Flipkart Ventures to focus on Gen AI startups in third accelerator program

Flipkart Ventures has invited applications for the third cohort of its accelerator program—Flipkart Leap Ahead (FLA).

As per Flipkart Ventures, the selected companies that leverage GenAI in their core solutions across sectors will receive equity investments between $200,000 and $500,000.

Early-stage tech startups can submit their applications from April 22 to May 26, 2024. 

As a part of the program, the selected startups will undergo a two-month mentorship from industry veterans, operators, and founders. The schedule will culminate in a demo day when startups showcase their progress, and plans to potential investors to secure additional funding for their expansion.

Flipkart Ventures has funded over 15 startups across sectors like deeptech, fintech, healthtech, generative AI, and climate and sustainability in its previous two cohorts. 

In September 2023, Flipkart Ventures announced that it will back five startups including FlexifyMe, Algomage, Castler, NimbleBox.ai, and ReCircle as part of Flipkart Leap Ahead accelerator programme.

Following the popularity of ChatGPT and several other generative AI platforms, VCs are now shifting their focus to this new space. In December 2023, Sarvam AI raised $41 million in a Series A round led by Lightspeed while Ema scooped up $25 million which is the second largest funding for an early-stage startup operating in this space. Another Gen AI company Vodex raised $2 million in its seed round from Unicorn India Ventures and Pentathlon Ventures. Earlier this month, Neysa secured $20 million in seed funding led by Matrix Partners India, Nexus Venture Partners, and NTTV.