Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of the well known Alibaba Group, is a cloud computing company. Alibaba Cloud provides products and services to clients in India across the e commerce, gaming, media, retail and IoT sectors via its network of distributors. Recently, Alex Li, General Manager of Alibaba Cloud Asia Pacific said Alibaba Cloud has always been dedicated to empower enterprises of different sizes to tap into opportunities in the digital age. With digital transformation poised to add close to $ 154 Bn to India’s GDP, this is a great opportunity for us to do business in India.
In January this year, the company set up its first India data centre in Mumbai. The aim was to fulfill the surging demand for cloud computing services which is among one of the fastest growing numbers of Indian small and medium sized businesses in the region. Alibaba Cloud said it will build specialised teams to focus on various market segments and sectors such as startups and online business. Alongside, it wants to strengthen its network as they plan to train 1,000 sales and technology personnel in India in the next six months. According to a study conducted by the International Data Corp (IDC,) with an estimated $ 2.12 billion spent on public cloud services, India currently ranks third on the list of countries who have turned towards cloud computing in the Asia Pacific excluding Japan.
With regards to Alibaba’s interest toward startups, earlier this year, Alibaba called for startups’ ideas in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI,) internet of things, digital services, augmented and virtual reality, big data and cyber security for the latest competition. Those startups who are interested can apply online at Create@Alibaba, but entrants need to generate less than $ 500,000 annual revenue. The startup must be registered in the UK, Ireland or Nordics in the last five years and it cannot be a publicly listed company. The most successful entrants will be shortlisted to compete against each other in the next round to be held on 5 September 2018. The top five will then be selected to battle against startups in Harbin, China later that month. The best four startups from these cities will then have the opportunity to pitch in front of investors at Alibaba Group’s HQ in October 2018.
