Amazon Web Services launches public sector opportunity for startups

14th July 2021
Amazon Web Services launches public sector opportunity for startups

India is the first to roll-out the programme focused on enabling early-stage startups in the public sector
July 13, 2021: Amazon Web Services (AWS) has  announced the launch of AWS Public Sector Startup Ramp in India, a new programme to help early stage public sector focused technology startups build solutions on AWS.
AWS Startup Ramp is an acceleration programme for startups that are building innovative solutions for public sector customers worldwide, including but not limited to customers in national and local government, space and defense, and healthcare. Startups in their early stage growth can apply to join the AWS Startup Ramp in one of two tiers: pre-revenue startups can apply to the Innovator tier, and post-revenue startups (with up to INR 100 crores  (1 billion) in revenue) can apply to the Member tier. Startups meeting all qualifying application criteria will be reviewed and evaluated for participation based on their potential contributions to public sector customers.
AWS Startup Ramp is modeled after AWS EdStart, which works with education technology (EdTech) focused startups, and AWS GovTechStart, our US-based programme that supports commercial technology companies serving state and local governments. Each programme offers eligible companies support including access to AWS Promotional Credit, technical training and support, a community of experts, and more.
“We are excited to launch the AWS Startup Ramp in India where there is incredible opportunity for startups to solve public sector challenges through their innovative solutions. This global initiative is a critical way for us to support startups who are using technology to change the world,” said Sandy Carter, vice president of public sector partners and programmes at AWS.
“Our experience in India has shown that public sector organizations are increasingly keen to experiment with new ideas and technologies to advance their missions at speed and scale. Startups bring disruptive innovative solutions that create broad impact, and can pivot quickly to meet society’s changing needs. We are doubling down on our focus to serve the public sector, and empower startups with the new AWS Startup Ramp programme. We are thrilled to introduce the programme to expand the capabilities of India’s strong and aspiring startup ecosystem,” said Rahul Sharma, President, Public Sector – AISPL, AWS India and South Asia.
Startups and industry experts weigh in 
During the development phase of the AWS Startup Ramp programme, we worked with several startups focused on the distinct needs of the government technology sector. Learn how three of these companies worked with AWS Startup Ramp to accelerate development of new cloud-based technologies.
Anil Nadig, co-founder of TraceX, a technology platform leveraging blockchain for a connected, clean, traceable, and transparent supply chain, shared, “Working with AWS greatly helped accelerate our product development. The solution architects from AWS helped us in technology selection, cost optimization, and refinement of our application architecture for enabling our implementations at scale. As a matter of fact, AWS solution architects were at the forefront, helping us build resilience in our infrastructure and application architectures to prevent distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.”
Fintech startup Whrrl is working to revolutionize the post-harvest ecosystem through its integrated blockchain platform. Their service helps reduce fraud risk that banks face with warehouse receipt finance, and provides warehousing and marketplace facilities to farmers that will aid in solving problems such as distress sale, access to finance, and market linkage. “With AWS in the picture, we have always been ultra-sure about two things: first, the belief in our systems‘ performance and their uptime. We are assured that with AWS support, we will not disappoint our stakeholders. Second, the financial support in the form of AWS Promotional Credit that we’ve received is hugely helpful for us as an early-stage startup,” said Ashish Anand, chief executive officer (CEO) of Whrrl.
Praveen Kuruganti, co-founder of Unmiti, an agritech startup that is working to monitor and evaluate agriculture projects, shared, “The AWS team has been helpful during the initial phases of our company. AWS is the best cloud solution available in the market, both in terms of technology superiority and pricing. Most of our data is sensitive information related to the farmers and farmland, and with security features of AWS implemented, we are able to manage data security with ease.”