As part of its ongoing initiative to encourage innovation in India, Tata Communications announces its support of iAccelerator, a start-up incubation programme that provides Indian technology entrepreneurs access to mentoring, infrastructure and investment support to kick start their businesses.

iAccelerator is the flagship program of the Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM Ahmedabad. Since its inception in 2009, the program has helped launch 17 successful start-ups in the Internet/mobile domain.

Tata Communications’ senior executives will mentor the entrepreneurs to launch their ideas. In addition, Accelerator participants will also have access to the company’s leading cloud, connectivity and collaboration tools* necessary to succeed in a global business community.

Nine start-ups have been selected for this year’s programme and have already been provided with working space, IT infrastructure, seed capital and mentoring from a team of industry experts in order to showcase their final prototype/product in front of angel investors at the end of January 2012.  

Pranay Gupta, Joint CEO, Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) says, “In today’s globally connected environment it was important to support our finalists with reliable and sophisticated cloud, global connectivity and collaboration tools which is why there was no question in our mind that Tata Communications should be part of the iAccelerator programme this year. We are looking forward to seeing how the start-ups make use of their access to this world-class infrastructure to further their businesses and achieve economies of scale.”

Srinivasa Addepalli, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Tata Communications says, “Investing  in talent and our communities  is a core pillar of our business philosophy. The importance start-ups play in driving economic regeneration and innovation is unquestionable. Tata Communications is excited to work with these rising stars to help them reach their full potential.”