This accelerator program’s inaugural iteration, which began in August 2023, gathered together financial and sectoral specialists to give insightful, industry-led mentorship to the selected firms.
Delhivery has partnered with private equity company Nexus Ventures and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to create Velocity, a six-week startup accelerator program designed to foster and empower the next generation of logistics entrepreneurs and innovators.
This accelerator program’s inaugural iteration, which began in August 2023, gathered together financial and sectoral specialists to give insightful, industry-led mentorship to the selected firms. It includes 15+ talks from mentors such as Vibhor Jain, President – Network Governance & COO of ONDC; Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Food Marketplace at Swiggy; and Naman Jain, Founder of Falcon Autotech, addressing a wide spectrum of issues vital for entrepreneurs.
It said that 20 early-stage firms were chosen from a pool of 234 applications. The cohort featured warehousing firms like ODWEN, warehouse, and warehousity; EV fleet providers like EVIFY and Zyngo; agritech startups like Upjao Agrotech and E Sandhai; and aggregator platforms like Paapos, Hyphen SCS, and Loadexx, among others.
“With insights, knowledge, and practical advice on people and culture, fundraising strategies, growth hacking, and profitability, startups presented their solutions to VCs and influential superangels.” In addition, each firm got $25,000 in AWS Activate Credits, which can be used to access AWS cloud services for creating and extending their technological infrastructure without incurring hefty upfront expenditures, according to the company’s regulatory filing.
“Open Networks like ONDC can address inefficiencies in supply chains by enabling unlocks through an interoperable network of platforms/applications,” stated Vibhor Jain, President, Network Governance, and COO of ONDC. These unlocks will enable more discovery, higher logistical utilization, and lower credit costs, resulting in enhanced supply chain efficiency.” He went on to say, “It will be exciting to see some startups build their businesses around the ONDC Network in the logistics, supply chain, or mobility space as part of the AWS Velocity Accelerator Program.”
“The agri commodities that face severe inconsistencies at source due to human interface require AI-driven solutions to standardize the quality control process,” stated Ritu Mishra, Co-founder & Product Head of Upjao. The Velocity program provided us with an opportunity to interact closely with industry experts and venture capitalists. This, in turn, reinforced our objective of quantifying agri-commodity quality at each node in the supply chain.”
Speaking on the program’s completion, Kapil Bharati, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Director of Delhivery, stated, “Given the size and growth trajectory of the Indian economy, the logistics industry will experience exponential growth in the foreseeable future.” The initiative will aid in the development of a logistic ecosystem that will enable young entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into viable, effective business solutions.”
With the completion of the program, companies from the cohort are now members of a peer-to-peer network that fosters collaboration and allows them to benefit from each other’s experiences and triumphs.
