Enterprise software giant Oracle announced the launching of its first startup incubation center on Thursday in India.

The center will open on April 8 in Bengaluru. Several more centers are slated to start in Noida, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram and Vijayawada. Oracle’s Sanket Atal, Group Vice President of Development, would head the initiative, the firm said in a statement.

“India is at an exciting period of initiation, growth and progression,” said Thomas Kurian. Through the Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator as well as the growing popularity as an alternative computing model of cloud, we are interested in being the trigger for new business ideas. It fits our program of encouraging innovation by creating the proper ecosystem for increase and progression and cultivating entrepreneurship.”

The initiative targets midsize businesses, including micro, small, moderate-sized businesses and startups, which are recognised as a dynamic and lively sector of the Indian market that provides more than 37 per cent to India’s GDP.

We selected Bengaluru for our first center because it’s the second greatest financed startup heart on the planet outside the United States, Kurian was included by ”.

Future startup applicants will likely be reviewed through a qualification procedure that is scrupulous. Startups can apply online till May 5 on the organization ‘s web site. Startups that are chosen will receive six-month acceleration eased by business and technical specialists from Oracle and the sector.