India is the first to roll-out the program focused on enabling early-stage startups in the public sector.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the launch of AWS Public Sector Startup Ramp in India, a new program to help early stage public sector focused technology startups build solutions on AWS.
AWS Startup Ramp is an acceleration program for startups that are building innovative solutions for public sector customers worldwide, including but not limited to customers in national and local government, space and defense, and healthcare. Startups in their early stage growth can apply to join the AWS Startup Ramp in one of two tiers: pre-revenue startups can apply to the Innovator tier, and post-revenue startups (with up to INR 100 crores in revenue) can apply to the Member tier. Startups meeting all qualifying application criteria will be reviewed and evaluated for participation based on their potential contributions to public sector customers.
AWS Startup Ramp is modeled after AWS EdStart, which works with education technology (EdTech) focused startups, and AWS GovTechStart, our US-based program that supports commercial technology companies serving state and local governments. Each program offers eligible companies support including access to AWS Promotional Credit, technical training and support, a community of experts, and more.
“We are excited to launch the AWS Startup Ramp in India where there is incredible opportunity for startups to solve public sector challenges through their innovative solutions. This global initiative is a critical way for us to support startups who are using technology to change the world,” said Sandy Carter, vice president of public sector partners and programs at AWS.
“Our experience in India has shown that public sector organizations are increasingly keen to experiment with new ideas and technologies to advance their missions at speed and scale. Startups bring disruptive innovative solutions that create broad impact, and can pivot quickly to meet society’s changing needs. We are doubling down on our focus to serve the public sector, and empower startups with the new AWS Startup Ramp program. We are thrilled to introduce the program to expand the capabilities of India’s strong and aspiring startup ecosystem,” said Rahul Sharma, President, Public Sector – AISPL, AWS India and South Asia.
Startups and industry experts weigh in on the value of this new AWS initiative
During the development phase of the AWS Startup Ramp program, we worked with several startups focused on the distinct needs of the government technology sector. Learn how three of these companies worked with AWS Startup Ramp to accelerate development of new cloud-based technologies.
Anil Nadig, co-founder of TraceX, a technology platform leveraging blockchain for a connected, clean, traceable, and transparent supply chain, shared, “Working with AWS greatly helped accelerate our product development. The solution architects from AWS helped us in technology selection, cost optimization, and refinement of our application architecture for enabling our implementations at scale. As a matter of fact, AWS solution architects were at the forefront, helping us build resilience in our infrastructure and application architectures to prevent distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.”
Fintech startup Whrrl is working to revolutionize the post-harvest ecosystem through its integrated blockchain platform. Their service helps reduce fraud risk that banks face with warehouse receipt finance, and provides warehousing and marketplace facilities to farmers that will aid in solving problems such as distress sale, access to finance, and market linkage. “With AWS in the picture, we have always been ultra-sure about two things: first, the belief in our systems‘ performance and their uptime. We are assured that with AWS support, we will not disappoint our stakeholders. Second, the financial support in the form of AWS Promotional Credit that we’ve received is hugely helpful for us as an early-stage startup,” said Ashish Anand, chief executive officer (CEO) of Whrrl.
Praveen Kuruganti, co-founder of Unmiti, an agritech startup that is working to monitor and evaluate agriculture projects, shared, “The AWS team has been helpful during the initial phases of our company. AWS is the best cloud solution available in the market, both in terms of technology superiority and pricing. Most of our data is sensitive information related to the farmers and farmland, and with security features of AWS implemented, we are able to manage data security with ease.”
How to join AWS Startup Ramp
If you have a big idea for a company that can help enable government entities to better serve its citizens, AWS Startup Ramp can help. By joining the program, AWS Startup Ramp members will have access to technical experts, education, and live or virtual events. You will build solutions on the same scalable platform used by QLess, Juvare, OpenGov, and SOMA Global.
From idea to IPO and beyond, AWS looks to continually help improve public sector focused technology services and solutions. Through AWS Startup Ramp, qualifying startups can get access to low cost, simple-to-use infrastructure designed to enable it to scale and grow a business of any size.
