StartupCentral

Virtual incubator L-pad, which concluded its first Startup Garage event in Pune early this month, is now bringing the initiative to Mumbai and Bangalore. The event brings together founders and potential founders of startup companies for ideas brainstorming sessions spread over three days. The objective at the end is to come up with prototypes of the ideas presented. Experts from various fields assist with the brainstorming at the garage.

Here are the dates for the next three editions:

Mumbai: June 17 to 19
Bangalore: June 24 to 26
Pune: July 1 to 3

Each edition will have a limit of 40 seats. Application forms available here.

Image Courtesy: L-pad

Startupcentral Beer Fridays: The Rise of eCommerce – Opportunities and Challnges concluded last Friday. Our panelists were Rahul Yadav, Scopial Fashions; Vikhyat Srivastava, Groffr; Sailesh Lakhani, Sequoia Capital; Samuel Ziza, Witty Gift; and Jiby Thomas, Quikr.

Thanks to all the panelists for making time for the round table. Videos coming up soon. Here are the photos from the networking session after the round table.

Watch the concluding part of the series on bootstrapping where startup founders share the lowest point so far in their entrepreneurial journey.

Panelists: Rushabh Mehta, ERPNext; Himanshu Mody, Tekno Point Multimedia; Titash Neogi, Bibkosh; Sujay Nair, Enigma Interactive; Aditi Nair, Potentials and Possibilities; Mitesh Ashar, Digital Canvas.

Panelists’ profiles here.

A special note of thanks to our host Sequoia Capital India.

IIT Bombay’s E-Summit 2011 comes up on February 6th. Notable events at the summit include a Business Mentoring Hub, where raw ideas will be mentored by a panel of six from the Indian corporate sector, and a startup showcase called Startup Expo. And of course, the finalists of Eureka! 2010 will be announced and awarded at the summit.

The Startup Center, a community center initiative for young startups in Chennai, is registering itself as a company and will be raising equity capital to fund the venture. The earlier plan was to raise money from donors but that does not seem to have gone too well. The space will be ready for use by May 2011, says Vijay Anand, who is leading the initiative. In the interim The Startup Center will launch two events — a startup weekend and a workshop for angel investors.

Seedcamp, a programme that started out as an initiative to help jumpstart entrepreneurs in Europe, debuts in India on December 4 with the Mumbai Mini Seedcamp. This will be a one-day event and 20 seed stage technology startups will get an opportunity to brainstorm with experienced entrepreneurs, investors and developers from across Asia and Europe.

Here’s the agenda for the day:

• 20 local finalists (entrepreneur teams) get to connect with experts
• There will be five-minute presentations by the teams
• Also on the agenda are panel discussions and four one-on-one mentoring sessions

Applications for Mini Seedcamp Mumbai are currently open and close on November 21st. Event partners include Mumbai Angels, Sherpalo Ventures, Morpheus and Nexus Venture Partners.

Seedcamp was founded in 2007 by Index Ventures partner Saul Klein, also founder of the OpenCoffee Club movement. It operates as a micro seed fund that invest in startups chiefly through its flagship event Seedcamp Week that is held every September. It invests 50,000 Euros for an 8-10 per cent stake per company. The companies that receive funding at Seedcamp Week stay in London for three months to grow and develop their business. The Mini Seedcamp is an associate event and the startups shortlisted here get to participate at the main Seedcamp Week in London.

Image Courtesy: SeedCamp