GenNext Hub launched by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in 2014 in partnership with Microsoft Ventures is a startup platform that provides mentoring and investments for the founders for launching their startups. The Jio-GenNext is a RIL backed startup accelerator that advises and mentors exceptional founders for launching their startups in the Jio ecosystem. The chairman of RIL, Shri Mukesh D Ambani says,” Entrepreneurs need to create societal value. They have to solve a problem which does good in some way. This has to be the main objective of the business and financial returns are actually a by-product. If you focus only on financial returns chances are that you would not really become great and achieve your passion”. The Board member, RIL and chairman, Reliance Innovation Council, Dr. Raghunath Anant Mashelkar says” JioGenNext provides a platform for young aspirational technopreneurs with ignited minds to achieve minds to achieve non-linear growth with speed, scale, and sustainability that is unmatched”.
The Jio-GenNext gives the new founders having innovative startup ideas an opportunity to stand out of the crowd and make it work in real-time that help our country’s economy. It indeed has supported many young entrepreneurs to build up their startup dreams and that foundation is been given by the GenNext Hub. The objective of the GenNext Hub is to provide the aspiring entrepreneurs with validation and mentoring other than investments from Reliance ecosystem of business. “They can explore Proof of concepts and validate their technology to address scale-up challenges,” says Amey Mashelkar, a mentor in residence at GenNext Innovation Hub. The Reliance industries do not alone invest in the startups but it partners with other power companies across India to provide larger infrastructure. Many of the companies have actually been successful and seen an exceptional growth in their startups with the help of Jio GenNext. Few of the successful companies are Dattus, enguru, Interview Mocha, LegalDesk, HeadSpin, Recipe Book and many more.
How do the Jio GenNext works?
For someone who wants to be the part of GenNext Innovation Hub, the founders have to apply for Jio GenNext for its quarterly accelerator programme.
The selection would be done by the jury, it gets selected the founders would go through a 3 months immersive programme to discover market needs and launch their startup.
In the 3 months period, the founders will be given the advice and be mentoring regarding their startups from various Reliance Business leaders to build their startups.
The startups that the GenNext Innovation Hub is looking for is focussed on technology and sector,
Technology Focus:
- AI/Machine,
- Learning,
- BlockChain,
- AR/VR,
- Consumer & Industrial IoT
- Data Analytics,
- Drones,UX,SaaS,3D printing,
- India Stack, Mobile applications, Automation tools, Smart materials
Sector Focus:
Healthcare, Education, Fintech, Retail & Logistics, Travel, Gaming, Media, Original content, Adtech, Agriculture, E-Commerce, Learning and Development, Cyber Security, Enterprise IT, Telcom.
To be a part of Jio GenNext Summer 2018, apply in www.jiogennext.com
The deadline of JIo GenNext Summer 2018 is 31 May,
Pitch to the jury: end of July
Batch starts: mid-July
The GenNext Hub has two programs for accelerator and accelerator. The JioGenNext is an accelerated investor type. The Accelerator program focuses on the concept-stage. It is for product-ready businesses that are looking to enter the market. The Jio-GenNext hub provides guidance to the selected founders through the mentors from various industries across India. The goal of this hub is that to groom, nurture high potential startups by providing high engagement to strengthen and grow customer traction. It gives the advice on several aspects of technology, user experience, design and goes to market strategy. It makes sure that at the end of the programme the founder has full support to build their company and grow their company into successful global companies.
What does the Jio-GenNext hub look for in the founders?
The parameters that the Jio-genNext looks for in the selected founders of the startups are Aptitude, Determination, Empathy, Confidence, Patience, Decisiveness, flexibility, leading by example and good listeners.
The only thing that an entrepreneur needs who want help from Jio GenNext is to have an innovative startup idea that is likely to succeed and meets the competitive world. Once the idea is selected by the jury, everything would be taken care by the mentors of Jio GenNext. It is a great opportunity for the startups as they do not charge any fee. Only the travel and living expenses are up to them. The participants will be receiving guidance not only through the RIL business leaders but also executives and technical experts from Microsoft will be available on regular basis throughout the programme to provide feedback and opportunities.
