Oracle announces startup finalists from India

Oracle announced the first group of startup finalists for the Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator Program. The Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator Program was launched in April 2016 at Oracle CloudWorld Mumbai to help catalyse India's startup ecosystem and to provide support to the country’s Digital India initiatives.

In a span of four weeks, the program received a tremendous response from early-stage technology and technology-enabled startups. The panel of judges (which included the advisors and mentors of the program, as well as senior executives from Oracle) reviewed each application to evaluate the business concept, level of innovation, scalability and potential to solve real-life problems for their customers, as well as to make an impact on the segment of society on which they focussed. After this rigorous evaluation, panelists chose these five start-ups:

•  ExpertRec: a plug-n-play search and recommendation engine for online market places in an easy to use SaaS integration. Customers need to add a single line of code to enable these advanced features on their website.
•  Niyo Solutions: a Fin-Tech startup focussed on alternate payment mechanisms.
•  Ray iCare: a sleep monitoring device, for Epilepsy, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Cardiac Attacks. It can be installed on a wall and uses Artificial Intelligence to notify attacks to care-givers through a mobile app.
• Tydy: a mobile-first, automated employee on-boarding platform. It gives executives a clear view on the performance of the on-boarding process - a process that was never before quantifiable.
• Vear: an AR/VR technology platform which is device agnostic. It can be used by brands to distribute their content, campaigns and more to end users through augmented/virtual reality.

As part of the Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator Program, the finalists will receive:

• Over 125 hours of combined mentorship from Oracle and industry experts, some of whom include CTOs and CIOs of established startups and other peer organisations.
• 24x7 access to a co-working space within Oracle’s premises, with internet connectivity. This will give startups the ability and flexibility to work around-the-clock. The space also includes an activity centre, a café and a creative, fun, healthy working environment.
• Access to Oracle’s vast ecosystem of customers and partners as they are encouraged to reach out to relevant businesses and markets.
• Ongoing interactions and sessions with the investor community to give them the right platform for growth and success.
•  Access to Oracle Cloud including training, at no charge. After completing the six-month program, the startups that have leveraged the Oracle Cloud for their business may be eligible to continue using it for an extended period.

On the last day of the program, startups will be given the opportunity to pitch their idea and showcase a demo to prominent technology investors and leaders. Graduating startups will also be enrolled in the Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator’s alumni program. The alumni program will provide extended support to these startups, including on-going access to the mentor network and networking platform. Qualifying startups will also gain fast-track membership into Oracle Partner Network, which now includes about 25,000 consultants, integrators, value-added resellers, and other similar firms worldwide that have earned special access to Oracle demonstration environments, Oracle expertise, and joint marketing and sales programs.

“The entrepreneurial spirit in our country is going through a complete revolution. We see cloud technology playing a crucial role in enabling this change,” said Sanket Atal, Group Vice President of Development, Oracle India. “I would like to welcome these startups and look forward to working with them to build their business ideas for a better tomorrow.”

The Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator is a first-of-its-kind global startup accelerator initiative by Oracle. Oracle India is leading the initiative for the company. The initiative targets midsize firms, including MSMEs (micro, small, medium sized enterprises) and startups, which are recognised as a highly vibrant and dynamic sector of the Indian economy that contributes more than 37 per cent to India’s GDP.