Good Luck Tamil Nadu

India based multi-city startup accelerator, GSF has partnered with Chennai Angels and BharatMatrimony.com to begin its fourth investment cycle in Chennai from April 2013. The GSF Accelerator programme was started by Rajesh Sawhney, Former Reliance Entertainment President & Founder of GSF Superangels. GSF Superangels provides seed funding to the promising Indian startups.

To boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Chennai, GSF will select 4 most promising startups from Tamil Nadu for its nine-week long acceleration programme. Each of the selected startups will receive funding of $28,000 initially, along with mentorship and support from GSF’s angel network. Applications for 2013 batch will be accepted from middle of March. GSF will also recruit 4 Chennai based entrepreneurs in residence who will support the entire process.

Chennai Angels, an angel group from South India will provide mentorship and capital to the startups selected by GSF. India focused matrimony portal BharatMatrimony.com will provide co-location space and similar services.

By expanding to Chennai, GSF takes a step forward to secure strong presence in the major tech hubs of the country – Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai. “Chennai has grown rapidly in the last couple of years as a leading technology hub in India and with GSF’s presence, Chennai’s integration with the global startup ecosystem will accelerate in the coming years”, said Rajesh Sawhney, Founder of GSF Superangels.

“With the mentorship and strength of the local angels and GSF networks we believe that entrepreneurs will be provided with stronger tools to succeed well beyond our regional and national borders in a more accelerated and successful manner,” said Sameer Mehta of Chennai Angels. Founder and CEO of BharatMatrimony.com, Murugavel Janakirama commented, “Happy to associate with GSF which I strongly believe would add momentum to the start up ecosystem in Chennai.”

With a network of 17 entrepreneurs in residence from all over the world and 20 founders and investors, GSF’s primary focus is on tech, mobile and cloud space. But they are flexible; they can shift focus to other areas if there is something very exciting. Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of three factors – founders, market opportunity and innovation.

In 2012, GSF Superangels funded three companies – Autowale, Biosense and Chottu.in. They are keen to fund five companies among all those who showcased in GSF 2012. Let’s see who all crack it this year; and good luck Tamil Nadu!