ONDC Launches Build For Bharat Initiative To Tackle Diverse Challenges In Digital Commerce

New Delhi, Dec 5 (KNN) The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) on December 4 announced a nationwide 'Build for Bharat' initiative.

The ONDC initiative has been announced in collaboration with Google Cloud India, Antler in India, Paytm, Protean and Startup India.

As per reports, the initiative aims to tackle diverse challenges in digital commerce, promoting industry innovation to develop practical solutions in this space. It intends to tap into India’s technological and entrepreneurial potential with an expected participation of over 200K participants representing startups, companies and colleges.

Prioritising participative and ecosystem-driven framework, the initiative is organized at a national-scale in more than 50 cities with top experts, leaders, VCs and incubators onboard.

To kick-start the initiative, an event yesterday unveiled the problem statements for participants and extending an invitation for registration. Covering Retail, Mobility, F&B, Financial Services and Logistics sectors, the initiative is designed to deliver three distinct outcomes as follows:

'NextGen Ventures’', the first category is designed to supercharge venture creation on ONDC. Open to aspiring founders exploring multiple ideas or early-stage founder teams working on an idea, this track provides a pathway to raising capital, launching, scaling companies, and incubating new businesses.

Next in line includes Scalable solutions and invites participation from organizations or individuals including students with focus on solving friction points faced by Network Participants. The third includes Foundation solutions, exclusively for college students to identify proof of concept for the friction points faced by NPs.

T Koshy, MD and CEO at ONDC said, "We are excited to organize this nationwide initiative focused on building innovative solutions for India's rapidly growing digital commerce ecosystem.”

“Initiatives like 'Build for Bharat' will unleash the talent and potential of India's startup and student community to drive meaningful impact at scale. Through grants, investments and recognition, we hope to nurture the best ideas into sustainable businesses,” he said.

Bikram Singh Bedi, managing Director at Google Cloud India, said "Google Cloud is committed to empowering India's entrepreneurial energy and technical capabilities. The 'Build for Bharat' initiative, provides a platform to develop scalable solutions that can transform the digital ecosystem on a large scale. By bringing together students, startups and businesses, we aim to foster collaboration and innovation towards an inclusive digital economy.”

(KNN Bureau)