.

In Africa, we have selected 12 startups from 6 African countries for our 3rd class in this region:

54Gene (Nigeria) - Improving drug discovery by researching the genetically diverse African population
Data Integrated Limited (Kenya) - Automating and digitizing SME payments, connecting the street to high finance.
Instadiet.me (Egypt) - Connecting patients to credible nutritionists and dietitians to help them maintain a healthy and optimal weight online.
Kwara (Kenya) - Providing a rich digital banking platform to established fair lenders such as credit unions or savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs), with an open API to enable and accelerate their inclusion into the formal financial ecosystem.
OkHi (Kenya) - A physical addressing platform for emerging markets - on a mission to enable the billions without a physical address to "be included."
PAPS (Senegal) - Logistics startup focused on last mile delivery and domestic market, with strong client care orientation, allowing live tracking, intelligent adresses system and automatic dispatch.
ScholarX (Nigeria) - Connecting high potential students with funding opportunities to help them access an education
Swipe2pay (Uganda) - A web and mobile payments solution that democratizes electronic payments for SMEs by making it easy for them to accept mobile as a mode of payment.
Tambua Health Inc. (Kenya) - Turning a normal smartphone into a powerful, non-invasive diagnostic tool for Tuberculosis and Pneumonia. It uses a cough sound acoustic signature, symptoms, risk factors, and clinical information to come up with a diagnostic report.
Voyc.ai (South Africa) - A CX Research Platform that helps companies understand their customers by turning their customer research into insights, profiles, and customer journey maps.
WellaHealth (Nigeria) - A pharmacy marketplace for affordable, high-quality disease care driven by artificial intelligence starting with malaria.
Zelda Learning (South Africa) - Providing free online career guidance for students looking to enter university and linking them to funding and study opportunities.

In India, for our 2nd class, we are focused on seed to growth-stage startups that operate across a number of sectors using ML and AI to solve for India-specific problems:

Opentalk Pte Ltd - an app that connects people around the world to become better speakers and make new friends.
THB - Helping healthcare providers drive full potential value from their clinical data
Perceptiviti Data Solutions - An AI platform for Insurance claim Ffagging, payment integrity, fraud, and abuse management
DheeYantra - Cognitive conversational AI for Indian vernacular languages
Kaleidofin - Customized financial solutions that combine multiple financial products such as savings, credit, and insurance in intuitive ways to help customers achieve their financial goals.
FinancePeer - A P2P lending company that connects lenders with borrowers online.
SmartCoin - A go-to app for providing credit access to the vastly underserved lower- and middle-income segments through advanced AI/ML models.
HRBOT - Using AI and Video Analytics to find employable candidates in tier 2 & 3 cities remotely.
Savera.ai - Remotely mapping roofs to reflect the attractiveness of a solar power plant for your roof, followed by chatbot based support to help you learn about solar (savings, RoI, reviews etc.) and connections to local service providers.
Adiuvo Diagnostics - Rapid wound infection assessment and management device.

In Brazil, we have chosen startups that are applying ML in interesting ways and are solving for local challenges.

Accountfy - SaaS platform focused on FP&A tools. Users upload trial balances and financial statements are easily built through accounting figures. harts, alerts, reports and budgets can be created too.
Agilize - An online accounting firm that provides annual savings of $1,500, predictability, and transparency to small-sized business through a friendly platform and massive automation.
Blu365 - An innovative, data-driven, customer-centric debt negotiation platform that has been transforming positively the relationship between companies and customers .
Estante Mágica - Estante Mágica is a free platform that, in partnership with schools, turn students into real authors, making children protagonists of their own stories.
Gesto - GESTO is a health tech consulting firm that uses data science to intelligently manage health insurance.
Rebel -A data, tech, and analytics-driven platform whose mission is to lead the transformation of the financial services market in Brazil by empowering consumers.
SmarttBot - Empowering individuals with the best automated investment tools in order to give them edge against bigger investors and financial institutions and improve their chances of making money.
Social Miner - A technology able to predict if an e-commerce visitor will buy or not and create experiences based on the consumer journey phases.

Applications are still open for Launchpad Accelerator Mexico - if you are a LATAM-based startup using technology to solve big challenges for that region, please apply to the program here

As with all of our previous regional classes, these startups will benefit from customized programs, access to partners and mentors on the ground, and Google's support and dedication to their success.

Stay updated on developments and future opportunities by subscribing to the Google Developers newsletter, as well as The Launchpad Blog.

Source: Google Developers Blog

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

Launchpad Studio announces finance startup cohort, focused on applied-ML

Posted by Rich Hyndman, Global Tech Lead, Google Launchpad

Launchpad Studio is an acceleration program for the world's top startups. Founders work closely with Google and Alphabet product teams and experts to solve specific technical challenges and optimize their businesses for growth with machine learning. Last year we introduced our first applied-ML cohort focused on healthcare.

Today, we are excited to welcome the new cohort of Finance startups selected to participate in Launchpad Studio:

Alchemy (USA), bridging blockchain and the real world
Axinan (Singapore), providing smart insurance for the digital economy
Aye Finance (India), transforming financing in India
Celo (USA), increasing financial inclusion through a mobile-first cryptocurrency
Frontier Car Group (Germany), investing in the transformation of used-car marketplaces
Go-Jek (Indonesia), improving the welfare and livelihoods of informal sectors
GuiaBolso (Brazil), improving the financial lives of Brazilians
Inclusive (Ghana), verifying identities across Africa
m.Paani (India), (em)powering local retailers and the next billion users in India
Starling Bank (UK), improving financial health with a 100% mobile-only bank

These Studio startups have been invited from across nine countries and four continents to discuss how machine learning can be utilized for financial inclusion, stable currencies, and identification services. They are defining how ML and blockchain can supercharge efforts to include everyone and ensure greater prosperity for all. Together, data and user behavior are enabling a truly global economy with inclusive and differentiated products for banking, insurance, and credit.

Each startup is paired with a Google product manager to accelerate their product development, working alongside Google's ML research and development teams. Studio provides 1:1 mentoring and access to Google's people, network, thought leadership, and technology.

"Two of the biggest barriers to the large-scale adoption of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment are ease-of-use and purchasing-power volatility. When we heard about Studio and the opportunity to work with Google's AI teams, we were immediately excited as we believe the resulting work can be beneficial not just to Celo but for the industry as a whole." - Rene Reinsberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Celo

"Our technology has accelerated economic growth across Indonesia by raising the standard of living for millions of micro-entrepreneurs including ojek drivers, restaurant owners, small businesses and other professionals. We are very excited to work with Google, and explore more on how artificial intelligence and machine learning can help us strengthen our capabilities to drive even more positive social change not only to Indonesia, but also for the region." - Kevin Aluwi, Co-Founder and CIO of GO-JEK

"At Starling, we believe that data is the key to a healthy financial life. We are excited about the opportunity to work with Google to turn data into insights that will help consumers make better and more-informed financial decisions." - Anne Boden, Founder and CEO of Starling Bank

"At GuiaBolso, we use machine learning in different workstreams, but now we are doubling down on the technology to make our users' experience even more delightful. We see Studio as a way to speed that up." - Marcio Reis, CDO of GuiaBolso

Since launching in 2015, Google Developers Launchpad has become a global network of accelerators and partners with the shared mission of accelerating innovation that solves for the world's biggest challenges. Join us at one of our Regional Accelerators and follow Launchpad's applied ML best practices by subscribing to The Lever.

Source: Google Developers Blog

Google Developers Launchpad introduces The Lever, sharing applied-Machine Learning best practices

Posted by Malika Cantor, Program Manager for Launchpad

The Lever is Google Developers Launchpad's new resource for sharing applied-Machine Learning (ML) content to help startups innovate and thrive. In partnership with experts and leaders across Google and Alphabet, The Lever is operated by Launchpad, Google's global startup acceleration program. The Lever will publish the Launchpad community's experiences of integrating ML into products, and will include case studies, insights from mentors, and best practices from both Google and global thought leaders.

Peter Norvig, Google ML Research Director, and Cassie Kozyrkov, Google Cloud Chief Decision Scientist, are editors of the publication. Hear from them and other Googlers on the importance of developing and sharing applied ML product and business methodologies:

Peter Norvig (Google ML Research, Director): "The software industry has had 50 years to perfect a methodology of software development. In Machine Learning, we've only had a few years, so companies need to pay more attention to the process in order to create products that are reliable, up-to-date, have good accuracy, and are respectful of their customers' private data."

Cassie Kozyrkov (Chief Decision Scientist, Google Cloud): "We live in exciting times where the contributions of researchers have finally made it possible for non-experts to do amazing things with Artificial Intelligence. Now that anyone can stand on the shoulders of giants, process-oriented avenues of inquiry around how to best apply ML are coming to the forefront. Among these is decision intelligence engineering: a new approach to ML, focusing on how to discover opportunities and build towards safe, effective, and reliable solutions. The world is poised to make data more useful than ever before!"

Clemens Mewald (Lead, Machine Learning X and TensorFlow X): "ML/AI has had a profound impact in many areas, but I would argue that we're still very early in this journey. Many applications of ML are incremental improvements on existing features and products. Video recommendations are more relevant, ads have become more targeted and personalized. However, as Sundar said, AI is more profound than electricity (or fire). Electricity enabled modern technology, computing, and the internet. What new products will be enabled by ML/AI? I am convinced that the right ML product methodologies will help lead the way to magical products that have previously been unthinkable."

We invite you to follow the publication, and actively comment on our blog posts to share your own experience and insights.

Source: Google Developers Blog

Launchpad Accelerator expands with regional programs

Posted by Josh Yellin - Global Lead, Launchpad Accelerator

For the past five years, Launchpad has been connecting startups from around the world with the best of Google - its people, network, methodologies, and technologies. We have worked with market leaders including BrainQ (Israel), Flutterwave (Nigeria), Jumo (South Africa), Nestaway (India), and Nubank (Brazil), empowering their sustainable growth through high-touch programs in AI/ML implementation, leadership best-practices, and access to global capital.

In order to better support startup ecosystems in key regions, we're thrilled to expand Launchpad Accelerator by introducing new, standalone initiatives. Building on Google VP Yossi Matias's initial engagement with startups in Tel Aviv, we are introducing accelerators in Tel Aviv, Israel; Lagos, Nigeria; and São Paulo, Brazil. These regional accelerators are representative of our long-term commitment to support and learn from startup ecosystems around the world.

In Tel Aviv, we are working with Machine Learning startups. Our first class launched in March with four ML startups focused on healthcare technology solutions. If you are interested in joining our next class, you can find more information here.

In Lagos, we are working with seed-stage companies solving a range of market-related problems. Our first class, which also launched in March, includes 12 startups working across e-commerce, education, and supply chain. Learn more about the Launchpad Africa program here.

In São Paulo, we will be working with growth-stage companies that operate across a number of sectors. The application for Class One is currently open and will begin in May 2018. If you wish to apply, please do so here.

We will continue to operate a program in San Francisco for top growth-stage global startups. With the addition of accelerators in key regions, we are able to design more customized programs, develop stronger relationships with our partners on the ground, and support the growth of local startup ecosystems.

Stay updated on developments and future opportunities by subscribing to the Google Developers newsletter.

Source: Google Developers Blog

Google Developers Launchpad Studio welcomes more machine learning healthcare startups

Posted by Malika Cantor, Developer Relations Program Manager

We're excited to announce the three new startups joining Launchpad Studio, our 6-month mentorship program tailored to help applied-machine learning startups build great products using the most advanced tools and technologies available. We intend to support these startups by leveraging some of our platforms like Google Cloud Platform, TensorFlow, and Android, while also providing one-on-one support from product and research experts from several Google teams including Google Cloud, Verily, X, Brain, and ML Research. Launchpad Studio has also enlisted the expertise of a number of top industry practitioners and thought leaders to ensure Studio startups are successful over the long-term. These three startups were selected based on the novel ways they've applied ML to important challenges in the Healthcare industry:

Nanowear: Managing congestive heart failure

The annual cost of treating heart failures in the US is currently estimated to be ~$40bn annually. With the continued aging of the US population, the impact of Congestive Heart Failure is expected to increase substantially.

Through light-weight, low-cost cloth-based form factors, Nanowear can capture and transmit medical-grade data directly from the skin enabling deep analytics and prescriptive recommendations. As a first product application, Nanowear's SimpleSense aims to transform Congestive Heart Failure management.

Nanowear intends to develop predictive models that provide both physicians and patients with leading indicators and data to anticipate potential hospitalizing events. Combining these datasets with deep machine learning capabilities will position Nanowear at the epicenter of the next generation of telemedicine and connected-self healthcare.

Owkin: Decentralizing healthcare data

With the big data revolution, the medical and scientific communities have more information to work with than in all of history combined. However, with such a wealth of information, it is increasingly difficult to differentiate productive leads from dead ends.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning powered by systems biology can organize, validate, predict and compare the overabundance of information. Owkin builds mathematical models and algorithms that can interpret omics, visual data, biostatistics and patient profiles.

Owkin is focused on federated learning in healthcare to overcome the data sharing problem, building collective intelligence from distributed data.

Portal Telemedicina: Bringing healthcare to rural areas

A low percentage of healthcare specialists per patient and no interoperability between medical devices causes exam results in Brazil to take an average of 60 days to be ready, cost hundreds of dollars, and leaves millions of people with no access to quality healthcare.

The standard solution for such a problem is Telemedicine, but the lack of direct automatic communication with medical devices and pre processing AI behind it hurts its scalability, resulting in very low adoption worldwide.

Portal Telemedicina is a digital healthcare platform that provides reliable, fast, low-cost online diagnostics to hundreds of cities in Brazil. Thanks to revolutionary communication protocols and AI automation, the solution enables interoperability across systems and patients. Exams are handled seamlessly from medical devices to diagnostics. The company counts on a huge proprietary dataset and uses Google's TensorFlow to train machine learning algorithms in millions of images and correlated health records to predict pathologies at human level accuracy.

Leveraging artificial intelligence to empower doctors, the startup helps millions of lives in Brazil and wants to expand and provide universal access to healthcare.

More about the Launchpad Studio program

Each startup will get tailored, equity-free support, with the goal of successfully completing a ML-focused project during the term of the program. To support this process, we provide resources, including deep engagement with engineers in Google Cloud, Google X, and other product teams, as well as Google Cloud credits. We also include both Google Cloud Platform and GSuite training in our engagement with all Studio startups.

Join Us

Based in San Francisco, Launchpad Studio is a fully tailored product development acceleration program that matches top ML startups and experts from Silicon Valley with the best of Google - its people, network, and advanced technologies - to help accelerate applied ML and AI innovation. The program's mandate is to support the growth of the ML ecosystem, and to develop product methodologies for ML.

Launchpad Studio is looking to work with the best and most game-changing ML startups from around the world. While we're currently focused on working with startups in the Healthcare and Biotech space, we'll soon be announcing other industry verticals, and any startup applying AI / ML technology to a specific industry vertical can apply on a rolling-basis.

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):