Facebook sees huge potential in Indian startups, to invest more in 2018

Impressed with the current growth of Indian startup ecosystem, social media giant Facebook is willing to invest in more startups in the country in 2018.

India is a home to over 241 million Facebook users, which accounts 11 percent of the total users and the largest in the world. This means a lot to India, where government initiatives under Startup India campaign such as simplifying regulations, tax exemption, and a fund-of-funds have attracted the startup ecosystem.

“India is producing a new generation of startups that have incredible potential. Facebook is committed to helping create economic growth opportunities for startups and skill seekers in India and will continue investing in India’s digital skills of the future,” said Ankhi Das, director of public policy for Facebook in India.

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The US-based firm will look to support small businesses in India, particularly those run by women to help them connect, share and grow through more initiatives like #SheMeansBusiness and SheLeadsTech. These programmes give women-founded/co-founded startups access to a year-long program that provides tools, mentorship, and resources to grow their business.

Through #SheMeansBusiness, the social media company has visited 18 cities across 6 states in India, providing skills training to more than 14,000 small businesses and self-help groups including 12,000 women entrepreneurs across the country.

Facebook's recent development in India

Last month, Facebook announced accelerator programs to help foster future talent that will help tech startups, developers, and students in India build products using emerging technologies.

Earlier, the social media behemoth announced to launch its original video offering ‘watch’ in India by early next year. Watch will be rolled-out between January and March next year.

In the same month, Mark Zuckerberg led company started piloting an Olx-Quikr-kind-of-model in India called “Marketplace”, where it will connect local buyers and sellers.

It also launched an app called Facebook Creator that will allow video creators to make original videos, go live with exclusive features and connect with their community on the social networking site.

The report was first published in Mint.