Startup showcase events are blossoming all over India. A handful of events now dot the startup calendar where you can showcase your venture to interested stakeholders- these could be investors for funding purposes, media folks for marketing/PR, users & customers for product validation/feedback, industry experts for guidance & mentorship or to other companies with an eye on mergers, acquisitions and alliances. Many of these events have an inherent bias towards technology, but there is no reason why non tech events can’t be organised along the same lines. Every now & then I come across some new event taking shape, so decided to compile a quick list that every Indian tech startup should have on its radar. The list is not exhaustive; in case you can think of the ones I missed out, do let me know and I’ll add it in here..
Proto– Proto is a technology showcase event whose third edition is slated for Jan 08; organized by a not for profit umbrella organisation called the Knowledge Foundation, it is shaping into a good launchpad for early stage tech startups. Proto features app 25 startups mostly from the internet, mobile & software domains. Previous editions (Proto I & Proto II ) have been well received; this is where you need to apply for the event.
TiE – TiE has been an instigator on the technology startup scene in India; The upcoming TiECON in Delhi has a showcase section for startups, along with mentoring sessions. TiE regualrly organises showcase events at its various chapters (Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai).
Nasscom– While Nasscom is dominated by mid to large sized organisations; it also organises various events and awards for startups, though they are more focused on mid sized and growth stage companies; One needs to be glued into their calendar to know about their events.
HeadStart– This is another startup showcase event that is planning its first edition in Bangalore in Jan08. It is focused on four domains- consumer serveces, mobile, embedded system & enterprise platforms. It seems to be targetting not just startups but also individuals, research institutions, large and established businesses etc. Its organisers are Kickstart, a body of entrepreneurs & tech professionals and it is sponsored by ACM Bangalore. This is where you need to apply for the event.
MoDemo – This is a new event for the mobile space; it is happening is Bangalore on the 16th of Dec and attempts to showcase mobile & telecom products; its orgainsers are a bunch of mobile domain professionals. Go here to register.
Canaan-TiE Entrepreneurship Challenge– This business plan competition happened last year; it was co-organised by Canaan Partners & TiE; it might be the first and only event (that I am aware of) showcase event being organised by a VC firm in India; go here for details & winners ; not sure if it was a one off event or whether its slated for a repeat this year as well.
Microsoft I3– Microsoft India organised an innovation focused conference in October this year called India is Innovation (I3); this included a startup showcase session to a select gathering of VCs, entrepreneurs, media etc. This is an annual but invitation only event; go here to know how to apply the next time; details here for startups that presented this year.
Venture Intelligence Mobile-VAS Connect– Venture Intelligence provides information and networking services to the private equity and venture capital ecosystem in India and they orgainsed a demo showcase for the mobile value added services companies in Dec last year: not sure if this event is being repetaed this year.
Tie-ISB Connect: This is a business plan competition being co-organised at Hyderabad by The Indian School of Business & TiE; this is an annual event and its last edition happened just weeks ago and featured 36 startups. Details here…
BarCamps/Mobile Mondays– Barcamps & Mobile Mondays are community events with low entry barriers where you can showcase your venture to the audience which typically consists of startups, bloggers, media, VCs & angel investors. They are less formalised and an excellent way of getting feedback about your work-in-progress product/service.
BSchool/Engg Business plan competions– Most B Schools and engineering institutes have entrepreneurship cells and they organise internal or external (sometimes international level) business plan competitions; this could be an excellent launch pad to test out your idea, create a business plan around it, seek feedback from the market and maybe drum up some seed capital as well. IIT Mumbai organises Eureka; Bits Pilani organises Conquest; IIT Kanpur’s competition is called MegaBucks; IIM Ahmedabad’s is called MasterPlan. I am sure there are many others that I am not aware off (please leave behind names in the comments)
With so many showcase events happening, surely the lack of networking and feedback from the right people can hardly be cited as an excuse by Indian startups for not producing world class products & services..
Lack of aggression is also another cause.
Concipio by Ecell, IIT KGP
Hello Amit,
There is ISBA – Indian STEP and Business Incubators association which is a National event that has a gathering of pan indian Business Incubators – http://isba.in
The first edition was at Hyde and the second edition is slated for Feb 08, in Technopark, Trivandrum.
My personal experience at ISBA – Gave huge networking opportunity to all the national incubators, department of science and technology innovation heads and a host of other people – Not exactly the VC/Angel thingy but the step before that is done here. One can find incubators from IIMS, IITS to engineering colleges across the country – who are ready to take in startups under their fold, seed fund and support with infra. I personally suggest this as a good place to get a startup incubated, as its heads of all these incubators who participated at the Hyde event.
FICCI organizes an India Innovates competetion – This years edition was sponsored by Lockheed Martin. The event is a six month long process where initial applications are screened, then called for interviews which is judeged by University of Texas Profs – and a 45 day intensive coaching class to build a business plan.
Our Personal Experience – Would serve as a good PR story if you make it a grade. Nothing much beyond that.
The Tie ISB Connect personally was not a great event at this years edition. There were all sorts of entreprenuers – from idea stage guys to angel funded to series A guys all on a single platform. Served as a good networking event but nothing much really happens on the business plan show case and other verticals that happens here.
I’ve uploaded some pics at http://www.tieisb.mobshare.in with VC’s and Angels just in case anybody wants to see the faces behind the names like Mahesh Murthy, Nikhil etc 🙂
Technopark Trivandrum organizes a National Level Startup Competetion, and this years edition was just over a month back. This is one of the rare events open only to college student startups and they had particiapation from 24 teams, 8 states. No clue as to what happens to the winners.
I’ve met Kiruba and heard from many other places that Proto is a really cool event. Havent been there myself but i think that is really a hot not to be missed event.
Apart from the Nasscom Innovation Awards that you have mentioned, there is a seperate category of awards called the Nassom list of India’s 100 Innovative Startups.
I’m pretty much sure there are more events than these in IIM’s and IIT’s but i’m not sure how the showcase of the technology leads to anything other than what its is meant to do – just “showcase” – Not sure if the startup gets any help to take the next few steps or the buzz fizzles out after the event is over.
Nice post
The IITB Alumnus Association has been holding an annual event since last year that selects 16 innovators to showcase during Jan. Innovations 2008 is scheduled for Jan 5-6 in Pune (more details at http://www.innovations-pune.com). We (SadakMap.com) have been fortunate to be selected amongst the final 16 and are looking forward to the event and to the individual mentoring being offered to each innovator.
Hi
Inidian startup coverage sites are here
Thanks
Prashanth
Prerana- Student Enterprise contest, organized by NITIE is another event. The uniqueness of this event is that it is about working enterrises.
Getting funded in this kind of event seems to be quite natural. In 2007 year event, few of the startups like: HelloIntern, WebVastra were funded.
Thanks,
Raja
IDEAS by IIM Kozhikode is also an annual B-Plan competition with a difference.
Reliance White Knight, the flagship event of Backwaters, is another Business Plan competition that we organize. This has more to do with social entrepreneurship.
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