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|In: Accelerator|Last Updated:

Tata Consultancy Services [TCS] , India’s leading IT services, consulting & business solutions organization, has partnered with Startupbootcamp FinTech, the leading accelerator focused on financial innovation, to host the Pitch Days in India.

The Pitch days will be held in the TCS campuses on February 24 in Mumbai & February 26 in Bangalore.

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Focused purely on FinTech startups in these regions, the one-day event is open to innovative early stage startups in the financial technology sector to help participants gain exposure and recognition.

Ten startups will be chosen and shortlisted for their cutting-edge and innovative solutions. These firms will be offered an opportunity to participate in the 13-week long Startupbootcamp FinTech accelerator program in London or Singapore.

The event is open for all early stage startups in FinTech. The shortlisted FinTech startups on the Pitch Day will get an opportunity to connect with local mentors, investors and banking professionals in the community. Startups applying for Pitch Days will get access to the Startupbootcamp FinTech global community and be on the accelerator’s radar.

The participants will also be provided with feedback on how to improve their offering, business model and pitching skills.

Speaking at the occasion Ananth Krishnan, Chief Technology Officer of TCS said

As part of our Co-Innovation Network [COIN], we have been working with start-ups across the world. It’s great to bring a new initiative to India and host the Startupbootcamp Pitch Days in Mumbai & Bangalore. India has a rich history of promising start-ups and we believe that programs like this will benefit the thriving technology start-up community in India and help to showcase the country’s tremendous enterprise to the global investing community.

Speaking at the occasion Markus Gnirck, Co-founder & Global COO of Startupbootcamp FinTech, said

It is an exciting time for FinTech right now, not only in London and Singapore, but also in India, and we’re delighted to be here for the first time.  Being a part of our Pitch Days means that startups are on the Startupbootcamp FinTech watch-list for life, giving them a greater chance of being selected for one of our global programs.

We encourage startups, at whatever stage in their early development, to apply to join us for the unprecedented opportunity to connect with the Startupbootcamp FinTech global community and have access to worldwide opportunities. The work that we’re doing with partners like Tata Consultancy Services validates the need for accelerator programs to reach countries like India.

The shortlisted startups from the Pitch Day will get to be a part of   Startupbootcamp FinTech accelerator program and have the potential to be selected for the following:

  • Extensive mentorship from 100+ entrepreneurs, investors & partners
  • Access to top markets in London, US & APAC
  • 3+ months free office space
  • € 15K in cash per team
  • €450K+ in partner services
  • Exposure to 200+ Angels & VCs
  • Invitation to SBC global alumni network

For more information on the application process please visit the Fintech-Mumbai & Fintech-Bangalore links

About Startupbootcamp FinTech

Launched in 2014, Startupbootcamp FinTech is the leading FinTech accelerator and the only program of its kind to attract such wide industry support. Based in London and Singapore, its partners include DBS Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, MasterCard, Rabobank, SBT Venture Capital, Arvato Financial Services, Route 66 Ventures, Infocomm Investments & Intesa Sanpaolo, as well as an extensive mentor and alumni network from more than 30 countries across the globe.

The award-winning accelerator offers FinTech startups access to world class industry expertise during an intensive three month program. At the end of the programme, startups pitch at Demo Day to more than 250 investors.

Other Startupbootcamp programs are currently active in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Eindhoven, Israel, Istanbul and London with other cities and vertical programs would be announced soon.

For more information on Startupbootcamp, please visit the following links:

Image Credit – Link-1 & Link-2

|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated:

Bengaluru goes social again with the fourth edition of Social Media Week [SMW] with the theme being Upwardly Mobile: The Rise of The Connected Class. Multiple sessions through the week will explore the dynamic ways of how social media strategy is converging in multicultural market & how mobility devices like laptops, tablets and smartphones along with social technology have transformed the way we work. This international festival is hosted twice a year, in India by R SQUARE Consulting, an integrated marketing services firm.

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About Social Media Week

The five-day event hosted at various venues in the city such as The Leela Palace, News Cafe & Big Pitcher among others; will bring together brands, agencies, influencers, practitioners, academic thinkers, entrepreneurs, public officials, celebrities & international experts, who will provide a blend of information and ideas through panel discussions, debates, master classes & more.

The event is scheduled from Feb,23rd ~ Feb,27th 2015. Registrations are already open & you can register for SMW, Bengaluru here

Key Highlights

Some interesting events in this edition of SMW include the following:

  1. Social Media Strategy Challenge
  2. ‘App’athon
  3. Tweetathon
  4. Blogging Challenge

SMW’15 February edition is scheduled simultaneously across the world in seven cities– Bangalore, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Jakarta, Lagos, Milan & New York.

Speaking on the initiative, P. Krishnakumar, Executive Director & General Manager, Consumer & Small Business, Dell India said

The marketplace today constitutes of a dynamic set of consumers who are constantly evolving the manner in which they engage with brands and with each other. Social media has been one of the pillars of this evolution and Dell has embraced it as a key medium for outreach to keep in step with them. A consumer brand must recognize the value in being able to reach out to its audience in the manner that they prefer to connect.

We believe that SMW is a platform which explores the dynamic nature of social media. We also see it as the right platform to demonstrate that technological innovation is imperative in this context; and that a successful experience comprises of both the right technology as well as the right medium.

Rohit Varma, Founder R SQUARE Consulting & Director – Social Media Week Bangalore said

The aim of SMW 2015 is to understand how technology will impact the way we Live, Work and Create in a connected world and also how new ideas, innovations and technology will change our lives. The change is happening quite fast and platform like Social Media Week becomes very important to discuss, understand and implement social strategies for the connected class.

SMW mobile App can be downloaded from here

About R SQUARE Consulting

R SQUARE Consulting is one of the fastest growing marketing firms focusing on building Communities through Brand Properties and executing Marketing Communication strategies for Clients through Events & Activations, Digital Marketing & Technology and Creative Services. For more visit their website

|In: Events|Last Updated:

Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association [HYSEA]’s Annual Summit is back. This edition of it’s “Software Product Competition & Showcase 2015” is scheduled on 11th & 12th March 2015 at Hyderabad International Convention Centre [HICC] Novotel, Hyderabad. The mantra of the awards is “Promoting Entrepreneurship & Innovation to Fuel Growth”.

Key Focus Areas of the summit

  1. Software Products / Startups Conclave
  2. Software Product Competition
  3. Design Summit
  4. SME Conclave
  5. Annual awards

What’s in it for startups

If you are a Hyderabad-based startup, than there is lot’s in store at the summit !!! There would be a jury of several investors & successful entrepreneurs who would judge the best startups in various categories. All finalists [early stage startups] will be recognized through the new category titled HY-10: Hyderabad’s hot 10 startups award.

Shortlisted award finalists will be invited to the Expo to showcase their products, with an opportunity to interact with CIOs, VCs, Angel investors and other industry/e-government decision makers.

Award Categories

  1. HY10 – Hyderabad’s hot 10 startups
  2. Consumer Startup [Early Stage, Late Stage]
  3. Enterprise Startup [Early Stage, Late Stage]
  4. Established Products [MNC/Indian]
  5. Best Technology Innovation [Non Product]
  6. Social Impact

How to nominate your startup ?

Nominations are now open & last date for nominating your startup is 15th February,2015. For nominating your startup, please visit the following link.

For further information please shoot a mail to Mrs. Aruna Joshi at infohysea@gmail.com / info@hysea.in or visit the HYSEA website

|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated:

In an effort to promote a culture of entrepreneurship among the student community, PayPal has opened the doors of its Start Tank incubator for students aspiring to start their own enterprise. The incubation center in Chennai, which hosts & grooms tech startup companies, now encourages student entrepreneurs from across top universities to pitch their tech ideas and turn them into reality.

For the first time since its inception in 2013, PayPal’s Start Tank rolled out its Incubation Challenge at the recently held “Entrepreneurship Conclave & Startup Hive” at IIT-Madras and selected two teams from the competition. They will now have a direct entry into the finals of the Incubation Challenge to be conducted later this year, and upon selection, get incubated at Start Tank.

The winning idea of “delivering logistics via drones” was pitched by a team of MTech students from IIT-M & the runner-up idea “pushing dynamic ads into mobile games in place of the obtrusive banner ads” came from a team of dual degree students, also from IIT-M. Several promising concepts such as crowd-funding to support the underprivileged, 3D printing & distribution, “green garbage” waste management, among many others, were also presented by students from several leading universities in the country.

Speaking about the association, Anupam Pahuja, General Manager, Technology – Asia-Pacific, PayPal

Extending the Start Tank Incubation Challenge to student entrepreneurs comes with the commitment of supporting their innovative startup ideas and tech concepts. It is encouraging to see many students in India daring to dream to give wings to their ideas and set up business ventures. Through Start Tank, we aim to help them with the right kind of mentorship and guidance to enter the market right after graduation.

PayPal launched ‘Start Tank Incubation Challenge’ last year to identify and incubate the country’s next generation tech-centric startups. After IIT-Madras, PayPal has now partnered with SASTRA University, to organize the incubation challenge as part of their techno-management fest to be held in Thanjavur in February 2015.

Interested applicants, student/non-student entrepreneurs, can register for Start Tank Incubation Challenge with their tech-centric ideas at http://chennai.starttank.com/apply

PayPal’s Start Tank provides an obligation-free environment for select startups to evolve. The exclusive facility in PayPal’s Chennai development center has an office area of more than 11,000 square feet with a world-class incubation space, state-of-the-art conference rooms and other amenities.

Start Tank runs globally across PayPal offices in Boston, London and Chennai, and provides access to global mentors, angel investors and venture capitalists. PayPal formally launched its Chennai startup incubator in association with TiE Chennai in November 2013 and currently hosts six startups: DoPartTime, Fantain, Hey Feedback, Kobster.com, Konotor, and PiQube.

For more information, please check http://chennai.starttank.com

|In: Accelerator|Last Updated:

Nasscom_10000Startups

With more than 3,000 tech start-ups, India is the fourth largest base for young businesses in the world and it is expected that by 2020 the base will increase to 11,500 tech start-ups. This along with other interesting findings were revealed in ‘Tech Start-up in India: A Bright Future’ a study report by National Association of Software and Services Companies [NASSCOM] and Zinnov.

The report suggests that the Indian start-ups with their unique solutions are witnessing increased traction in global whitespace opportunities such as Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Smart hardware, Business Intelligence & many more.

With technology spreading its wings into different domains, “Domain+Tech’ solutions are taking over other trends”. The emerging niche technology solutions are primarily focused on Ad-tech, Edu-tech, Health-tech, Agri-tech & many more. Geographically, Bangalore & National Capital Region [NCR] tops the chart for being home to maximum number of young businesses.

The findings also highlight that many trends are maturing in the ecosystem, especially funding aspect. Multiple and easily accessible platform like VC/PE, angel investors, incubators, financial institutes and even banks, are the driving force for the same.

Commenting on the new evolution of the ecosystem, Mr. Rajat Tandon, Senior Director, NASSCOM 10,000 Startups, added [Note : We in the article refers to NASSCOM 10,000 Startups]

These latest findings clearly indicate the beginning of the golden era for young tech-based businesses where opportunities for growth are much larger than the challenges in the ecosystem. We are proud to be once again at the cutting edge in helping to support a growing niche within this field and we are excited to ink new partnerships as we close the year to accelerate our efforts in that direction.

NASSCOM’s 10,000 Start-ups program has successfully paved way for 3 inevitable trends that are shaping the Indian economy with the potential to shake things up: Digitalization, Faster innovation cycles &the rise of young, ambitious talent. Start-ups are both a consequence and an accelerating catalyst of these trends. It’s exciting to be here, but we have much to do. This ecosystem is growing in scale and strength and as we move forward, we are focused towards domain specific strategic partnerships to drive it to the next level of maturity in FY 2015.

  1. The Program is partnering with AstroLabs Dubai, to navigate Indian Tech Startups to the MENA region. This association will give a tangible edge to support tech entrepreneurs emerging from the 10,000 Start-ups program, both with the physical space and with formal training programs.
  2. The Program’s partnership with ValPro, an investment banking & financial advisory services to leverage a web based platform “Enablers” which facilitates start-ups & SME’s to connect with HNI’s, Angels and VC’s for fund raising. It is a tool that makes entrepreneurs investor-ready and handhold them through various stages of fund raising.
  3. The Program inked another association with CampusEAI Consortium, a leader in the world of higher education information technology services. CampusEAI EduTech Venture Fund invests in early stage enterprise software, Internet and Mobile companies that target the education market or companies created from intellectual property technology transfer from colleges and universities.
  4. To support early-stage companies in Healthcare and Life-sciences domain, we partnered with Escape Velocity Accelerator to review applications for selecting entrepreneurs into its incubation program.

Speaking about the partnership, Anjli Jain, CEO of CampusEAI and Managing Director of CampusEAI’s EduTech Venture Fund stated

Our partnership with NASSCOM’s 10,000 Start-ups program gives us an opportunity to expand our portfolio and existing investments in India-based start-ups and provide early-stage entrepreneurs with the mentorship, guidance and funds they require to be successful. We look forward to working with NASSCOM and accelerating the mission of the 10,000 Start-ups initiative.

Speaking about the partnership, Mr. Muhammed Mekki, Founding Partner, AstroLabs stated:

We look forward to welcoming members of 10,000 Startups at AstroLabs Dubai, enabling their expansion into the growing Middle Eastern market and providing direct access to a region that has the highest smartphone penetration in the world.

Interesting info-graphic giving an in-depth view about the “Startup Landscape in India”

[Note : Click on the image to Enlarge]

Indian Startup Ecosystem - Click on the image to enlarge

*10,000 Start-ups is a NASSCOM initiative supported by Google for Entrepreneurs, Microsoft Ventures, Verisign, & Intel

|In: Accelerator|Last Updated:

Deshpande Foundation’s Sandbox Startups Incubator today announced the opening of applications for the Incubation Program. Designed in association with Microsoft Ventures the program will help accelerate growth for Tier-II & Tier-III cities based startups in the social and for profit space. The program will commence on March 1, 2015.

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Applications will be accepted online through Sandbox Start-ups’ website. Deadline for submitting application is January 31, 2015.

Deshpande Foundation along with Microsoft Ventures will mentor the startups under this incubator and give them access to their well-established resources, opportunities & a pool of investors, experts, professionals & inspiring entrepreneurs.

Summing up the aims of the incubator program, Naveen Jha, CEO, Deshpande Foundation India said

Sandbox Startups is a living laboratory and test bed for promising new ideas. It essentially gives contextual understanding for startups, so they can create innovative products particularly relevant to India. We provide budding entrepreneurs with a launch pad to help them realize the potential for entrepreneurship, all the way from testing product ideas and building prototypes, to setting up a viable enterprise. Nanopix-ISS, Safehands24x7, Nextdrop, Aquasafi and Logistimo are some startups that have grown multi-fold with support from Sandbox Startups.

Speaking at the occasion, Rajinish Menon, Director, Microsoft Ventures, India mentioned

When it comes to startups, today entire India is buzzing with innovation, not just the Metros. Microsoft Ventures and Deshpande Foundation have designed this program to ensure these startups have a level playing field and same opportunities which is available to a startup in Bangalore or Delhi. In last few years, under the Partnered Accelerator Programs, Microsoft Ventures has joined hands with various incubators and accelerators in India to develop initiatives and boost the Indian startup community and extend Microsoft’s offering to a wider audience. This program has already enabled and empowered hundreds of startups in India. Through our Partner Accelerator Program and other initiatives, we are working towards accelerating the startup ecosystem in India and Deshpande Foundation is one of our key partners in realizing that vision.

30 startups will be selected for incubation at Sandbox Startups’ incubation centres in Hubli [Karnataka] & Nizamabad [Telangana]. The incubation program looks to support for-profit or social startups with innovative product/service with a potential to disrupt markets and create impact on masses. The program is open for startups from all sectors.

About Sandbox Startups

Founded in early 2009, Sandbox Startups is being nurtured by visionaries and successful entrepreneurs. Over the years, Sandbox Startups has become a hotbed for startups and it has supported over 100 ideas scale.

About Deshpande Foundation

The Deshpande Foundation, founded by global business leader and philanthropist Dr.Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande and Mrs. Jaishree Deshpande, has operations in India, Canada and the USA. The Foundation is building an ecosystem of resources to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. The Foundation’s efforts surround around the unique “Social Innovation Sandbox” in Hubli, Karnataka & Nizamabad, Telangana to create an ecosystem similar to Silicon Valley with focus on Social Entrepreneurship.

In the last eight years, the “Sandbox” has gained remarkable success having supported over 100 Non-profit & Social organisations, proved over a dozen proofs of concepts for social innovation and impacted over six million people. For more information, visit Deshpande Foundation website.

|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated:

PayPal India has selected two new tech startups for its ‘Start Tank’ Incubation Center in Chennai. The winners — Clockwork Interviews Private Limited & Demach Software India Private Limited were chosen from among 11 other startups that presented their business pitch at the Start Tank Incubation Challenge final on October 31, 2014.

The selection was organized as part of PitchFest in partnership with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Chennai.

The unique Incubation Challenge was launched in September 2014 across four cities in Tamil Nadu to identify & nurture some of the country’s next generation technology-centric startups. More than 60 applications were received for incubation at PayPal’s Start Tank Chennai.

As per Anupam Pahuja, General Manager, Technology – Asia-Pacific, PayPal

PayPal is proud to announce the selection of Demach Software & Clockwork Interviews for incubation at Start Tank, Chennai. As a company that was started by young entrepreneurs, PayPal recognizes the importance of encouraging the growth of tech startups and the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. We truly believe that the new incubatees will benefit from our technology mentorship and the obligation-free environment we provide at Start Tank.

Jayadev Mahalingam, co-founder of PiQube, a product of Clockwork Interviews, a Hiring Analytics company, said

We are eagerly looking forward to the technology and business mentorship support from PayPal & TiE, and we hope to make the most of this opportunity to fuel our business.

Srikrishnan Ganesan, co-founder of Demach Software, makers of Konotor, a user-engagement solution for mobile apps, said

The Start Tank Incubation Challenge gave us an opportunity to meet some very promising startups. The incubation, along with the world-class support from brand names like PayPal & TiE will certainly enable us to take our company to the next level. The timing is perfect for us as we expand our team and bring in new people into a dynamic environment.

PayPal’s Start Tank provides an obligation-free environment for select startups to evolve. The exclusive facility in PayPal’s Chennai development center has an office area of more than 11,000 square feet with a world-class incubation space, state-of-the-art conference rooms and other amenities.

Start Tank runs globally across PayPal offices in Boston, London and Chennai & provides access to global mentors, angel investors and venture capitalists. PayPal formally launched its Chennai startup incubator in association with TiE Chennai in November 2013 & currently hosts four startups: DoPartTime, Fantain, Hey Feedback & Kobster

|In: Business|Last Updated: | 2 Comments

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Following the global launch of the Student Entrepreneurship Program of SAP University Alliances earlier this year, SAP introduced the initiative in India at the BMS College of Engineering [BMSCE] in Bangalore. The program encourages student entrepreneurs and early start-ups to use SAP’s technology platform to develop new applications and launch successful start-up ventures.

Under this program, it is expected that there will be development of new solutions across SAP’s platform technologies, leveraging on the company’s in-memory platform SAP HANA®, the SAP Mobile Platform & SAP Analytics capabilities. Through BMSCE and the Student Entrepreneurship Program, students of the institute will gain access to these technologies, SAP experts, mentors, and an entrepreneurship curriculum.”

As per Dr. Ravishankar, Dean, Placements, BMS College of Engineering

Blessed with smart students, a diligent and result oriented staff, the challenge for BMSCE is to nurture students to learn the art of delivering swift and accurate engineering solutions expected by the industry. With solutions and mentoring from SAP, our students are poised to learn and adapt themselves to the constantly changing scenarios posed by the industry

The SAP University Alliances program opens up the world of SAP to more than 1,800 universities in more than 80 countries worldwide, and aims to develop highly qualified graduates with critical skills for the 21st century workforce. Through a community of over 8,000 faculty members as well as engagement at over 750 events annually, SAP University Alliances has inspired students around the world about SAP.