EXCLUSIVE: This is how IBM is supporting Indian start-ups

IBM has strategically been working towards supporting start-ups.

One of such strategies is IBM SmartCamp which is a part of IBM’s Global Entrepreneur program initiative.

The event was aimed at identifying startups in the B2B and B2C space in India who are redefining the various redefine the healthcare industry through their technology innovations. The winners of IBM Smartcamp will be given access to IBM Cloud credits and can leverage the best of IBM technologies around Cognitive, Cloud, Analytics, Mobility, IoT and Infrastructure as a service. All participants will also get an opportunity to learn from IBM’s senior leadership and industry experts. IBM had also organized IBM Smartcamp for FinTech and HealthTech in 2016.

Last week the company announced Zippr Private Limited as the winner of its IBM Smartcamp for Smart City 2016 challenge, an exclusive program aimed at identifying Startups having cutting edge innovations across multiple sectors like Energy & Utility, Transportation, Sanitation, Water, Citizen Management, Safety and Surveillance and Agritech in India.

Smart Camp event held on November 18, 2016, in New Delhi was a great opportunity for the participating startups to present their solutions to a panel of VCs, angel investors, enterprise CIOs, IBM executives and key influencers across various domains.

Business Insider caught up with Seema Kumar, Country Manager, Ecosystem Development, IBM India & South Asia at the Delhi Smart Camp Event “With this initiative, IBM also provides technical mentoring, assist the go-to-market and work with the accelerators of India. The primary focus for IBM through Smartcamp is to identify the next gen Startups in different industries and helping them scale.We are working with nascent companies that have open APIs and the right team to take their ideas forward. We wish to share our clients with them and make work meaningful for them at IBM.”

IBM Global Entrepreneur Program is a startup initiative by IBM which engages with the startups and provides them free cloud credits on IBM Cloud Solutions worth $24,000 for one year.

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Next in line in the Smartcamp series is the Smartcamp for Deep Tech will be organized in Bangalore. IBM Global Entrepreneur program is accepting applications from B2B and B2C Startups less than 5 years having innovations around areas like IoT,Big Data & Analytics, Security, Storage, BI, Mobile, Cognitive & Machine Learning, Blockchain, Social, Infrastructure Services Management or Cloud.

​The link for applying is here.