Eight NetApp Excellerator Start-Ups Demonstrate Unrestrained Innovation

NetApp, Inc. announced the graduation of its eighth cohort of the start-up accelerator program, NetApp Excellerator.

Netapp Excellerator Start Ups Demonstrate Unrestrained Innovation In Futuristic Tech

The 8 business-to-business (B2B) tech start-ups, which all share a focus on deep tech, including AI, ML, cloud, and data, graduated via a recent virtual demo day event.

The graduating start-ups, Data Sutram, FireCompass Technologies Private Ltd., Metabob, Inc., Maxbyte Technologies, Nife Labs Pte Ltd, Snapblocs, Inc., State of Mind (GOWIF Technologies Pvt. Ltd ), and Tongadive Ltd delivered pitches relating technologies such as security, location intelligence, smart manufacturing, and employee experience, to a live digital audience of venture capitalists, investors, and NetApp leaders.

Speaking about the graduation, Ravi Chhabria, MD, NetApp India, said: “Events from 2020 have emphasized the importance of developing equitable, sustainable, and scalable businesses, with a people-centric approach. One of our participating start-ups, State of Mind, an AI-driven conversational intelligence platform, is working with our HR team to improve employee experience and well-being. This is yet another example of data providing business value, in this case improving employee experience and increasing engagement and retention of talent.“

Paid PoC have been an integral part of the program in fine-tuning the start-up offerings and technology.

Emphasizing this aspect in delivering customer-centricity, Chhabria further said: “Another topically relevant start-up, FireCompass, is working with our information security team to test the resilience of their threat-detection tool. Today, digital transformation is driving the future of work, and having worked with 50 start-ups, we are able to amplify our ability to innovate.“

As proof of the growing reach of the program, 5 of the 8 start-ups, Metabob, Snapblocs, Nife, FireCompass, and Tongadive, are spread across 3 countries-the US, the UK, and Singapore. All of these start-ups are being mentored by tech leaders from NetApp India, further establishing the center as a hotbed of innovation and technology growth for relevant solutions.

“Solving real-world challenges with data is built into our DNA. The need for business resilience and digital transformation has brought out the best in this cohort of start-ups to tackle the most pressing problems. We couldn’t be more proud of the founders, who are unrestrained in their ability to transform and modernize across industries, despite the obvious constraints brought in by the pandemic,” said Madhurima Agarwal, director of engineering programs, and leader, NetApp Excellerator.

Alluding to the broad reach of the accelerator program beyond the participating start-ups, he added: “We are associating with prestigious industry bodies to invest in the rapid transformation of the start-up ecosystem. As an exciting opportunity to harness our cloud expertise, we have partnered with NASSCOM Deep Tech Club 2.0 to elevate India-based pioneering start-ups in this space.“

Through this association, NetApp will lend its cloud-and data-related technology leadership to the start-ups that NASSCOM and other industry partners are seeking to mentor.

NetApp ExcellerateHER, a core diversity-driven initiative, engaged the second collective of women-led start-ups, FireCompass, Tongadive, and Nife. It taps the power of the accelerator network to further women entrepreneurs in this digital-first world.

Since its inception in 2017, the NetApp Excellerator program has received over 1,700 applications. Applications are open for the ninth cohort, with focus areas including cloud, IoT, big data and analytics, ML, virtualization, data security, data management, and storage.