Google has opened applications for the seventh edition of the Google for Startups Accelerator (GFSA) for Southeast Asia (SEA) and Pakistan. This year, the program will enroll up to 15 seed and Series A startups who are focused on solving the region’s most important challenges, particularly in Fintech, Healthtech, Retail/E-commerce, and SME-focused B2B solutions.
A three-month programme, GFSA will help startups solve their specific challenges by providing the best of Google resources: its people, network, and technologies. Throughout the program, startups will receive customized mentorship from Google’s global mentor network, access to Google’s artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud, Android, and web experts, and 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. Philippine startup Advance, a salary on-demand credit platform that aims to boost financial inclusion by turning a portion of an employee’s future salary into a flexible credit line, participated in the 2020 edition of GFSA.
This year’s GFSA is open for startups headquartered in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Interested startups may now apply until October 7, 2022.