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|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

India’s startup ecosystem has the potential to innovate, excel and grow at a global scale by adopting technologies such as Artificial Intelligence [AI] and Software as a Service [SaaS] models in their operations. At the recently concluded India Internet Day, Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India spoke about the Indian startup ecosystem – opportunities, challenges and the road ahead; in a fireside chat with Rajan Anandan, President, TiE which revolved around how emerging technologies such as SaaS and AI are the necessary enablers for the ecosystem.

Highlighting the role of emerging technologies in the growth of startup ecosystem, Anant stated that to further scale up, companies must constantly work towards bringing together people, data and processes to gain competitive advantage. Listing out opportunities that Indian market presents, the dialogue exchanged views on the importance of having a trusted partner who can match the tech intensity of a startup and give them freedom to innovate with confidence.

Underlying opportunities

  • Diversity in workforce and increasing digital presence to benefit the ecosystem
  • Besides funding, young startups can benefit from the experience and knowledge of Angel Investors
  • India’s true value is in the bottom of the pyramid of small and medium enterprises [SMEs]
  • AI’s role in driving growth: AI is real now – In the past 2~3 years, AI has become a big thing where ABC – Analytics, Big Data and Cloud have come together. The first wave is already happening in healthcare and fintech domains.

Challenges

  • Taxes and biases impacting the ecosystem
  • Lack of a conducive policy environment

Road Ahead

  • Corporates are significantly investing in SMBs due to their potential
  • Growth of startups is not in the consumer models but is in the SaaS models
  • US, China and India are the 3 countries that have advance talent for the startup ecosystem

With SaaS holding the largest segment of the cloud market and its revenue expected to hit USD 85.1 billion worldwide in 2019, growing at 17.8% compared to 2019 according to Gartner, Indian SaaS landscape is expected to evolve much faster. Therefore, enterprises today must look at creating a robust product at an affordable price-point and must continuously take customer feedback to make it better.

Tech partners on the other hand must handhold the startups and help them – Prepare – as per market conditions to align with customer needs, Market – driving awareness for your solutions to Sell – last phase, selling to end-user in association with the team, their solutions.

Indian market offers immense opportunities as sectors including healthcare, fintech, e-commerce, logistics can benefit immensely if AI is used in a right manner. With the entire country moving towards a becoming a digital economy, the e-governance and citizen services are also implementing emerging technologies to help benefit the society.

Microsoft has been working with various state and central governments as well as companies across sectors to help leverage new technologies for the benefit of all. We are enabling startups to evolve through initiatives such as ScaleUp and M12.  Several startups are already reaping benefits in the country, as the initiative helps provide cutting edge technology to startups and GTM strategies within Microsoft channels and outside.

Anant Maheshwari’s keynote at TiE is below

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

The Delhi-NCR Chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship, is hosting their 3rd Indian Education Entrepreneurship Day at Sheraton, Saket, New Delhi on the occasion of Education Day on 2nd September 2016.

Themed around innovation in education, the event will bring together leading entrepreneurs and investors in the education sector on one single platform to explore possible initiatives & future opportunities for India.

Geetika Dayal, Executive Director, TiE Delhi-NCR says

The Education sector is finally heating up, with money flowing into the sector and educational institutions accepting the introduction of new technologies, innovation in this industry is likely to accelerate aggressively in the coming years. By hosting the IEED series, we provide Education entrepreneurs the right push to make the sector an area of holistic growth.

With the keynote address by Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister & Education Minister of Delhi, the event will witness four sessions with Industry leaders.  The first session will discuss What Investors Want focusing on the issue of investment and funding in Education based ventures. The issue of on ground application of technology would surface in the second session’s discussion – Online and Offline : Bridging the Divide. The two Industry oriented discussions will be followed by two other sessions on Teachers, Tablets, Tech : What do Educators want and Is Ed-Tech the Next Fin-Tech respectively.

This year IEED 2016 promises to be the best forum to network and connect with established players, innovators, stakeholders and entrepreneurs for individuals or companies in sync with the Education industry.

About TiE Delhi – NCR

TiE Delhi-NCR, recognized as the best Performing Chapter Globally has a Special Interest Group on Education & Training. TiE is a non-profit, global community welcoming entrepreneurs from all over the world. It believes in the power of ideas to change the face of entrepreneurship and growing business through our five pillars; mentoring, networking, education, incubating and funding. For more information, please visit www.delhi.tie.org

|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Ever since the Modi government has come in to power, it has resulted in major changes in the economic landscape. Significant change has come in the way startups have mush-roomed in India. With the government moving in the right direction to make India a ‘Startup Nation’ it has become a boon for investors, entrepreneurs & aspiring entrepreneurs i.e. the entire startup eco-system.

At the recently commenced Economic Times Startup Awards 2015, Nikesh Arora, President of SoftBank stated “We are a country where the demographics are right.And we are at a point where technology is going to allow us to leapfrog tremendous amounts of developments that have happened in the West”. Ankit Bhati, the co-founder of taxi app Ola which won the Startup of the Year award stated “It is springtime for entrepreneurship in India, as young people with ideas build technology-led ventures that are changing the way Indians live, work and play“.

India is on the cusp of an entrepreneurial revolution. However, successful entrepreneurship is the ultimate balancing act. Endless optimism, unwavering courage and dogged determination of founders have to be balanced with thoughtful leadership, intellectual honesty and maturity to overcome gritty challenges. Fueling the passion of entrepreneurship, Delhi chapter of TiE has come up with the 2015 edition of the TiEcon Delhi on 16th, 17th October.

Key Highlights of TiEcon Delhi 2015

TiE the Knot – This exclusive forum will feature high potential companies [tech & non-tech] who have demonstrable products and are looking to raise their first seed investment. Five such high potential companies will be shortlisted and will pitch to a select group of individual investors who will be looking to make on-spot invest commitments in a high impact televised format covered by CNBC TV18. More about it here
Mentoring in Motion – Mentoring in Motion in association with Carzonrent. Get an opportunity to get mentored on the move literally, TiEcon Delhi 2015 gives you an opportunity to pick up the Charter Member and accompany him to TiEcon in a pre-booked cab. Dedicated face time with the Charter Member gives the delegates an opportunity to pitch/discuss and get mentored by some of the best minds. More about it here
Chai with Chartered members – Meet designated TiE Charter Members over tea and coffee at pre-specified lounges in an intimate setting. Hear their stories and get to know them up close and personal. More about it here
Mini MBA for entrepreneurs – The TiE Institute we will be hosting a series of sessions/workshops @ TiEcon Delhi 2015, covering critical aspects in areas such as fund raising, personal branding, attracting talent, building partnerships and so on. The sessions will cover the basics and deliver practical and tangible insights for entrepreneurs which are what is required to succeed rather than just another success story. More about it here
TiEcon Delhi attracted more than 1500 participants last year, and is likely to exceed that number this time, since there is no better opportunity for entrepreneurs to connect with potential mentors, investors and collaborators.

TiE Hackathon

With an aim to support industry-disrupting, and innovative digital solutions and to fuel the thriving Indian entrepreneurial landscape, TiE along with HackerEarth would have a 2-day hackathon. The Themes are for developers to create breakthrough digital technologies, products or business models across three categories. The Hackathon will be a 24-hour marathon of learning, creativity, building stuff, big enough to transform businesses and industries by re-inventing business processes, operational efficiencies and customer service innovations. For more information, please refer this link

Agenda & Registration

TiEcon Delhi is a 2-day event that is scheduled on 16th, 17th October.  You can have a look at the complete agenda in ‘Agenda’ section of TiEcon Delhi. Vani Kola, 2x Entrepreneur & MD of Kalaari Capital would chair TiEcon Delhi. The key highlight is the Fire-Side chat on 17th October with Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, OYO Rooms who is definitely an inspiration to many aspiring entrepreneurs.

There is awesome line-up of Speakers spanning different industry verticals namely e-commerce, e-learning, social entrepreneurship etc. You can expect some excellent tips on Starting Up, Scaling Up, Getting Funded etc.

You can register for the TiEcon Delhi here The registration fees are as below:

If you are an entrepreneur or aspiring to be an entrepreneur or willing to join a early-stage/growth-stage startup than you should definitely not miss the power-packed TiEcon Delhi 2015 You can follow TiE Delhi & TiEcon Delhi here & here.

|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: 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