TiE announces the World’s largest TiE Global Summit in India

Will attract 20,000 entrepreneurs from 25+ countries, world leaders, influencers and policy makers, potential funding for 250 start-ups by 200 global investors attending the summit

TiE, Hyderabad will be hosting TiE’s largest ever and first Virtual Global Summit between December 8-10, 2020. A total of 20,000 entrepreneurs, 200+ investors, 10+ world Leaders, 50+ star speakers, successful celebrities, sports persons and spiritual and wellness gurus will be attending the summit. A total of 25 TiE chapters from Americas, Europe, Africa, India, APAC will be represented at the summit.

TiE, the world’s largest network of successful entrepreneurs and professionals will be hosting the ‘TiE Global Summit 2020’ through an online platform due to COVID-19 pandemic as there are travel, social distancing restrictions world over.

The summit based on the theme ‘Entrepreneurship 360’ will focus on issues faced and challenged by entrepreneurs, provide a platform for funding, insights into strategies to grow and scale business with focus on new start-up ideas, investments in start-ups, pitching tactics to help start-ups attract b2b and b2c businesses and scaling strategies to grow their business by 10x. Keynote sessions

Global leaders such as Satya Nadella, Ratan Tata, Elon Musk, Sundar Pitchai,  Anand Mahindra, Vijay Sekhar Sharma, Ritesh Agarwal, Kiran Majumdar Shaw, Sheryl Sandberg, Indra Nooyi among others are likely to attend. Distinguished world political leaders such as Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, Candian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, Lee Hsien Loong, UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister of New Zealand,  Jacinda Ardern, nobel laureates including Abhijit Banerjee, Mohammad Yunus, Amartya Sen, Dalai Lama, Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi and spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravishankar, Sadhguru, Sridharan are likely to address the summit.

TiE Global Summit 2020 is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi.

The summit will provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to network, share ideas and interact with investors, business leaders, policy makers across the globe, besides allowing investors access to the world’s brightest minds to fulfil their investment objectives and are likely to invest a few hundred crores after reviewing 200 start-up pitches. Women awards have been planned to acknowledge and motivate women entrepreneurs. A total of 100+ highly successful global entrepreneurs will be showcasing their products and services. Keynote sessions, technology lounge, investor lounge, pitch competitions, boot camps are planned to add value to the 20,000 start-ups and entrepreneurs attending the summit.

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, IT, Government of Telangana, addressing the media said, “Given the times we are in, it would have been easy for TiE to have cancelled the summit, however ‘am glad they are transitioning to a virtual event. The present times mean a lot to innovators, entrepreneurs, young start-ups. While it is true that businesses may have been disrupted, we are also seeing umpteen number of opportunities coming our way, and if one is agile, smart and mentored well, I am sure they can once again rise in their business.” He went on to add, “The TiE Global Summit 2020 is bound to have such experience to all the participants. And I am very glad that the summit is taking place in December 2020. My best wishes to all the participants and congratulations to the organizers.”

Speaking on the announcement, Mahavir Sharma - Chairman TiE Global, said, “The TiE Global Summit 2020 is a very special initiative, perhaps the largest and most diverse gathering of entrepreneurs and investors on a virtual platform (due to covid-19). It aims at bringing together students, start-ups, entrepreneurs, global leaders including heads of countries, successful business leaders, investors with a strong intent to invest in start-ups and Nobel laureates aimed at exchanging ideas. It will foster collaboration and networking, between entrepreneurs attending the summit from across 25 plus countries. This will enhance opportunities for startups across India to get investments worth billions of dollars”

Sridhar Pinnapureddy, President, TiE, Hyderabad said, “The Covid-19 situation has offered us an opportunity to engage 20,000 start-ups and entrepreneurs on a virtual platform due to social distancing norms and scare of contracting the dreaded virus. The TiE Global Summit 2020 is based on the theme ‘Entrepreneurship 360’ and aims at fostering ideas, provide a platform for investors to identify and funding curated start-ups and entrepreneurs, provide marketing inputs on pitching to grow their business in the b2b and b2c space, and gain deep insights into scale business by 10x. We plan to make the summit very enriching from a networking, learning, and funding perspective. We expect at least 200 entrepreneurs to be funded by investors during the three day summit.

Srini Raju, Founder President TIE Hyderabad, Kali Prasad - Board of Trustee, TiE Global, Manohar Reddy - Vice-President TiE Hyderabad and JA Chowdary, Founder Dir. STPI, CM, TiE, Hyderabad, attended and addressed the media today during the virtual conference.

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by a group of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with roots in the Indus region. TiE Global, is a not for profit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship around the World and currently has 15,000 members in 61 chapters across 14 countries. TiE’s mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, and education. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community, it’s focus is on generating and nurturing our next generation of entrepreneurs.

IIT Kanpur Alumni Association to Organize 16th Edition of Startup Master Class

IIT Kanpur Alumni Association is all set to organize the 16th Edition Startup Master Class (SMC), “Stepping into 20-20” on April 6th at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Startup Master Class (SMC) is the flagship entrepreneur event of Alumni Association IIT Kanpur, organized along-with IITK Incubation centre, eCell and other participating IIT’s and IIMs. Fostering and nurturing budding entrepreneurs, it brings together start-ups, mentors and investors to build interactions and strengthen the network within the entrepreneurial community.

With its previous 15 editions, organised in diverse location pan India, SMC has engaged over 6000 start-up enthusiasts, 500+ delegates, 1000+ start-ups and this has created an ecosystem for start-ups to leverage the power of the Alumni - the expertise, mentoring, funding, government and corporate connects - to support their journey.

16th Edition will trace the changing game with string leadership at Delhi, exciting entrepreneurs & the proximity of the central policy driving dignitaries. The focus areas will include Healthcare, Mobility and Fintech.

Healthcare would highlight Infrastructure, affordable care along with the innovations that are important for the right scaling up in India. Mobility will touch upon transport as it continues to evolve given the expanse of the country, its large population. Besides being affordable, renewable, efficient and non polluting sources are the key. Fintech which will draw on the currency, payments, security and the ease of transaction required in the near time. How Fintech will evolve in India and the changing role of the stake holders will be considered.

Dr. Saurabh Srivastava, Chairman of CA India, Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani Founder and Vice Chairman, InfoEdge (Naukri.com), Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO Niti Aayog & 14 years old Saad Nasser, Co-Founder, ATI Motors will be delivering the keynote address.

Also present on the occasion will be Mr. Rahul Gupta Founder Moglix, Mr. Abhiraj Bhal Co-founder UrbanClap, Mr. Saurabh Kumar EESL, Mr. Rahul Garg Founder, Mobilex and many more.

More details about SMC available here https://startupmasterclass.in/

Startup Master Class is the flagship entrepreneur event of the Alumni Association IIT Kanpur, organised along-with IITK Incubation centre, eCell and other participating IIT’s and IIMs. Fostering and nurturing budding entrepreneurs, it brings together start-ups, mentors and investors to build interactions and strengthen the network within the entrepreneurial community.

SMC came into existence some 4 years ago. SMC is a fully volunteer run, not for profit network of passionate individuals and institutions (alumni of PAN IIT network) combining their skills and resources in support of the activities to promote entrepreneurship. SMC has also signed up an MOU with Niti Aayog to further build momentum and deeper penetrations in the startup catchment area.

Dubai’s Biggest Startup Investment Fest Now Open for Indian Startups to Participate

Dubai AIM Startups, one of the biggest Startup Investment event in the region organised by UAE Ministry of Economy, now open for Indian Startups to participate. The UAE has been hosting this Annual Investment Meeting for few years now, however this will be the first time Indian startups will get an opportunity to participate in this international mega investment summit. The India leg of the summit will be organised by GREX through an MoU between the parties.

To recall, GREX and AIM Startup, an initiative of UAE Government, have signed an MoU, in September last year, to provide better access for Indian companies to the markets in MENA region (Middle East and North Africa region), and forge meaningful relations with business leaders, investors and international Government entities.

GREX has connected with various ecosystem partners like IIT campuses (Mumbai, Kanpur, Madras & Guwahati), T-Hub, CIE-IIIT, 91Springboard etc. and various State Government projects like Kerala Startup Mission, Rajasthan iStart etc to partner and host these events in their respective regions. Even some domestic VC Funds have joined this initiative and will look at possible investment opportunities through the competition for Startups.

Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary Industries & Commerce & IT, Government of Telangana quoted “Government of Telangana has always been on the forefront of providing various opportunities for startups to grow. We congratulate UAE Ministry of Economy for this wonderful initiative i.e. Dubai AIM Startup and are happy that GREX is bringing this international program to India. I am confident this program will give valuable international exposure and access to global investors to our startups. And therefore, encourage our startups to participate.”.

Dr Saji Gopinath, CEO, Kerala Startup Mission quoted “Kerala has long standing business relationship with Arab Nations. The Dubai AIM Startup Summit is a great opportunity for the new generation startup entrepreneurs from the State to explore the avenues in MENA region and to Foster meaningful business linkages. It is heartening to see the good efforts of GREX for being a great catalyst in linking startups from India with burgeoning investment opportunities in the GCC countries. Such international exposure and linkages would go a long way in further strengthening competitiveness of our startup ecosystem.”

“We at Cornerstone Venture Partners are excited to participate in the AIM Startup’s Annual Innovation Showcase and Pitch Competition, brought to India by GREX. We look forward to meet and interact with startup founders who are focusing on digital technologies that will drive the future growth. Keeping in mind Opportunity Size, Ease of Scale, Team's Capability, and Monetizability / Ease of Exits.  
We wish the GREX and Dubai AIM Startup event all the success. Let’s AIM Winning Together!”, thoughts shared by Mr. Rajiv Vaishnav, Managing Partner, Cornerstone Venture Partners.

Mr. Dawood Al Shezawi, Chairman, Organizing Committee AIM Startup 2019 said, “Disruptive ideas have turned thousands of Indians to be passionate innovators. This is evident with the impressive number of startups formed in India in 2018. We have to match their passion with a platform that will encourage and support their ideas to become a reality. This is exactly what AIM Startup has been committed to since its inception in 2017.
For its third edition, AIM Startup 2019 will once again welcome the most brilliant minds and link their ideas with genuine investors. We look forward to see amazing ideas from Indian innovators.”

Explaining the advantages participating startups would benefit from this Summit, he added that “AIM Startup 2019 will give 20,000 expected visitors in-depth sector knowledge and coaching through specialized workshops by international professionals from the industry. Investors, startups, SMEs and policy makers will be able to meet and explore potential investment projects in an arena conducive to such discussions as will be provided at the global event.”

BITS Goa to Kick-off its Flagship Entrepreneurial Event Coalescence

“Everyone can tell you the risk, but only an entrepreneur can see the reward”

It is this zeal, to see achieve something greater than oneself that propels people to pave their own path and become entrepreneurs..

Coalescence is BITS Goa’s flagship entrepreneurial event conducted by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL). Coalescence is one of the major confluence’s of India. It attracts students from all over the country and inspires their very own journey and dream of founding a start up. Coalescence is very lucky to have a supportive and robust start-up ecosystem , here in BITS Goa. We boast of hosting several prominent and prolific trend setters such as Rajat Sharma, Taapsee Pannu, Radhakrishnan Pillai to name a few.

This year we are lucky to have Sharad Sagar, Vikram Gupta and Ajay Chaturvedi to kickstart the event. BITS alumni , who are each entrepreneurs in their own right, will host a panel discussion followed by an interactive session which aims at educating students about both the pitfalls as well as the rewards of being an entrepreneur. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for budding entrepreneurs and will give them the fuel to achieve their vision and create their own destiny.

Coalescence 2018 is a confluence aiming to be India's biggest innovation summit. In its previous editions, it had several of the nations eminent entrepreneurs meet and target younger entrepreneurial minds. Conducted by the Centre of Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) , BITS Pilani Goa and Enactus, BITS Pilani Goa chapter, previous years have featured entrepreneurs like Rahul Yadav (Co-Founder and ex CEO Housing.com), Rajat Sharma (Chairman and editor-in-chief,IndiaTV), Hussain Zaidi(Crime-Reporter and Writer), Taapsee Pannu(Bollywood actress), Arunachalam Muruganantham(Social Entrepreneur), Rajat Kapoor (Actor), Shaheen Mistri(Founder of Teach for India), Kunal Shah(Founder of Freecharge), Rajat Sharma (Chairman and Editor-in-chief,IndiaTV), Vijay Anand(The StartupGuy), Tushar Vashisht(Co-Founder and CEO at HealthifyMe) , Radhakrishnan Pillai (Author of "Chanakya in you", Director, Chanakya institute of Public Leadership), Biswa Kalyan Rath(Stand-up comedian , Pretentious movie reviews fame) and more.

For more information about coalescence and it’s bookings, follow the facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CoalescenceIN/

Axis Bank To Launch 'Axis Start-up Social', A Networking Event for Startups in India

Axis Bank, India's third largest private sector bank is launching an exclusive networking property, Axis Start-up Social, at a 'one-of-its-kind' event aimed at supporting the country's start-up ecosystem. 'Axis Start-up Social' will go 'live' today at a gathering of the country's leading start-up players at 'WeWork' a leading co-working place in Bengaluru.

The objective of this platform is to provide an opportunity for start-ups to network and share knowledge. Significantly, this initiative firmly underlines the Bank's unflinching commitment towards providing multiple opportunities for start-ups in India to thrive and scale to the next-level-of-growth. The unveiling of 'Axis Start-up Social' comes close on the heels of the launch of the bank's innovation lab, Thought Factory, which looks to aid start-ups to expand, besides opening up avenues with potential investors and companies.

The Bank also launched its Axis Start-up Banking product earlier this year, which is bundled with all key technology-enabled products and caters comprehensively to banking needs of start-ups. Over 100 leading names among the start-up community are expected to converge at the launch.

India continues to be a hotbed for start-ups, especially with the Government’s relentless focus to provide a congenial environment for them to conduct business.

As per a recent Nasscom Startup Report, the year has seen an addition of over 1,000 start-ups bolstering India's position as one of the leading start-up ecosystems across the world. This takes the total number of technology start-ups in the country to over 5,000, as per the Report. Importantly, while Technology continues to dominate conversations, start-ups in other sectors such as Healthcare, and Education and Logistics have also gathered pace.

Speaking about the initiative, Sidharth Rath, Group Executive, Corporate & Transaction Banking, Axis Bank said, "We are excited to launch Axis Start-up Social, a platform through which we hope to provide the much required, 'extra edge' to the start-up community by handholding them, sharing knowledge and providing the required financial solutions. Today, the Indian ecosystem is flooded with innovative ideas but what is missing is the presence of the right channel and guidance in terms of acceleration, scaling up and funding. Through Axis Start-up Social, we endeavour to create an ecosystem to encourage innovation and the next-level-of-growth opportunities to start-ups that are ready to take that leap."

How A Tech Community Is Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship In and Around Delhi

Last time we talked about TechDelhi Launch, a vibrantly engaged technical community building initiative which kicked off last month for entrepreneurs and innovators in and around Delhi-NCR.

Supported by 91springboard and IndiaNetwork, TechDelhi's July edition was very motivational having presence of few prominent speakers who shared their experience of life such as -- Nishant Manchanda, Co-Founder of India Network spoke about Salesman to Sales Guru. Sadiya Naseem, Founder of Glamstudios.in, talked about her journey from a small town girl to Co-Founding Glamstudios while Pooja Chauhan, Co-Founder & CEO of Vayuz talked how she handles her role as Bahu, Maa, wife and disciplined boss.

Prem Sagar, Founder of Banaao - A Maker's Playground talked on how he founded Banaao, and Amanjot Malhotra who is Vice President of Delhi Angels emphasized on Hardware Startups to go China

Besides, the event also have two main attractions -- 'Tech with Social Impact' and 'Hack of the Month', which will parts of every TechDelhi events hereafter.

In Tech with Social Impact by Pranav Lal, he demonstrated "Wireless Virtual Eye" for visually impaired that was developed at Banao, a makerspace based out of Gurgaon.

[caption id="attachment_119550" align="aligncenter" width="700"] (L-R) Paranav & Hemkesh[/caption]

Hack of the Month was by Hemkesh Agrawal - who demonstrated Hemanoid - An assistive hand gloves for visually impaired.

TechDelhi plans to expand its wings by getting onboard more speakers and inviting more tech disruptors and internationally recognized tech giants for sharing their part of stories with the tech community they build.

Conclusion - To be an Entrepreneur we need to be well connected and open to sharing knowledge because in the Age of Technological advance India and Delhi/NCR, Your network is your net worth. To survive you need to be more inclusive, more generous and helpful.

TechDelhi is a monthly monetized event that always shall include, Speaker Series, Tech With Social Impact.

In future, TechDeli also wish to give 10 seconds to at least 10 members under Open Community Mike, to those who are not on the speaker's list to say anything relevant like -- If they need a Job, or they need a Co-Founder, anything that can help them. Moreover, the organizers are looking to shower AgriTechDelhi, HealthTechDelhi not limited to these in near future.

TechDelhi meetups' USP shall be Hardware Technology and Tech With Social Impact.

If you wish to be a part of TechDelhi next event on 19 August, you can comment below for updates we shall be receiving from the organizers.

Startup Cricket League Launches To Unite Entrepreneurs and All Stakeholders of Indian Startup Ecosystem

Memilog, a Hyderabad based startup turned a year old in May 2015. It had a unique idea to celebrate its birthday, this was to play cricket in its premises by inviting the known startups. This idea was such an instant hit that it led to Startup Cricket League, Hyderabad.

Startup Cricket League (SCL) 2015 was inaugurated with an opening ceremony at 9 AM by Jayesh Ranjan, IT Secretary, Telangana; Amarnath Reddy, CRO, Telangana; Meghana Reddy, Rhythmic Gymnast; Srinivas Kollipara, COO, THub, Telangana, who kick-started the event by playing a one over match. A SCL bat also was designed to capture the signature imprints of the respective startup team captains as an invaluable memory to cherish henceforth. Startup Cricket League (SCL) became the most happening thing to discuss. Presented by NASSCOM and Memilog together, it was one of the most novel ways to congregate the startup ecosystem in Hyderabad, which included several founders, investors, mentors et al.

Startup Cricket League or SCL is one of a kind, nationwide platform to unite entrepreneurs and all other stakeholders of Indian Startup Ecosystem through the medium of the most popular Sport in India, Cricket which is just a binding factor. It is one of the largest Informal Networking Platform for Entrepreneurs, Investors, Incubators, Accelerators and other Startup enablers.

SCL operates throughout the year with a goal to enrich Indian Startup Ecosystem and empower Entrepreneurs to build scalable and sustainable Enterprises through a series of exciting initiatives including our SCL Flagship, SCL Yorked Stories and SCL Trophy Tour.

SCL 2016:

Following the success of SCL 2015, we scaled to 4 major cities, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Jaipur. The announcement of SCL has pulled in the attention of a cricket enthusiast cum actor, Akhil Akkineni who eventually became brand ambassador of SCL 2016. The season was scheduled from August to September with 2 weeks interval between cities. The brands like Citrus, Azuga, Ace2Three and Progress Software were the sponsor nationwide for the season.

In 4 cities and we have touched more than 50 Investors and Mentors and we had more than 5000 attendees with 300+ Startups. Many well known startups like NestAway, GrabOn etc were part of the season.
With the remarkable outreach and participation ,this season has made SCL a nationwide brand connecting the entire startup ecosystem.

The season 3 of SCL has evolved with all the learnings of previous years to become a very bigger and effective with values to all the stakeholders from Investors to Founders. The earlier seasons has made public name “The IPL for Startups”.

This year, we have 6 teams formed based on the generic domains/areas in which various startups operate.
Each team comprises of Mentors and Investors ,who are called Thought Leaders of the Startup ecosystem,to guide the 8 Startup founders in their team over a period of 6 Weeks.



Startups can enroll to be a part of this programme by registering to one of the 6 teams .This new format of SCL , gives a chance for fusion of various stakeholders of ecosystem with series of informal interaction over various events for 6 Weeks.

The whole SCL is divided into 6 teams formed upon the generic sectors or industries and the teams are:

1. Business 2 Business - Business Blazers


2. Ecommerce - Ecom Titans


3. Future Tech - Front Foot Techies (IndianWeb2 is Partner)


4. Fintech - Finance Fighters


5. Lifestyle - Lifestyle Leopards


6. Travel / Logistics - Travel Thunders

The SCL season is going to be 6 Weeks long with activities which happens in series and the order of activities is:

1. SCL Launch Event


2. Startup Registrations


3. Startup Auditions


4. SCL Team Bonding


5. SCL Team Launching


6. SCL Trophy Tour


7. SCL Flagship Event ( Main Event )

SCL Launch Event:

The launch of season 3 of SCL was on 15th July and the company announced the structure and schedule following it. Pragyan Ojha was the chief guest of the session to launched the new SCL logo and SCL season.

The above mentioned SCL Team Logos and names were launched by different startups who were part of previous SCL seasons. The thought leaders of each team were introduced who will be engaged with startups coming onboard for the season.

The Thought leaders of each team are.

Business Blazers - B2B / Enterprise.

1. Monika Misra - Founder, iKeva


2. Gopi Krishna Lingala - PL, Startup Leadership


3. Rohit Sardana - BWDisrupt


4. Rakesh Bhatia - Managing Partner, Beyond Strategy


5. Rama Iyer - SVP, T-Hub


6. Subbaraju Pericherla - Founder, CrossBoreders

Ecom Titans - Eommerce / mCommerce

1. Kazim - Co-Founder, RentADesk


2. Praveen Dorna - Founder, StartupByte


3. Ravi Korukonda - Founder, Startup Hyderabad


4. Sashi Somavarapu - Founder, Redlily.com


5. Phani Raj - Co-Founder, Zaggle

Front Foot Techies - Future Tech

1. Vineel Reddy Pindi - Founder, Collab House


2. Aditya Patro - PL, Startup Weekend Hyderabad


3. Vardaan Tiwari - Founder, Indianweb2


4. Bhat Dittakavi - Founder, Variance.ai


5. Joginder Tanikella - Founder, Mooshik Labs


6. Srinivas Rao - COO, HYSEA


7. Pankaj Diwan - Founder, Idealabs


8. Lakshmi Misra - Incubation Head, IIIT Hyderabad

Finance Fighters - Finance / Commerce / Payments

1. Raghuveer Kovuru - Founder, CloWork


2. Prashant Gowriraju - Founder, The Hyderabad Entrepreneurs


3. Sailesh Sigatapu - Partner, Anthill Ventures


4. Rajeev Menon - Partner, Anthill Ventures


5. Sanjay Darbha - Founder, Peerlend

Lifestyle Leopards - Healthcare, Education, Fashion

1. Sravan Kavalipurapu - Co-Founder, Jxtapose


2. Rajat Shahi - Member, Hyderabad Hackers


3. Charan Lakkaraju - Founder, Stumagz


4. Vijay Mitra - Co-Founder, Positive Shift


5. Krishna Rao Akula - Founder, Learnpedia


6. Ramesh Loganathan - CEO, State Innovation Cell

Travel Thunders - Travel, Logistics, Delivery

1. MaryAnne - Community Manager, 91Springboard


2. Srikanth Soni - Community Manager, Headstart Hyderabad


3. Vineel Nalla - Partner, 50K Ventures


4. Murali Talasila - Partner, PwC India


5. G R Reddy - Founder, HUSYS


6. Viiveck Verma - Founder, DiSRUPPt Thinking

The commencement of Startup registrations through our website for next 4 weeks was announced at the end of the launch. The launch event seen the networking of various stakeholders of startup ecosystem like CoWorking space, Communities, Mentors, Founder and Investors.

The Registrations for this season of SCL are open @www.sclt30.com

Registrations will close on August 22 2017.

The details regarding the flagship programme will be shared later.

IIT-Kanpur Alumni Association's 'Startup Master Class' in Pune Sees Digital India, Startup India Take Centre Stage

“Startups are the makers of new India. They have a dream—and innovative spirit and a knack to leverage technology”, said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Law and Justice and IT while delivering the keynote address at the the Startup master Class (SMC) organized by Alumni Association IIT-Kanpur Pune Chapter supported by Pan IIT Alumni Association and NASSCOM, TiE, MACCIA held in Pune today.

Startup Master Class is targeted towards promoting entrepreneurship in India by creating and fostering an ecosystem for entrepreneurs, mentors and investors alike.

The minister exhorted the startups and entrepreneurs present to leverage their passion and technological talent to serve the less priveleged, centred in the villages and small towns.

Ravi shankar prasad invited entrepreneurs and their startups to create innovative products that will service five initiatives of the Narendra Modi administration which include optical fibre network in villages, common service centres across India, postal payment bank, BPO call centres in small towns and virtual mobile network,.

The minister made an impassioned plea to startups to leverage the Digital India, Startup India, Make in India programmes and innovate across the spectrum of software, e-commerce, electronics manufacturing including defence amd medical electronics.

Entrepreneurship is converting power of an idea to job and wealth creation” , said N R Narayan Murthy , co-founder Infosys in his keynote address.he said it was the governments responsibility to create a regulated incentives for entrepreneurs, who should have full freedom to create employment and wealth.

Narayan Murthy told the entrepreneurs present that their ideas should have highly differential value for corporations or end consumers.

Pune city took centre stage as Kunal Kumar, Pune Municipal Commissioner and Ganesh Natrajan spoke on the efforts to make Pune the number one destination for start ups by 2020.

Kunal Kumar said that a target to create 50,000 jobs in 4 years from startups has been set. He also announced the setting up of an innovation hub IN Pune in collaboration with government of UK.

Kshatrapati Shivaji, Chairman and Managing Director, SIDBI in his address underscored the lifecycle and challenges of start ups.

Shivaji spoke on initiatives of SIDBI like startupmitra.in and Venture Debt, a financial instrument that provides funding without diluting founders equity.

Shailendra Agarwal, President ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IIT-KANPUR PUNE CHAPTER welcoming the delegates said that this event was just the beginning; the IIT-KANPUR PUNE CHAPTER would be involved in handholding start ups on a long term basis. Post event plans include providing continuous support to interested entrepreneurs and startups that will be matched with the available experts, investors etc. This effort has been enabled by the use of advanced tools for evaluation of the start-ups to identify the opportunities for improvement.

SMC was attended by about 850 relevant professionals, with more than 500 start-ups, 40 investors (Angels and VCs) and more than 60 mentors.

Starting Tomorrow, BITS Pilani's Coalescence’16 Event Targets Start-up Enthusiasts of The Country

The recent times have seen the world going crazy for start-ups, and it seems to have influenced the Indian talent too. To be a part of this amazing change that the country is moving to, BITS Pilani K.K. Birla Goa campus announces Coalescence’16: Going Zero to One, the annual e-summit of the institution. The event will be held on the 4^th and 5^th of September. Coalescence’16 is targeted at being one of the best platforms for the start-up enthusiasts of the country to showcase their skills. It will leave no stone unturned to ensure that it comes out to be an enriching experience for the attendees. Some of the key events of this edition are:

ACT, the Conference

ACT is Coalescence’s flagship event, is all set to host a set of remarkable speakers to ensure that the right amount of inspiration flows from the leaders of today to the leaders of tomorrow. The conference is targeted at ensuring that every attendee gets the boost that is required to give a boost to his idea. This year, the conference will host eminent personalities like:

• Rajat Sharma: Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India T.V.


• Sairee Chahal: Founder, CEO at Sheroes


• Danish Sait: Indian Radio Host, TV presenter, Actor and Writer


• Tushar Vashisht: Co-Founder and CEO of HealthifyMe


• Atul Kulkarni: Actor


• Radhakrishnan Pillai: Director, Chanakya Institute of Public Leadership, University of Mumbai


• Bhuvan Bam: Singer, Youtuber, known for B.B. ki Vines

Workshops

Workshops at Coalescence are targeted at catering to the interests of all the attendees. With able mentors from well-known firms to guide them, the attendees get to learn various skills that are necessary for raising a successful start-up. This edition is all set to host three major workshops, namely

• Branding and Marketing


• How to build an app in less than 4 mins, in association with Thappad.in which is which is an online platform that is thought –provoking, opinion generating and positively democratic


• The art of Bootstrapping

Start-up Expo

Start-up expo is the first of its kind start-up exhibition that aims at providing a platform to start-ups to showcase their ideas in front of a large group of entrepreneurs and get them funded by the VCs and investors of big firms. The start-ups will get a 76 cmX244 cm banner for their company name. Coalescence will carry out a social media campaign for the company in order to ensure maximum publicity for the ideas of the concerned start-up. The company logo will be present in all the pamphlets and brochures of Expo, and on the festival newsletter that is given to the attendees. The participants will also be guaranteed front seats in ACT.

The participating startups in the expo are AthleticGo, CadShakes, Medifee, Nativefolks and Pawfect. Medifee is a team of doctors, medical professionals and technocrats, passionate about providing affordable and transparent healthcare to people.


Panel Discussion

The panel discussion will be a very interactive discussion with eminent personalities of the start-up ecosystem like Mr. Ajeet Khurana (Angel Investor), Mr. Nikhil Kamath (Co-Founder, Zerodha), Mr. Nitish Singh (CFO, Jugnoo) and Mr. Ashwin Srivastava (CEO, Iden Ventures). The theme for the discussion is going to be the “Start-up Bubble in India”. The panel will be discussing about the possible future of the start-ups in the country. It will surely be a great exchange of ideas among leaders of today and the leaders of tomorrow.

Novatia

After sorting out 200+ entries, 25 selected teams will be pitching their business plans in front of investors. These 25 teams were provided mentorship from associations like Kae Capital, TiE Mumbai, Mica Incubator, 180DC  and Indian Angel Network. The judge panel consists of professionals from Ide-in Ventures, Venture Studio, Forum Synergies , IBM Global Entrepreneur and 91Springboard.

 

Schedule

Day 1: September 4, 2016

1) A workshop on Branding and Marketing- 11:00 A.M. to 12:30 P.M.

2) Keynote session with Mr. Rajat Sharma - 3:00 P.M. to 4 P.M.

3) A panel discussion of the start-up bubble in India- 4:00-5:00 P.M.

Day 2: September 5, 2016

1) A workshop on Building an App in 4 minutes - 10:00 to 11:30 A.M.

2) A workshop on The Art of Bootstrapping - 11:30 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.

3) ACT- The Conference- 2:00 P.M. onward

More info - www.coalescence.in.

Chattisgarh To Witness A unique Gathering of Entrepreneurs To Spark Curiosity, Ignite Ideas

EO–Spark 2016, a unique learning event curated and organized by the Raipur Chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) got kick started today. The two-day event will showcase the direct relation between curiosity – possibilities – success.

EO SPARK 2016 – the exclusive annual showcase event of EO South Asia is being organized by EO Raipur chapter on 26th & 27th August 2016 at The Taj Gateway, Raipur. It promises to be one of the biggest and one of its kind event which is hosting numerous world-renowned faces. Bollywood superstar Irrfan Khan, Great all-rounder Cricketer Wasim Akram, TATA Sons Ltd.Director - Gopal Krishnan, Media Mogul Subhash Chandra, Member of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi, Bollywood Star Abhay Deol are few of the names who are scheduled to interact and share their experiences with top entrepreneurs at the event. The speakers will share their personal experiences relating to various issues and topics which will motivate the entrepreneurs.

Another flagship highlight of the event on day one was the tete-a-tete of entrepreneurs with honourable Chief Minister of Chattisgarh, Shri Raman Singh, who for the first time had such a meeting with the attendee business owners from all across. A lot of entrepreneurs have shown keen interest in investing in Chattisgarh. State chief minister talked about the immense opportunities and incentives the state has to offer.

EO Spark 2016 aims at celebrating the spirit of possibilities with curiosity, inviting all curious souls within EO’s fold to be a part of this scintillating event. Curiosity is the way to live – there is no other way.

Talking about the event, Sandeep Goel, Area Director,EO Raipur, said, "We are very excited in welcoming fellow entrepreneurs to Raipur- the very heart of India. This edition of 'EO Spark 2016' is an incredible opportunity for unparalleled learning, networking with business leaders and once-in-a -lifetime experiences through meetings, special activities, and exciting entertainment."

The EO Spark has traditionally been organized for established entrepreneurs and are by far the largest gatherings of highly successful entrepreneurs on one platform for exchanging views and ideas.

About Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)

The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a global business network of 10,000+ leading entrepreneurs in 147 chapters and 48 countries. Founded in 1987 by a group of young entrepreneurs, EO enables business owners to learn from each other, leading to greater business success and an enriched personal life. We educate, we transform, we inspire, and we offer invaluable resources in the form of global events, leadership-development programs, an online entrepreneur forum and executive education opportunities, among other offerings designed for personal and professional growth.

EO South Asia started in 1997 with a chapter in Mumbai and has now grown to 15 chapters and 1000+ members. Each member, by rule, is owner/founder/majority stakeholder of a business generating an earning of a minimum USD 1 million in the most recent fiscal year. EO SA has members from across industry sectors whose collective sales value is USD 87.6 billion.

Conquest, India’s Biggest StudentRun Startup Challenge, Is Back

Conquest, BITS Pilani’s International Startup Challenge, is back again with its twelfth edition. Conquest is India’s biggest studentrun startup challenge that provides an exemplary platform for emerging startups to grow. It offers incubation opportunities, networking sessions with industry leaders, funding opportunities and equityless cash prize.

Conquest has been backed by investors from over thirteen investment firms and industry bigwigs like Neeru Sharma, CEO at Infibeam, Satyen Kothari, MD at Citrus Pay and Samay Kohli, CEO at GreyOrange Robotics, Rohit Bansal, COO at Snapdeal as mentors and judges in its past editions. Commenting on his associations with Conquest, Sanjay Nath, CoFounder & Managing Partner of Blume Ventures said, “It was a memorable experience to be a part of Conquest 2015. I
was pleasantly surprised by the variety (covering both BITSianfounded as well as other startups) and maturity of startups at the Conquest finale. The volunteer team behind Conquest has always put in commendable efforts to make the entire journey culminating in the grand finale a success. I'd encourage more startups to tap into such startup friendly platforms to grow."

Conquest boasts off a BITS Pilani tag, with a team of just fifteen intrepid students involved in the entire organisation of the conclave. Dhairik Fuletra, the CEO at Conquest, says, "We believe one must startup not just to live one’s visionary dreams, but rather, to generate employment that would lead thousands to live their own dreams. Every waking day, we see thousands of budding entrepreneurs willing to startup and we, at Conquest, provide them with the perfect platform to launch their venture in the form of networking and funding opportunities."

About Conquest 2016

Conquest eyes the so far untapped startups in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of the country with immense entrepreneurial talent and provides them an opportunity to be on equal footing with ventures across the globe. Catering to over 1400 applications in the last edition, Conquest has widened its outreach this year in Asia with its incubation partners in all major countries. Conquest, with a cash prize of INR 3,00,000, a million dollar worth startup resources, a dream opendoor pitching and knowledge enriching panel discussions, is a perfect launchpad for any budding entrepreneurs.

Success Stories

Over the years, Conquest has produced some of the best startups in India. Conquest winners include startups like Gamezop, iTraveller, PosterGully, GharPay (Acquired by Delhivery), Social Cops, Voonik and many more. Gamezop, the Runnerup of Conquest ‘15, raised a funding of USD 350,000 after Conquest Grand Finale. Gaurav and Yashash, the Agarwal siblings, who founded Gamezop in 2015, have been featured in Forbes 30 under 30 this year.

The Application Process

Applying for Conquest 2016 is a fairly simple process. The participants are required to fill a form on the Conquest website. The Conquest Jury, a panel of entrepreneurs and investors, would be screening the applications based on various parameters gauging the startup performance. The semifinalists would get personalized mentoring across five major cities in India, wherein the teams will be offered to choose their own mentors. Finally, a networking lunch with prestigious industrialists and a pitching opportunity to the biggest VC firms in India would commemorate
the Grand Finale, a star studded affair with distinguished personalities from the business world present. A startup can find here everything that they may possibly require ranging from funding and networking to potential teammates and users and that too, without paying a single penny throughout the timeline.

Registrations for participation close on 20th April . For more details, visit www.conquest.org.in/Register .

Conquest, India’s Biggest StudentRun Startup Challenge, Is Back

Conquest, BITS Pilani’s International Startup Challenge, is back again with its twelfth edition. Conquest is India’s biggest studentrun startup challenge that provides an exemplary platform for emerging startups to grow. It offers incubation opportunities, networking sessions with industry leaders, funding opportunities and equityless cash prize.

Conquest has been backed by investors from over thirteen investment firms and industry bigwigs like Neeru Sharma, CEO at Infibeam, Satyen Kothari, MD at Citrus Pay and Samay Kohli, CEO at GreyOrange Robotics, Rohit Bansal, COO at Snapdeal as mentors and judges in its past editions. Commenting on his associations with Conquest, Sanjay Nath, CoFounder & Managing Partner of Blume Ventures said, “It was a memorable experience to be a part of Conquest 2015. I
was pleasantly surprised by the variety (covering both BITSianfounded as well as other startups) and maturity of startups at the Conquest finale. The volunteer team behind Conquest has always put in commendable efforts to make the entire journey culminating in the grand finale a success. I'd encourage more startups to tap into such startup friendly platforms to grow."

Conquest boasts off a BITS Pilani tag, with a team of just fifteen intrepid students involved in the entire organisation of the conclave. Dhairik Fuletra, the CEO at Conquest, says, "We believe one must startup not just to live one’s visionary dreams, but rather, to generate employment that would lead thousands to live their own dreams. Every waking day, we see thousands of budding entrepreneurs willing to startup and we, at Conquest, provide them with the perfect platform to launch their venture in the form of networking and funding opportunities."

About Conquest 2016

Conquest eyes the so far untapped startups in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of the country with immense entrepreneurial talent and provides them an opportunity to be on equal footing with ventures across the globe. Catering to over 1400 applications in the last edition, Conquest has widened its outreach this year in Asia with its incubation partners in all major countries. Conquest, with a cash prize of INR 3,00,000, a million dollar worth startup resources, a dream opendoor pitching and knowledge enriching panel discussions, is a perfect launchpad for any budding entrepreneurs.

Success Stories

Over the years, Conquest has produced some of the best startups in India. Conquest winners include startups like Gamezop, iTraveller, PosterGully, GharPay (Acquired by Delhivery), Social Cops, Voonik and many more. Gamezop, the Runnerup of Conquest ‘15, raised a funding of USD 350,000 after Conquest Grand Finale. Gaurav and Yashash, the Agarwal siblings, who founded Gamezop in 2015, have been featured in Forbes 30 under 30 this year.

The Application Process

Applying for Conquest 2016 is a fairly simple process. The participants are required to fill a form on the Conquest website. The Conquest Jury, a panel of entrepreneurs and investors, would be screening the applications based on various parameters gauging the startup performance. The semifinalists would get personalized mentoring across five major cities in India, wherein the teams will be offered to choose their own mentors. Finally, a networking lunch with prestigious industrialists and a pitching opportunity to the biggest VC firms in India would commemorate
the Grand Finale, a star studded affair with distinguished personalities from the business world present. A startup can find here everything that they may possibly require ranging from funding and networking to potential teammates and users and that too, without paying a single penny throughout the timeline.

Registrations for participation close on 20th April . For more details, visit www.conquest.org.in/Register .

Y Combinator Startup School coming soon to India

America's top seed accelerator Y-Combinator is considering bringing it's flagship event Startup School in India. In this event startups and entrepreneurs can get practical advice from successful founders and investors

People interested in starting a startup can attend Y Combinator Startup School. Startup School is a free to attend, one day conference where you'll hear stories and practical advice from founders and investors. Learn how they got started, what went wrong, what surprised them, and what happened as their companies grew.

This year, for the first time, Startup School considered organizing event outside the Silicon Valley with events in New York and London and is expected to debut in China as well, next year.

When YC announced that it would be taking the Startup School global in May, entrepreneurs in India had voiced their interest for an event in India on YC's forum - Hacker News.

YC said Twitter analytics revealed that 5% of its followers were from India and it made sense to understand the ecosystem here .

The event, held in 2013, included great talks from the likes of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, VMWare founder Diane Greene, Evernote CEO Phil Libin, Airbnb's Nate Blecharczyk and Andreessen Horowitz's Chris Dixon.

Y Combinator was founded in March 2005 by Paul Graham with his Viaweb co-founders Robert Morris and Trevor Blackwell, as well as Jessica Livingston, who Graham later married. Since 2005, Y Combinator has funded over 700 startups, a community of over 1,400 founders and companies under its belt have a combined valuation of over $30 billion.

Until now, four Indian companies have made it to the Y-Combinator accelerator till date - ClearTax, Plivo, TapToLearn and HackerRank (previously InterviewStreet). ClearTax was the first ever India-focused startup to have graduated from the Y-Combinator batch.

[Top Image - Jason Hen]