Initiative on health tech solutions

Islamabad : Tech titan Google has announced it is launching the seventh edition of the Google for Startups Accelerator (GFSA) for Southeast Asia (SEA) and Pakistan, where it will enrol up to 15 seed and series A startups focused on resolving the region’s most important challenges, particularly in fintech, health tech, retail and e-commerce and SME-focused B2B solutions.

According to it, the three-month programme will help startups solve their specific challenges by providing the best of Google resources: Googler mentors, a network of new contacts to help them on their journeys, and the most cutting-edge technology.

Throughout the programme, startups will receive customised mentorship from Google’s global mentor network, access to Google's artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud, Android, and web experts, as well as training in fields such as product design, business strategy, customer acquisition, and leadership development.

Since Google’s first GFSA launch in 2016, it has supported over 90 startups, who have then gone on to raise over US$5.4 billion in funding and created more than 1,600 jobs across Southeast Asia and Pakistan. A notable alumni is DeafTalk from Pakistan, which participated in GFSA 2020 and has provided accessibility solutions for deaf people, including online sign language interpretation, audio-video translation and sign language training.

The latest GFSA is open for applications at startup.google.com/accelerator to startups headquartered in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam until October 7.