Cisco LaunchPad

Check the stage first

Cisco's sources disagree on the stage the programme takes. Confirm with the programme whether your startup fits before you apply.

Match the route to where you are

• A technology startup building on Cisco technology: the LaunchPad accelerator.
• An emerging startup or innovator who wants to pitch to corporate leaders: the India Technopreneurship Series, if it runs in your city or state.
• A startup Cisco has already accelerated: Cisco STEP, the enablement platform.

What to check before you apply

• The next intake date, which the site does not publish.
• Whether your product works with Cisco technology. The programme focuses largely on Cisco's core technology areas.
• Whether the programme charges fees or takes equity. The site does not say.

Cisco LaunchPad is an accelerator for technology startups, run by Cisco Systems and based in Bengaluru. Cisco's own profile gives 2016 as its launch year, and Cisco publishes it on its Cisco for Startups website.

What they support

The programme is for technology and technology-enabled startups. A Cisco-hosted report describes it as open to mid-to-late stage startups, while a 2016 news report described the first intake as open to early-stage startups. The two accounts differ, so confirm the stage before you apply. The programme focuses largely on Cisco's core technology areas, and startups work with Cisco technologies.

Programmes

Cisco LaunchPad is the accelerator itself. Startups in it get co-working space within the Cisco campus, work with Cisco technologies, and connections with angel investors and venture capitalists. After graduation they join an alumni programme focused on use-case integration and go-to-market. The site does not say when the next intake opens.

Cisco STEP is an enablement platform for Cisco-accelerated startups. It lets them collaborate with mentors, investors and ecosystem partners, and it is a platform rather than a separate intake.

The India Technopreneurship Series is a series of workshops that blend business and technology. It ends in a pitch day, where emerging startups and innovators present to corporate leaders. It can be run in individual cities or states, and the site gives no dates for its editions.

Facilities and support

Startups in the programme work from co-working space within the Cisco campus. Support after graduation includes go-to-market work through the alumni programme.

Track record

Cisco's startup website reports 100 or more mentors, 100 or more investor connects, 30 or more pilots, 30 or more startups onboarded as Cisco solution partners, and 3,000 or more jobs created. These figures cover Cisco's startup work as a whole, not this programme alone, and the site gives no dates for them.

The startup count is not consistent across Cisco's pages. The homepage gives 70 startups, while Cisco's profile of the LaunchPad programme gives 41 startups supported. Both are undated.

The startups page also features SatSure, which the site says has seen more than 2 million farmers receive loans through its product.

How to apply

The site does not say how to apply to LaunchPad or when its next intake opens, and it does not state whether the programme charges fees or takes equity. STEP is for startups Cisco has already accelerated. To bring the India Technopreneurship Series to a city or state, get in touch with the team.

Who runs it

Cisco Systems, Inc. runs the programme, which is based in Bengaluru.