The Tata Group & National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) are jointly running an online contest for voting the Hottest Indian startups. Called the Hottest Startup Awards, this works like the umpteen reality shows that are all over national televison (think BigBoss, IndianIdol, FearFactor et al). People can nominate startups & vote for them both on the web & through SMS. After the first round of voting, a shortlist of 30 startups will be made based on the most number of public votes, combined with the highest expert ratings. Finally top 5 winners will be chosen from these 30 companies. The expert judges includes 200 people including investors, entrepreneurs, academicians, professionals and representatives across industries.

What do the winning startups get out of this? Well quite a bit actually. Apart from getting on the media radars, prizes are
– Business training, mentoring and incubation support of upto Rs. 50 lakhs by IIM-A and CIIE
– Incubation opportunity to a befitting venture by IIM-B and NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL)
– Admission to Microsoft’s StartUp Accelerator Program for at least one winner
– All Shortlisted startups will receive direct admission to pitch to Angels courtesy Indian Angel Network and Mumbai Angels and admission to TiE’s nurturing program

In addition, all nominated companies stand a chance to be invited for the TATA NEN Hottest Startup Funding Challenge 2008. The funding will be provided by Seedfund and the winner could receive 2 to 3 crores of investment capital subject to evaluation from them.

The event has a broad sectoral focus- healthcare, retail, mobile, biotech, hospitality, lifestyle, IT and service providers.

Contest Timelines: Voting for first round has started on Aug27. Last date for sending nominations is October 22. In phase I, public votes and expert reviews will decide the 30 shortlisted companies, which will be announced on November 6. Phase II will comprise on-ground and online campaigning by the 30 shortlisted startups and culminate into a major voting drive where the public will vote for the Top 5 Winners who will be declared on December 23, 2008.

Requirements to be nominated: The company must be 5 or fewer years old; headquartered in India; and a stand-alone – not a subsidiary or division of a larger company.

The website has been put together very well; check out the page below where you review and vote a startup.

The event is unique because it is the first publicly voted startup contest in india. Startup showcases are quite a few – Proto, KickStart, TiECanaan, TiE-ISB, SmartTechie etc. but they do not have a voting component.

Noteworthy is the participation of the TATAs in the early stage entrepreneurship space. This may be a precursor for other big business houses to jump into the fray as well.