The Google Launchpad accelerator is a program that was introduced by Google in late 2015, to give select startups from around the world the best resources, access to great mentors, and help accelerating their product. The program was initially available to startups in India, Brazil, and Indonesia.
Google’s target is to help startups build products on its platform and become successful doing it and ensuing that every startup has access to the best resources that the ecosystem can provide. Startups participating in the accelerator receive $250,000 worth of assistance, including $50,000 in seed funding with zero equity taken, credits to use Google products, physical space in their country to work, access to a two-week boot camp in Mountain View, California, and six months of mentorship in the program before they graduate.
The tech giant has announced that it will be expanding to include startups from certain European and African countries. Now, entrepreneurs from these regions can join the 47 graduates and 31 startups currently participating. The program now expands to the following countries starting today:
- Africa: Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa
- Europe: Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary
Participants from these countries will be competing alongside Asian (India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Philippines) and Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico).
The next mentoring session is starting on July 17 and applications are open until April 24.
