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
Since joining the accelerator, these startups have made great strides and are going from strength to strength. Some recent announcements from this cohort include:
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.
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:
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:
In Brazil, we have chosen startups that are applying ML in interesting ways and are solving for local challenges.
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.
Posted by Francisco Solsona, Developer Relations Manager, Google Hispanoamerica
The Latin American startup ecosystem is thriving. Many success stories from the region have served as inspiration for entrepreneurs and investors alike. To build upon this momentum, we believe it is important to continue supporting programs for entrepreneurs that are using technology to solve some of the region's biggest challenges.
That's why we are happy to announce Launchpad Accelerator Mexico, a program focused on helping startups throughout Latin America create attractive, scalable, and impactful products and technologies. This program has existed in different parts of the world such as Israel, Tel Aviv; Nigeria, Lagos; Brazil, São Paulo; and now comes to Mexico City thanks to our partnership with Centraal, a thriving co-working space.
Access to new technologies and technical experts is essential to guarantee startup success. With Google Cloud serving as backbone for today's global startups, Launchpad Accelerator Mexico will help startups overcome technological challenges in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Android, and web solutions.
The inaugural program will last three months and will offer technical support on an initially defined, high impact project. The cohort of entrepreneurs will have access to a group of mentors from Google and other industry experts.
This program is for your startup if:
Registration for the inaugural class is now open and startups can apply using this form. Registration remains open until March 15. The selected startups will be announced on March 21 and will start working with Google on April 29, 2019.
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.
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 Africa to 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):
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:
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.
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.
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:
Additionally, we are interested in what kind of startup you are. We also consider:
We can't wait to hear from you and see how we can work together to improve your business.
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.
