Telangana AI Mission launches Investor Connect for startups

Hyderabad, Oct 21 The Telangana AI Mission (T-AIM) on Thursday launched an Investor Connect program that will provide startups with the opportunity to access growth capital.

To be executed in partnership with NASSCOM 10,000 Startups, the program will be conducted through four different sessions starting this month until December.

The program will feature Revv Up startups in education, agriculture, retail, sports, finance and healthcare among others. The investor community will largely comprise venture capital firms and prominent angel networks.

Officials said more than 30 startups enrolled in the Revv Up accelerator program of T-AIM will discuss their fundraising requirements with up to 30 institutional investors.

In August 2021, 42 startups from across the country were selected for the Revv Up acceleration program. The program offers a variety of opportunities for startups that aspire to build scalable businesses using artificial intelligence.

Speaking on the occasion, Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Government of Telangana noted the innovator and tech ecosystem in Hyderabad is steadily creating a strong value proposition for investors. "While we remain committed to nurturing the innovation ecosystem in the state, I'm hopeful that the investor community will continue to empower startups to create sustainable, large-scale impact," he said.

Sandro Stephen, Vice President-Sourcing & Investor Relations, Indian Angel Network (IAN), pointed out that IAN has been continuously engaging with the startup community. "We're glad to partner with this initiative by T-AIM, which aims to create a massive impact by connecting early stage startups to relevant stakeholders in the ecosystem," he said.

The T-AIM is a specialised initiative setup under the auspices of the Emerging Technologies Wing of the Government of Telangana's IT department, which is assigned with a mandate to make Telangana and Hyderabad the global AI hub in the coming years.