Much like with startups, there's been a Cambrian explosion of accelerators in India. There are professional accelerators, nook-and-cranny accelerators, corporate accelerators, and then there is the Reliance-backed accelerator. Set up after Reliance’s investment unit GenNext Ventures struggled to crack the VC code, the accelerator was meant to smoothen the deal flow. And it did, to a good extent. Yet, in the larger scheme of accelerators, it’s been hit and miss. Last month, Tata-owned e-grocery company BigBasket acquired Kochi-based deep tech company Agrima Infotech. Its computer-vision tech identifies fruits and vegetables without needing barcodes and will be deployed at the checkout counters of BigBasket’s offline retail chain Fresho. While Agrima has finally landed in the Tata camp, it owes its early “game-changing” development support to Reliance, as part of Reliance's 2016 accelerator cohort. Some 170 startups have passed through RIL’s accelerator programme. While some—such as UX assistant Jiny and logistics-focused SaaS player LogiNext—have gone on to become vendors for RIL’s varied business units, most have no ongoing business ties with the group. GenNext Ventures finally wound up in 2018-19, after having spent 70% of its $250 million fund and with no banner exit to write home about. Meanwhile, Reliance has emerged as a buyout investor, scooping up startups and mid-size companies of all kinds. In pure financial terms, it may appear RIL’s accelerator, which operated for the first three years with Microsoft’s help, has been an also-ran. But publicity-wise or as an image-building exercise for an oil-to-chemicals conglomerate, many believe the accelerator has served its purpose. For instance, media platform YourStory, which was part of the accelerator’s 2017 cohort, has since earned multiple contracts from RIL for press coverage since then. YourStory also moderates sessions for pitch days and other JioGenNext events. “Earlier, great startups would never want to come close to RIL. That has changed a lot,” says a former accelerator executive.
