Mumbai, India: Amazon India celebrates the graduation of its first Amazon Future Engineer (AFE) scholarship program’s cohort and announces 500 new scholarships for the 2025-2029 academic cycle. The program supports female engineering students from low-income backgrounds, providing equal opportunities in education and career development. Over 80% of the first 200 graduates have secured positions at leading Fortune 500 companies, with several joining Amazon’s own engineering teams.
“Amazon is deeply committed to fostering diversity in India’s tech workforce by creating pathways for talented young women who might otherwise be excluded from the country’s digital revolution,” said Prateek Agarwal, Amazon Future Engineer Lead, Amazon India. “Seeing these scholars—many of whom are first-generation college graduates from tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Latur in Maharashtra and Chaibasa in Jharkhand—transform into confident tech professionals demonstrates the impact of providing equal opportunities in education and career development. Success demonstrates what happens when opportunities meet potential: exceptional talent emerges regardless of background.”
Each scholar receives a comprehensive package that includes financial assistance of ₹2 lakh over a period of four years, a laptop, specialized training to help bridge any skill gaps via technical bootcamps, paid Amazon internships, and one-on-one career mentorship from experienced engineers.
Samala Keerthi, a graduate who joined Amazon full-time as a Software Development Engineer after her internship, said, “Coming from a small town in Telangana where my father runs a kirana shop earning less than ₹25,000 monthly, getting a job at Amazon seemed impossible. The scholarship didn’t just provide financial support—it gave me confidence, mentorship, and real-world experience that transformed my career.”
Amazon has collaborated with the Foundation for Excellence (FFE), a non-profit dedicated to empowering students from low-income backgrounds, to implement a rigorous selection process that evaluates candidates based on academic merit, financial need, and leadership potential. The selected scholars will be announced in early 2026.
“What makes the Amazon Future Engineer program truly exceptional is its holistic approach to nurturing the next generation of female technology leaders,” said Ram Kolavennu, Chief Executive Officer, Foundation for Excellence, Amazon’s implementation partner for the scholarship program. “By integrating financial support, mentorship, skills development, and real-world experience at a global technology leader like Amazon, this program empowers talented young women from low-income backgrounds with transformative opportunities in technology. It’s not just shaping bright engineers but technology leaders of the future.”
Since its inception in 2022, the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship Program has awarded 1,700 scholarships to young women across four cohorts, with scholars completing internships in seven technical job roles.
Female engineering students enrolled in computer science and related programs for the 2025-2029 academic cycle can apply between August 18 and November 30, 2025.