Amazon Web Services has announced the launch of the new AWS Generative AI Spotlight program in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), a four-week accelerator program to nurture pre-seed and seed-stage ready startups in the region who are building generative AI applications. The program will help selected startups to accelerate their understanding of and fluency with generative AI tools and services from AWS by providing them access to business and technical knowledge and expertise from industry experts, founders, and investors, as well as peer support from a community of innovators of fellow cohort members from across the region. 

The cohort participants will also have access to the AWS startup flagship AWS Activate program and receive up to US$100,000 in AWS Credits, subject to Accelerator T&C and AWS discretion. 

In a statement, Amitabh Nagpal, Head of the Startup Ecosystem at AWS India, remarked that Generative AI offers businesses immense potential to accelerate innovation, revolutionize industries, and drive economic growth.

The AWS Generative AI Spotlight program in APJ collaborates with venture capital firms and organizations in key cities across the region. In India, AWS is collaborating with venture capital firm Accel for the program. Last year, AWS collaborated with Accel to launch ML Elevate 2023, a six-week-long accelerator program that supported 35 generative AI startups in India. 

The AWS Generative AI Spotlight program in APJ will select up to 120 pre-seed and seed-stage-ready startups across the region, including 40 from India. 

According to Matt Taylor, Head of Startups Solutions Architecture, APJ at AWS, for  18 years, AWS has helped more startups build, launch, and scale than any other cloud provider. It's no coincidence that 96% of all AI/ML unicorns run on AWS. The AWS global Generative AI Accelerator, together with the AWS Spotlight program in APJ, are part of AWS's continued commitment to helping startups in the region accelerate this wave of AI innovation.

The company has also announced a US$230 million commitment to generative AI startups and the expansion of the global Generative AI Accelerator, which is aimed at helping 80 founders and innovators (including 20 from Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ)) to turbocharge their growth with both technical and business programming tailored to startups in this space. Applications for the AWS Generative AI Accelerator open today and will be accepted until July 19. 

According to Amitabh Nagpal, tailored to the lifecycle of early-stage generative AI startups, the two distinct, complementary programs- AWS Global Generative AI accelerator and APJ Generative AI Spotlight, are designed to offer selected startups access to various resources such as AWS credits, tools, and expertise, to accelerate their journey. 

Know More:

Generative AI Accelerator

AWS Spotlight