Google Launchpad Accelerator India shortlists 10 startups

Google on Friday announced the first batch of 10 short-listed startups who will be part of its "Launchpad Accelerator" mentorship programme in India. The inaugural class will begin on September 10 at the Google office in Bengaluru.

The startups will go through a two-week intensive mentorship boot camp, followed by customised virtual support for the remaining duration of three months, the company said in a statement."The shortlisted startups are doing incredible work in areas ranging from, enhancing employability and earning-abilities of the blue-collar workforce to using satellite imagery to support farmers' decision making process," said Paul Ravindranath G, Programme Manager, Google India.

Among the selected startups is CareNx -- a smartphone-enabled fetal heart monitor for early detection of fetal asphyxia."Vassar Labs" uses sensors, satellite and crowd-sourced data to provide decision-making support in sectors such as water, agriculture, education and more. Wysa is an AI-based chat therapy for mental health while MultiBhashi is a simplified language learning platform for blue-collar workforce and "Next Billion Indian" online users."Genrobotics is a semi-automatic robot for manhole cleaning directed to bring the practice of manual scavenging to an end in India," said Google.