Bengaluru, Mar 16 (IANS): Amazon India on Tuesday launched the 'Amazon Smbhav - Build for India' Hackathon to bring the community of developers together and enable development of unique and disruptive solutions towards creating an AatmaNirbhar Bharat.

The hackathon is designed to provide developers and software engineers with the opportunity to build innovative solutions and solve real-world problems.

"India has a thriving startup ecosystem and over the past few years, we have seen great examples of business ideas and product innovation emerge that have been transformative in nature," Pranav Bhasin, Director, MSME and Selling Partner Experience, Amazon India, said in a statement.

"We are happy to sponsor 'Amazon Smbhav - Build for India' Hackathon organised by Skillenza as it will not only empower entrepreneurs to realise their full potential but also support the growth of India's startup ecosystem by offering them access to the right ecosystem," Bhasin added.

The hackathon is open for working professionals with teams ranging from 1 to 4 members. The 10 winners are eligible to win cumulative cash prizes of up to Rs 15 lakhs from community-based platform Skillenza in addition to getting redeemable Amazon Web Services credits and access to informative webinars and mentoring sessions, the company said.

The two themes for the hackathon, 'Business Innovation' and 'Sustainability & Healthcare' are aimed at empowering ideas and businesses that focus on technology innovation and creative strategic proposals that will promote and enable further development and self-sufficiency in India.

The competition will involve six phases including outreach, team creation and ideation -- first shortlisting, product building, final shortlisting, live demo and winners' announcement.

The registration for the 'Amazon Smbhav - Build for India' hackathon is currently on and will close on March 22, 2021.

Amazon India said that it will host the second edition of 'Amazon Smbhav' virtually during April 15-18, 2021.