Danamojo and RoadBounce Win ₹5 Lakh Seed Funding Each in Startup Reality Show PitchRight S02

PitchRight S02, an initiative by Zone Startups India, comes to its conclusion with the final shoot of the Grand Finale episode that announced the winners of the season. The Grand Finale was a curated, invite-only event that saw presence of close to 100 guests, which largely included investors, corporates, industry leaders and media personnel.

Launched in February last year, PitchRight has a unique format that focuses on improving the startup pitch of an entrepreneur through a 45-second elevator pitch, followed by a one-on-one feedback session.

PitchRight S01 garnered more than 350K views on Zone Startup India’s YouTube playlist, while receiving positive reviews from viewers for its fresh approach on the idea of an elevator pitch in a very literal sense. PitchRight S02 was launched in August 2018 by further making the experience of elevator pitches thrilling. This season has garnered over 320K views within a span of 90 days, on different digital platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Times MX Player.

With over 240 applications received this season, the top 13 entrepreneurs from diverse sectors of technology were shortlisted to feature in the series. The episodes were shot in the month of October 2018 at the Bombay Stock Exchange building, that houses the office of Zone Startups India. The series, featuring 4-5 minute episodes, went live in December 2018 with one episode releasing each week.

Prolific angel investor Sanjay Mehta has been a judge on the show for both the seasons. He has many achievements and awards under his belt and has invested in over 100 startups till date, that includes some well-known names like Oyo Rooms, Box8, Zippr, LogiNext, PrettySecrets, Unbxd and FabAlley. He is an active member of many investment networks in India.



“PitchRight S02 finale reality show was inspiring, full of excitement due to so many unknowns. It was a real thriller as the entrepreneurs pitched to the investors to make a deal. Everyone was on the spot be it investors as they had to commit money, real money instantaneously and entrepreneurs had to accept or refuse the offer right away. It's a challenge for entrepreneurs to go live pitching & very few can dare. Lastly I can say that PitchRight reality show has superbly motivated entrepreneurship in India,” said Sanjay Mehta, sharing from his experience of hosting the Grand Finale of PitchRight.

PitchRight S02 ran 13 episodes featuring the 13 shortlisted entrepreneurs over 4 months. The top 9 scorers with the best elevator pitch made it to the Grand Finale. The Grand Finale was shot live at Cafe Zoe in Mumbai, presided by an esteemed jury consisting of industry stalwarts like Anoop Mathur (President - CORE Media), Anuj Munot (Angel Investor), Jitendra Gupta (Founder - PayU) and Nirav Choksi (Founder - Credable). Host Sanajay Mehta helmed the Grand Finale for startup pitches and negotiations for fundraising.

The finalists pitched their startups during the live shoot to raise on-spot funding from top angel investors and seed investment from Zone Startups India. The startup pitch of 3 minutes each was followed by a feedback session and negotiations for potential on-spot funding.

After an interesting dynamic of startup pitches showcased at the Grand Finale, Zone Startups India announced Dhaval Udani, Founder of danamojo, and Ranjeet Deshmukh, Founder of RoadBounce, as the two winners of PitchRight S02, who were selected for a seed fund investment of INR 5 lakhs each.

On-spot funding was granted by several key investors. A total of INR 1 crore 45 lakhs on-spot funding was offered to 4 startups, out of which 2 startups raised a total of 75 lakhs post negotiations at the Grand Finale Demo Day. These will now be syndicated through a seed round to be led by Let’s Venture, Investment Partner of PitchRight S02. Atharva Sabnis, Co-founder of Atron, raised the highest on-spot funding on the day.

Based on the live scoring done by investors, corporates, mentors, media and other key stakeholders from the audience panel, the People’s Choice Award winner, with the maximum votes, was announced as Prasad Kajarekar, Co-founder of GameBlitz. He received a grant of INR 50,000/- from Zone Startups India.

Ajay Ramasubramaniam, Director India, Zone Startups said, “PitchRight is a format that we conceptualized mainly for curating content around how to get your elevator pitch right. We have had some really good viewership of the content - which is good validation of the format. However, what has been more encouraging this year, is the turnout of investors at the Grand Finale, and participating in a round of live, on-spot funding - a truly enriching experience for all involved. We look forward to taking the format to greater heights with some strong partnerships lined up for the upcoming seasons."

Season 02 of PitchRight is supported by Department of Science and Technology (GoI) and presented by LazyPay, in association with DigitalOcean as the cloud partner, Vidooly as the online video partner, Eske as the gift sponsor & LetsVenture as the investment partner.

Zone Startup India's YouTube channel - http://bit.ly/ZSIYouTube.

Here is the link to PitchRight YouTube playlist for all S01 & S02 episodes - http://bit.ly/PitchRightYouTubePlaylist.

Meet 13 Startups Hand-Picked For India's First Reality Web Series 'Pitch Right'

Yesterday, we talked about India's First reality web series PitchRight, which is being launched today as a web series comprising of 13 episodes with 13 different entrepreneurs selected through an application process. As part of this initiative, the selected entrepreneurs will be given 45 seconds to make an elevator pitch to Sanjay Mehta, Director, Core Media and investor in Cryptocurrencies, which will be followed by a detailed feedback to the entrepreneur.

The idea of doing PitchRight is to help entrepreneurs understand how to make their elevator pitch perfect and make the most of 40 odd seconds in a lift with an investor. Each entrepreneur will be scored by Sanjay and the ones scored between 8 -- 10 will make it to the finale.

Here are the chosen 13 entrepreneurs with their respective startup ideas :

1. Hoopoun

Founder - Amarjeet Singh Oberoi

A blockchain-based offer discovery app for lifestyle and loyalty programs, which gives users offers and rewards while shopping across different categories that they can redeem to invest in shares, cryptocurrencies, insurance and mutual funds.

2. Gaia Smart Cities

Founder - Amrita Verma Chowdhury

Smart Feedback - bringing visibility to the opaque last mile through data from physical and digital channels.

Gaia is an internet of things (IoT) and automation company providing end to end solutions to enable smart transformation of enterprises and cities. Founded in 2015 by Sumit D Chowdhury, former president of enterprise business and CIO of Reliance Jio, Gaia Smart Cities sees huge opportunity in IoT implementation for building smart infrastructure. The firm is also working closely with the ministry of urban development (MoUD) as an integral part of the National Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

3. Sweat Free

Founder - Chanakya Ramdev

Best possible undershirts so you never get sweat stains

Sweat Free's technology has made a wardrobe (currently a T-Shirt) from bamboo-based fabrics and soft cotton material, it has advanced absorbing properties, which whisks sweat away, so you feel dry while avoiding stains. In 2015, Sweat Free’s team of seven people, along with Chanakya, received $25,000 from the Canada-based Velocity Fund to launch their startup. Currently, the startup is said to be working in the Velocity Science labs in Ontorio, Canada to reach a point where they can start working with manufacturers to advance the existing prototype and begin broader testing. Their current focus is on undergarments, but the goal is to be able to integrate the technology into all types of clothing.

4. Eyedentify Systems

Founder - Dhushyanth Dachiraju

Ensuring safety for commuters

Eyedentify aims to build high-quality products that help in ensuring in-vehicle security for drivers & commuters via intelligent features designed to deter offenders & alert authorities in real-time in case of an incident. For an instance, the startup's flagship In-Vehicle Occupant Security System provides cutting-edge telecommunications modules, and is integrated with panic buttons and a camera, along with microphones and speakers, which enable the passenger or driver to get help when they need it most.

5. Eduisfun Technologies

Founder - Jatin Solanki

Making learning fun, easy & accessible to everyone through games!

Eduisfun platform provides an enhanced gamified learning experience by offering personalised question-based learning blended with games for tech savvy generation, so as to make learning more fun. The concept is built step by step as students go through various levels in game making.

6. Code Enterprises LLP

Founder - Naman Gupta

India's first cigarette waste management and recycling firm with a huge range of by-products.

Cigarette waste is a non-biodegradable waste which can be reused in various other by-products, CODE Enterprises thus recycles each component of cigarette waste generated either domestically or industrially. It use the most environmentally responsible methods and procedures for recycling waste and reusing it in the form of recycled products.

The startup provide collection services of cigarette waste with an aim to a cigarette waste free India. Collection of cigarette waste is one rigorous task our team successfully handles. Collection services come along with one free VBins. Collection is paid to the customers as per the rates specified in the contract. The startup claims that the cigarette waste is recycled using biodegradable chemicals without any machinery. The waste water generated during cigarette butts recycling is also recycled for further usage in the next batches. Code Enterprises LLP ensures zero wastage.

7. Dimension NXG

Founder - Pankaj Raut

Dimension NXG provides customized end to end augmented reality (AR) solution to enterprises in automobile, aerospace, defense, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, architecture, Marketing, etc.. The startup offers AR headset based project management app, teleportation and training app which decreases cost, time, and errors for enterprises in automobiles, aerospace, manufacturing, healthcare, construction, etc.

THe startup's flagship AR headset called 'AjnaLens' (“AJNA” is derived from Indian Vedas, the third-eye chakra) which is powered by artificial intelligence and provide real-time 3D AR Models, instructions, important information and situational data (pressure, temperature, flow direction, voltage, etc) directly in their field of view
to improve efficiency, by reducing the manual effort and time required for specific task.

8. Rubit Technologies

Founder - Rushikesh Sapkal

A cryptocurrency exchange platform which provides smarter way for investor to invest their money in cryptocurrencies

Rubit plans to connect the world of crypto with the power of Artificial intelligence by offering an exchange platform which provides real time crypto market like support for trading of multiple cryptocurrency, Real Time price status of Crypto-Coins and trading of multiple cryptocurrency. It also offers an AI Bot for effective Trading between the varying prices of Cryptocurrencies.

9. CupShup

Founder - Sanil Jain

Paper-Cup Advertising

The startup aims to convert the tea breaks of the country into discussion joints for brands by advertising on the paper tea/coffee cups. Cupshup’s clientele today includes more than 50 companies, which includes names like Google, Uber, Ola Cabs, Swiggy, Kotak Securities, Viacom 18, Coke and many others.

10. Bolt Auto Technologies

Founder - Satyajeet Mohanty

Enabling and inspiring riders to pursue their passion for riding.

Bolt offers technology enabled motorbike accessories to enhance the riding experience. Primarily, the startup offers a mobile app called Bolt Riders App, which is a riders community as well as a platform to connect with other riders to grow a rider's network, auto-detect pit-stops, auto-tag images, track rides and share ride stories, ensuring that bike riders are building their online rider profile on the go. Bolt also offers premium detachable phone charger which can be mounted on motorcycles.

11. BECKFriends

Founder -Shikha Pandey

Send Anything Anywhere. Earn as you Travel.

BECKFriends is a global peer-to-peer logistics marketplace focuses on simplifying global logistics requirements through technology. It gives an opportunity to the user delivering the package to economize their travel expenses by earning while they travel and in the meantime, providing instant delivery for the users wanting to send a package.

Started by three Co-founders -- Shikha Pandey, Deep Malhotra and Mayukh Basu, BECKFriends has a robust team with a good mix of technology and business expertise. Mayukh Basu is an engineer in his early twenties from BITS Pilani lead the technology at BECK. Shikha Pandey, ex-Airtel and ex-Unilever, leads the operations & strategy of the business and Deep Malhotra, Ex-Google and Ex-Senior Director Myspace, who is on board as a co-founder and is leading the team.

12. Agrahyah Technologies

Founder - Sreeraman Thiagarajan

Get news about people, places, things and organisations you care about in your language.

Agrahyah Technologies is a software startup on a mission to make technology accessible to every Indian by building a suite of mobile apps, products, and content ground-up for the millions of non-English literates. Its Android apps can be used in eleven Indian vernacular languages.

13. AskArvi

Founder - Sushant Reddy

Insurance marketplace on a mobile chat.

AskArvi is the creator of Arvi, a smart and friendly personal insurance chatbot, which the startup claims as "India's coolest chatbot that makes insurance smart, simple and social". Arvi provides customers an insightful conversational experience using a mix of artificial intelligence, data and a touch of light-hearted humor.

MTV To Air India's First Startups Based Reality in Few Days

A while back, we reported how reality show veterans Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman were planning on bringing a show that would help the truants of the country achieve their startup dreams. And now, the show has finally been officially announced. The show called Droom.in presents MTV Dropout Pvt. Ltd. will premiere on July 29 at 7pm on MTV and next day onwards on VOOT. The show has been created by Monozygotic and co-developed by MTV and Monozygotic.

The show will help in identifying college ‘dropouts’ with real entrepreneurial potential and transform their lives forever by helping them setup their own startup journey. According to the show, they're a first-of-its’-kind start-up company in the country to set out on a nationwide journey to find hidden gems in the nooks and corner of the nation who have real talent but not enough capital or opportunity to realise their full potential.

The shortlisted talents will be groomed and mentored by some of the biggest names in the industry through trials-by-fire method where the contestants will have to solve their way out of real-world business problems in a short span of time and prove their hunger for their entrepreneurial dream.

The esteemed panel, which has been bestowed with the duty of identifying the entrepreneurial future of India includes Sandeep Aggarwal, CEO and Founder of Droom.in; Anisha Singh, CEO and Co-founder Mydala.com; Alok Kejriwal, CEO and Co-founder of Games2Win along with the show’s hosts and creators Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxman, Co-founders, Monozygotic.

Speaking about the show and MTV's association with it, Ferzad Palia, Head, Youth, Music and English Entertainment, Viacom18, said, “India is brimming with young untapped energy keen on making ideas come to life and we at MTV, believe that as the largest platform for everything related to the youth, it is our responsibility to recognize, channelize and mobilize this energy by providing the youth with the right tools to make ideas happen. MTV aims at empowering these youngsters by providing them the biggest encouragement in the form of Dropout Pvt. Ltd. to kick start their entrepreneurial dreams. We at MTV realize that the youth today with their ‘go-getter’ attitude is willing to dream big to achieve their goals. We just want to give them the wings to fly.”

While everyone dreams of being their own boss, only a few are able to realise this dream in the real world. MTV's Dropout Pvt. Ltd. will prove to be a great platform for people with real potential and talent to make their dreams into a reality.

According to Anisha Singh, CEO & Founder of Mydala, who is a part of the esteemed panel of the show, "we are looking for contestants who have the ‘self-starter’ attitude. Love that MTV recognizes that the youth today has bigger dreams and is willing to do what it takes to beat the odds. They are ready to change the status quo to make a difference. It's time to become bigger than your dreams and MTV is giving you a chance to do it.”

The show has been conceptualised by Raghu and Rajiv themselves. They will also be producing and hosting the show as well.

According to Rajiv, in a country like India where setting ones own path to success is still not encouraged and celebrated, MTV has once again taken a bold step in providing those youngsters a platform to achieve their dreams. He also added, that since his and Raghu’s journey has also been full of struggle and hardships, they are able to relate well with the stories of the truants. Also, their experience of working with the youth throughout their careers will serve as a great advantage for them to connect with these individuals.

In addition to MTV's Dropout, we might soon see another startup focused reality show on Indian television and that too run by the Indian government itself. Recently, it was reported that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has given a go-ahead to a government-run show on the lines of the famous American show, Shark Tank where entrepreneurs seeking investments for their businesses pitch their ideas to a panel of potential investors. There's hasn't been any official announcement yet on when the show will air though.

MTV To Air India's First Startups Based Reality in Few Days

A while back, we reported how reality show veterans Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman were planning on bringing a show that would help the truants of the country achieve their startup dreams. And now, the show has finally been officially announced. The show called Droom.in presents MTV Dropout Pvt. Ltd. will premiere on July 29 at 7pm on MTV and next day onwards on VOOT. The show has been created by Monozygotic and co-developed by MTV and Monozygotic.

The show will help in identifying college ‘dropouts’ with real entrepreneurial potential and transform their lives forever by helping them setup their own startup journey. According to the show, they're a first-of-its’-kind start-up company in the country to set out on a nationwide journey to find hidden gems in the nooks and corner of the nation who have real talent but not enough capital or opportunity to realise their full potential.

The shortlisted talents will be groomed and mentored by some of the biggest names in the industry through trials-by-fire method where the contestants will have to solve their way out of real-world business problems in a short span of time and prove their hunger for their entrepreneurial dream.

The esteemed panel, which has been bestowed with the duty of identifying the entrepreneurial future of India includes Sandeep Aggarwal, CEO and Founder of Droom.in; Anisha Singh, CEO and Co-founder Mydala.com; Alok Kejriwal, CEO and Co-founder of Games2Win along with the show’s hosts and creators Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxman, Co-founders, Monozygotic.

Speaking about the show and MTV's association with it, Ferzad Palia, Head, Youth, Music and English Entertainment, Viacom18, said, “India is brimming with young untapped energy keen on making ideas come to life and we at MTV, believe that as the largest platform for everything related to the youth, it is our responsibility to recognize, channelize and mobilize this energy by providing the youth with the right tools to make ideas happen. MTV aims at empowering these youngsters by providing them the biggest encouragement in the form of Dropout Pvt. Ltd. to kick start their entrepreneurial dreams. We at MTV realize that the youth today with their ‘go-getter’ attitude is willing to dream big to achieve their goals. We just want to give them the wings to fly.”

While everyone dreams of being their own boss, only a few are able to realise this dream in the real world. MTV's Dropout Pvt. Ltd. will prove to be a great platform for people with real potential and talent to make their dreams into a reality.

According to Anisha Singh, CEO & Founder of Mydala, who is a part of the esteemed panel of the show, "we are looking for contestants who have the ‘self-starter’ attitude. Love that MTV recognizes that the youth today has bigger dreams and is willing to do what it takes to beat the odds. They are ready to change the status quo to make a difference. It's time to become bigger than your dreams and MTV is giving you a chance to do it.”

The show has been conceptualised by Raghu and Rajiv themselves. They will also be producing and hosting the show as well.

According to Rajiv, in a country like India where setting ones own path to success is still not encouraged and celebrated, MTV has once again taken a bold step in providing those youngsters a platform to achieve their dreams. He also added, that since his and Raghu’s journey has also been full of struggle and hardships, they are able to relate well with the stories of the truants. Also, their experience of working with the youth throughout their careers will serve as a great advantage for them to connect with these individuals.

In addition to MTV's Dropout, we might soon see another startup focused reality show on Indian television and that too run by the Indian government itself. Recently, it was reported that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has given a go-ahead to a government-run show on the lines of the famous American show, Shark Tank where entrepreneurs seeking investments for their businesses pitch their ideas to a panel of potential investors. There's hasn't been any official announcement yet on when the show will air though.

Here's Comparative Study of Different Business and Entrepreneurs' Talk Shows in India

Nowadays, television is focused on demonstrating the inspiring stories and struggles of leading entrepreneurs. Various talk shows are being telecasted on different channels with unique concepts and ideas. Shows like Young Turks, Meet the Entrepreneurs, Hausely ki Udan etc. have already established a huge viewership all across the nation.

Recently, A Dubai based research and review company WBR Corp has done extensive research on different TV talk shows in India in which they have considered leading business channels like Bloomberg TV, ET Now, CNBC, and Zee Business. The study has come with some facts about the channels and prevailing entrepreneur’s talk shows that are recording good TRPs in different time slots which are depicted here:

Channels	Shows	Time Slots
CNBC-TV18	Young Turks	6-8 PM, 10-12 AM
Bloomberg TV	Meet the Entrepreneurs	9-12 AM
Zee Business	Self Made	1-2 PM

As per the study, in a time slot of 10-12 AM, 1-2 PM and 6-9 PM, for all weekdays in which CNBC-TV 18 leads in slot of 10-12 AM and 6-8 PM. Bloomberg TV 9-12 and  Zee Business is doing well  in 1-2 PM slot on Sunday because of their new talk show “Self Made”.

It is very surprising that TRPs recorded by Zee Business on Sundays have suddenly increased in time slot of 1-2 PM. Recently a new talk show Self Made was launched with the unique concept which highlights the untold success stories of self made personalities from different sectors. 

Young Turks and Self Made are giving close competition to each other both in terms of concept and viewership. Both the shows are quite similar but still having a small but significant difference. On one side, Young Turks is focused on depicting the success stories of already established leaders who are well-known in the market such as Deep Kalra, CEO, Makemytrip.com, Rajiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Auto and etc. But on another side, Self Made is totally emphasized on self made and startup entrepreneurs such as Ar. Deepak Mehta, Dr. Balvir kalra and etc.

The Research Analysts have also mentioned some kind of ratings to the shows:

Shows	Ratings
Young Turks	8.5
Meet the Entrepreneurs	7
Self Made	8

As per the ratings, Young Turks has maintained its no. 1 position in viewership and Self Made is giving very close competition both in terms of concept and content of the show. The fascinating celebrity host of the show Rohit Roy has also attained huge appreciation in portraying the success stories of real life heroes by his style statement and the way he brings comfort ability among participants to speak out on every part of their life’s struggle.

All shows are doing well as per the expectations and getting positive responses from the audience. But Surprisingly, Self Made is doing extraordinary job in attracting large audience because the show has covered real stories of the entrepreneurs who have started their career without any funding loans and achieve dignified positions on their own.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]

'Roadies' Fame Hosts To Bring Reality Show on Startups in India

Earlier in the day, we reported how Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has reportedly given a go-ahead to a government-run show on the lines of the famous American show, Shark Tank where entrepreneurs seeking investments for their businesses pitch their ideas to a panel of potential investors. And now comes the news that youth centric channel of the nation, MTV has also decided to produce a one of a kind reality show on startups.

The reality show, which will aim to empower the truants of the country to achieve their startup dreams, will see reality show veterans Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman making a comeback on television as hosts. In the past, the duo have been infamous for their antics on MTV's longest running adventure-based show, Roadies.

The reality show will make its viewers witness the entire process of identifying potential truants and then transforming these individuals into an ideal startup team which will receive mentorship from some of the leading entrepreneurs of the country in order to kick-start their startup journey.

According to Rajiv, in a country like India where setting ones own path to success is still not encouraged and celebrated, MTV has once again taken a bold step in providing those youngsters a platform to achieve their dreams. He also added, that his and Raghu's journey has also been full of struggle and hardships, and hence, they will be able to relate to the stories of the truants. Also, their experience of working with the youth throughout their careers will serve as a great advantage for them to connect with these individuals.

The show has been conceptualised by Raghu and Rajiv themselves. They will also be producing and hosting the show as well.

According to Raghu, "Rajiv and I saw a lot of potential in the idea of the show and we sat down with the MTV team to discuss and finalize the concept. The two of us together have conceptualized the show and will be producing and hosting the show as well. This is India’s first of its kind startup reality show aimed at the youth and we hope to boost the confidence of a lot of youngsters out there as we already have a long standing connection with the youth of India.”

Over the last couple of years, MTV has gone through a whole change in philosophy and has started taking brave steps towards producing content related to pro-socio issues which strike a cord with the youth of the nation. The reality start-up show is one of the many steps in that direction.

It is interesting to note here that the dynamic brother duo were reportedly shown the door from MTV's Roadies in 2014 due to their anger management issues and mood swings. However, the duo maintained that they quit the show voluntarily as they had been doing the same thing for over a decade.

'Roadies' Fame Hosts To Bring Reality Show on Startups in India

Earlier in the day, we reported how Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has reportedly given a go-ahead to a government-run show on the lines of the famous American show, Shark Tank where entrepreneurs seeking investments for their businesses pitch their ideas to a panel of potential investors. And now comes the news that youth centric channel of the nation, MTV has also decided to produce a one of a kind reality show on startups.

The reality show, which will aim to empower the truants of the country to achieve their startup dreams, will see reality show veterans Raghu Ram and Rajiv Lakshman making a comeback on television as hosts. In the past, the duo have been infamous for their antics on MTV's longest running adventure-based show, Roadies.

The reality show will make its viewers witness the entire process of identifying potential truants and then transforming these individuals into an ideal startup team which will receive mentorship from some of the leading entrepreneurs of the country in order to kick-start their startup journey.

According to Rajiv, in a country like India where setting ones own path to success is still not encouraged and celebrated, MTV has once again taken a bold step in providing those youngsters a platform to achieve their dreams. He also added, that his and Raghu's journey has also been full of struggle and hardships, and hence, they will be able to relate to the stories of the truants. Also, their experience of working with the youth throughout their careers will serve as a great advantage for them to connect with these individuals.

The show has been conceptualised by Raghu and Rajiv themselves. They will also be producing and hosting the show as well.

According to Raghu, "Rajiv and I saw a lot of potential in the idea of the show and we sat down with the MTV team to discuss and finalize the concept. The two of us together have conceptualized the show and will be producing and hosting the show as well. This is India’s first of its kind startup reality show aimed at the youth and we hope to boost the confidence of a lot of youngsters out there as we already have a long standing connection with the youth of India.”

Over the last couple of years, MTV has gone through a whole change in philosophy and has started taking brave steps towards producing content related to pro-socio issues which strike a cord with the youth of the nation. The reality start-up show is one of the many steps in that direction.

It is interesting to note here that the dynamic brother duo were reportedly shown the door from MTV's Roadies in 2014 due to their anger management issues and mood swings. However, the duo maintained that they quit the show voluntarily as they had been doing the same thing for over a decade.

Govt To Air TV Reality Show for Entrepreneurs in India; Shark Tank Alike

If all goes well, we might soon get to see a Shark Tank alike show on the Indian television screens. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has reportedly given a go-ahead to a government-run show on the lines of the aforementioned famous American show, where entrepreneurs seeking investments for their businesses pitch their ideas to a panel of potential investors.

Through the show, the government aims to promote startup culture in the country, which currently has a large ecosystem of 4,500 startups - the third largest in the world. The programme is expected to be broadcasted on autonomous Government of India founded public service broadcaster Doordarshan, entertainment channel, radio and digital mediums.

According to the proposal, there would be one round of “screening” and two rounds of “evaluation” for the startups to appear on the show. Reportedly, though the DIPP is currently facing some troubles when it comes to arranging the capital, but its secretary Ramesh Abhishek has already given his in-principle approval recently.

In order to draw exceptional results, the DIPP is reportedly also planning to get a TV production house on the board which will be overseeing the production, implementation and execution of the show. The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) is expected to become the coordinating agency to manage the daily operations of the show. In fact, the industrial body has already informed the government that the show would be requiring a budget of Rs 64 crore. While Rs 34 crore of the amount will be contributed by states and sponsors, the responsibility of the rest 30 crore will fall on DIPP.

The applications for the show would be sourced through online and offline outreach means so as to reach as many young entrepreneurs of the country as possible. After this, a filtering process would take place and the final participants would be chosen for the show. According to DIPP, the main aim behind the whole outreach programme is to encourage startups and entrepreneurs from each and every state to come forward.

During the first evaluation round, the selected startups will have to participate in offline events, where they would be required to pitch their their business plan to a panel of investors and mentors. At this stage, 440 startups would be selected, out of which 35 would be bestowed upon the title of "regional winners."

These regional winners will then move on to the next round of evaluation, also called as the “grand finale”. According to DIPP, these 35 selected ones will have to go through an extensive workshop of seven days, after which they will compete with each other in front of an esteemed investors. The next step would involve these selected startups presenting their ideas to a panel of investors, who will analyse and assess them on their business potential and make funding offers if they're interested in a business in lieu of an equity stake in the startup. This particular round will be shown on television.

In order to oversee the governance of the programme, a steering committee would be formed that would have representatives from the HRD Ministry, Department of Biotechnology, NITI Aayog, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as well as Axis Bank and Yes Bank.

Further, for a smooth implementation of the whole programme, a task force will be constituted with a partner leading in each region, who will be given the responsibility of execution of the entire show. Their duties will include running daily operations and managing all deliverables, timelines, agencies and interfacing regularly with all sponsors and partners in each of the regions.

In order to sustain the momentum of entrepreneurial spirit in the country, the stakeholders of the show have already decided to hold follow up events/seasons of the show. At a meeting held on November 9th last year regarding the show, it was also decided that the top 60 finalists from the programme will be given a reward of Rs 10 lakhs each to help them in the startup journey.

Second Season of India’s First Start-up Reality Program Launches By Haywards 5000 Hauslay Ki Udaan

'Haywards 5000 Hauslay Ki Udaan' is India’s first start-up reality program that aims to support the entrepreneurial spirit of those Indians who have an innate resolve to succeed in spite of various challenges. This initiative has been introduced by Haywards 5000 Hausla Buland Academy.

To announce the second season, Haywards 5000 Hausla Buland Academy has also launched their new TVC campaign – “Naa Se Haan Tak". The TVC showcases the challenges of an aspiring entrepreneur who hails from a small town of India. Inspite of being rejected by everyone, his will to fulfil his dream motivates to make his business idea a reality. The TVC also highlights his resolve (Hausla) that transforms every “Naa” to a “Haan.” He charts his own path and reaches his next milestone.

Haywards 5000 will conduct auditions across the nation, which will serve as a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs from small towns to showcase their innovative business ideas and share their stories of unrelenting resolve. The participants will be mentored by the Interview Panel consisting of well-known entrepreneurs and industry experts as well as Hausla Buland Academy Professional Counsellors through online and offline mediums. The winning idea will receive a seed funding of Rs. 15 Lac from the academy.

The finalists will be selected based on a combination of factors including market opportunity, uniqueness of the idea, growth potential, strategy, enthusiasm and passion, knowledge of the industry, realistic goals, and total investment required. The auditions will be held in the following cities: Gurgaon, Faridabad, Jaipur, Pune, Nagpur, Kolkata, Bangalore, Secunderabad, Rohtak, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Mohali. The auditions will begin in July 2016. Entries are open until the date of the auditions. Participants can register on www.hauslabulandacademy.com to participate in Hauslay Ki Udaan.

The first year of Haywards 5000 Hauslay Ki Udaan initiative held in 2015 received a tremendous response from all over the country. The 2015 initiative’s calling for entries began in April 2015, with an association with India’s biggest media event – IPL 2015, where Haywards 5000 was one of the co-sponsors. This campaign received over 40,000 calls from across the country. Post the remarkable response, the Haywards team conducted auditions across 10 cities in 2 states over a period of 3 months to find “city champions” from each city from over 600 entries. Last year, the judges ranged from entrepreneurs like Sumit Jain – Co-founder & CEO, Commonfloor.com, Vivek Singh, CO-founder & CFO of Tone Tag, Naidu Darapaneni, founder CEO of Meraevents.com, Santhosh Karnananda, CEO of MeraEnglish.com to industry stalwarts like Sunil Subramaniam - CEO of Sundaram Finance, among others.

Haywards 5000 launched Haywards 5000 Hausla Buland Academy [HBA] in 2012, to provide online skills development courses and training through workshops, and has reached out to over 100,000 people from different walks of life.