The Algorand Foundation Expands Its Footprint in India

Blockchain protocol Algorand (ALGO) has expanded its footprint in India by securing new partnerships with NASSCOM, India's trade body and chamber of commerce for the tech industry, TiE Bangalore, a global venture supporting entrepreneurs, and the Mann Deshi Foundation which supports India's first rural bank for women.

Earlier this year, the Algorand Foundation branched into India with its initiative called AlgoBharat. The word Bharat represents the nation of India. At the time, Algorand partnered with Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) to support women-led enterprises building blockchain solutions and with Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University and the Indian School of Business to launch faculty development programs.

It will now build out the Web3 capabilities of youngsters under NASSCOM's FutureSkills Prime skilling hub and develop a blockchain-based credit scorecard and identity system for Mann Deshi Foundation's women entrepreneurs, Algorand Foundation's CEO Staci Warden and India Country Head Anil Kakani told CoinDesk in an interview.

"In just a year, our strategic collaborations and innovative blockchain solutions with key players (in India) have pioneered financial inclusion, with the potential for impacting millions of lives in underserved communities," Warden said.

The blockchain protocol has also landed a new collaboration with TiE Bangalore, a global venture supporting entrepreneurs, to provide educational initiatives to support the Indian Web3 ecosystem.

Kakani said we are working on two types of partnerships – organizational to deepen India's Web3 foundation including broadening the developer base and then partnerships to build use cases.

"We are not going to regulators with recommendations but we are waiting for (India's) central bank digital currency (CBDC) to happen," Kakani told CoinDesk. "We want to see how we can build on that but as a protocol, our heavy focus is real-world utility."

Algorand's earlier partnership with T-Hub to simply support startups will now include the launch of "Startup Labs," a program that will offer mentorship for 20 Web3 startups. T-hub is a tech incubator led by the Telangana government, a state in south India.

With SEWA, Algorand has launched a pilot to help women earn high-value carbon credits through data it will collect via a blockchain-based solution.