New Delhi, Aug 2 (IANS): The University of California-Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and global technology company Quantela on Thursday announced their partnership to establish smart city accelerator and innovation centres in India, a move that could boost government's "100 smart cities" initiative.

The partnership is an opportunity for startups to build and grow in the field of smart cities. It is a platform that provides the required mentorship and guidance to succeed on a comprehensive scale.

UC Berkeley will design the innovation accelerations programmes, teaching, delivery and curriculum. It will also focus on coaching of Lean Startup methods and customer development process for selected startups and assisting and supervising innovation projects from the ideation to validated business models.

"We are extremely glad to partner with Berkeley for the innovation program. Our aim is to create a start-up ecosystem focused on creating solutions to curb the growing urban challenges," Sridhar Gadhi, Founder and CEO, Quantela said in a statement.

The Accelerator will teach selected startups intensive immersion in innovation developments designed to identify business opportunities (real problems that require real solutions), validate product ideas, engage with potential customers, build scalable business models, and manage team dynamics.

The innovation centre, on the other hand, will help build an ecosystem of smart city partners integrated on one single platform.

The ecosystem will help the cities to expedite the execution of their projects and drive the immediate outcomes in form of smart solutions.

"The government's initiative to create more than 100 smart cities is unprecedented in the world and provides immense opportunities for tech start-ups. The partnership will help Indian start-ups that operate across the entire technological spectrum such as those from smart IoT to smart mobility and smart power that are critical for smart cities," added Deepak Bagla, Managing Director and CEO at Invest India.

Invest India is a partner that is helping the Indian startups to get access to this unique opportunity accelerator programme through Startup India hub -- a one-stop platform for all stakeholders in the Startup ecosystem.