The imminent IPO spells massive returns for venture capital investors such as Accel Partners, Greylock Partners, Elevation Partners, serial entrepreneur Mark Adreessen and his firm Adreessen Horowitz and, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, who invested in the company across multiple stages.

Ahead of the IPO, catch up on what’s been written around the most exciting technology IPO out of Silicon Valley since Google in 2004, via Themeefy’s magazine on the listing:

What’s Themeefy? It’s a personal publishing Web 2.0 tool developed by Pune-based startup Sievelogic Software Technologies.  The company was bootstrapped in April 2010 by former Symantec executive Titash Neogi. It has also developed Bibkosh, a knowledge networking platform that allows users to connect with people on the basis of ‘what they know’ as opposed to ‘who you know’.

Tell us what you thought about the Themeefy app.

“We have a freemium model. The number of paid users at present is about 25-plus. Conversions (from free to paid) have been picking up since the alpha launch of Version 3.0,” co-founder and CEO Anand Agarwal told StartupCentral. The company is targeting more than 1,000 paid customers by March next year. It expects to achieve revenues of $1.4 million by March 2014 and $6 million the following year, said Agarwal, who spent over a decade at Mumbai-based software firm Geometric before co-founding Sensible Softwares.

The company was founded in late 2009 by Agarwal, Nitin Bhide and Vishwajeet Singh, who also earlier worked at Geometric. The founders have nearly thirty years of experience between them working in the software industry in the areas of product lifecycle management and software development. The idea for BootStrapToday was born out of the founders’ own experiences of working with disparate tools for managing project lifecycles. “Normally, for each project you need a different set of tools, which makes managing the project cumbersome. In fact, while in Geometric we proposed a single integrated solution, based on open source, that would ease the process. Initially, this was met with a lot of resistance but was eventually adopted. It got us thinking that we could create a similar solution for small companies based on the SaaS model,” says Agarwal.

The company raised an angel funding round of $250,000 in January 2011 from a group of undisclosed individuals based in Pune. “We are well capitalized for the next 5-6 months. But we will need additional funding to scale our marketing activities,” said Agarwal. The company currently employs 12 people, which includes a team of about eight developers.

BootStrapToday is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises that would find a SaaS-based, pay-per-use solutions more affordable to manage their internal software application project management needs. It also offers an on-premise solution for larger companies. Apart from the free version, the company offers five different packages for the SaaS model. The entry-level bronze package is priced at $9 per month and allows up to five users, five projects and 1 GB of storage. The gold package costs $49 per month. Out of its 25-plus paid sign-ups so far, the bronze package accounts for 55 per cent of sign-ups, while the silver and gold packages account for 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively, said Agarwal.

Image Courtesy: Sensible Softwares

Vigyaapan Technologies , eMart Solutions, HyCa Technologies, Vardenchi Motorcycles, Vrixx Education Solutions, BankBazaar, TouchMagix Media

Panelists: Alok Mittal, Canaan Partners; Sateesh Andra, DFJ; Ravi Narayan, Mentor Partners; Rajesh Srivathsa, Ojas Ventures; Rahul Chowdhri, Helion Venture Partners; Shailendra Singh, Sequoia Capital India; Sasidhar Nandigam, GVFL.

A special note of thanks to your venture capital panel for spending time with us and sharing their insights.

Panelists’ profiles here

Panelists: Alok Mittal, Canaan Partners; Sateesh Andra, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Ravi Narayan, Mentor Partners; Rajesh Srivathsa, Ojas Ventures; Rahul Chowdhri, Helion Venture Partners; Sasidhar Nandigam, Gujarat Venture Finance

Panelist profiles here.

Panelist Profiles

Alok Mittal, General Partner, Canaan Partners

Mittal co-founded jobs portal Jobahead, which was acquired by Monster, prior to becoming an investor. His investing career started with Baring Private Equity Partners India where he led the technology practice. He is also a founding member of Indian Angel Network. In 2006 he was signed up by Canaan to lead the firm’s investments here. His investments include Bharatmatrimony, Cellcast and Chakpak Media. Canaan invests in the technology and healthcare sectors and has $3 billion under management globally. In India it focuses on consumer Internet and digital media, mobile, enterprise and managed services. It invests between $2 million and $5 million per company over a number of years and can start with as little as $100,000.

Sateesh Andra, Venture Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Andra is a serial entrepreneur who turned venture capitalist with DFJ in 2007. Metrikus and Euclid Software, the two US-based IT startups he co-founded, were acquired by Persistent Systems and e4e respectively. His investments through DFJ include mGinger and Pressmart and he is an observer on the Cleartrip board. Andra stays closely involved with young entrepreneurs through the TiE-ISB Connect startup networking forum. DFJ invests largely in technology companies and manages over $6 billion in capital globally alongside its affiliate network of funds. In India, the firm invests in early and mid-stage companies in cleantech, mobile, information technology and consumer services.

Ravi Narayan, Managing Director, Mentor Partners

Narayan founded startups American Systems International and Nextone Communications and worked in various operating roles in the telecom and information technology industry before Mentor Partners. The firm provides venture capital advisory services to startups and has plans to raise its own $30-50 million fund. Narayan is an advisor to Proto.in and also runs MentorSquare, an online mentoring programme that helps startups and small enterprises access resources and know-how on business best practices, customers and efficiencies.

Rajesh Srivathsa, Managing Partner, Ojas Ventures

Srivathsa has extensive experience working with startups (Emuzed) and leading technology companies (Aricent, Lucent) in the US and has several technology patents to his credit. Ojas invests in early stage technology businesses from a $35 million fund and has invested in startups such as Tyfone, Ziva and Mango Technologies. The firm’s  thesis is to seed fund young startups and help them to become capable of raising the next round of venture capital.

Rahul  Chowdhri, Vice President, Helion Venture Partners

Chowdhri has worked with Microsoft India, marketRx and i2 Technologies in various roles including developing business strategy and software product management. He turned to venture capital with Helion in 2007. Helion is a $350 million India-focused venture capital investor which invests in technology and consumer services businesses. It invests upto $10 million across the life of a company and is stage independent, starting from seed to later stage deals. Its portfolio of current investments includes Amba Research, Brand Calculus and Jigrahak Mobility.

Shailendra Singh, Principal, Sequoia Capital India

Singh co-founded and led outsourcing startup Jalva Media and worked as a consultant at Bain & Co before joining Sequoia in 2006. He focuses on investments in consumer, healthcare, Internet and outsourcing and his investments include GlobalLogic, Guruji and JustDial. Sequoia manages nearly $2 billion in capital in India and invests across stages and sectors.

Sasidhar Nandigam, Senior Associate, GVFL

Nandigam focuses on lifesciences, clean tech, renewable energy and biotech investments at GVFL. Apart from investing, he also actively works with investee companies in operational areas such as marketing and managing financials. GVFL has raised six technology-focused venture capital funds worth Rs 244 crore since 1990. It is currently raising a Rs 250 crore SME Technology Venture Fund. It portfolio of investments includes Icenet, Neilsoft and Pegasus Semiconductors.

A special note of thanks to the organizers of Proto.in for hosting the round table.

1. What does the product or service do? Guy Kawasaki recommends in ‘The Art Of The Start’ (recommended reading for every bootstrapped entrepreneur) that this question should be answered in less than a minute. Which means it has to be simple and precise.
2. Who are you selling to? The entrepreneur should be able to clearly identify the end user, which should automatically illustrate why that person would be using his product or service.
3. How will you make money? Most pitches at the showcase spent the least time on this one.
4. Who are your competitors? Everybody has competition. Knowing the competition implies that you know your market.
5. Why are you better than the competition? This is where the startup finally gets down to explaining what its key differentiators are, what problems it solves that the competition does not.

Hopefully the Bootcamp is going to be a regular feature and will be taken more seriously in future. No matter how much the organizers holler about “venture capitalists being incidental to the event”, ultimately 90 per cent of startups who turn up at an event like this expect to get noticed by investors who may fund them at a later stage. So, getting that elevator pitch right is of utmost importance. The flash and crackle of showmanship is great entertainment but of little use.

Now, on to the 14 startups showcased in Edition 6:

Bankbazaar: Founded in 2008 by Adhil Shetty, Arjun Shetty and Rati Rajkumar. Online realtime loan disbursal platform. Based in Chennai. Seeking venture capital.

eMart Solutions: Founded in 2009 by Aditya Bhamidipaty and Srikanth Chunduri. The product, GoVasool, is an online group shopping and reverse auction marketplace. Based in Bangalore. Seeking venture capital.

Vigyaapan Technologies: Founded in 2008 by Ankush Gupta and Ramayya Krishnan. Mobile (user base) analytics and advertising applications. Based in Mumbai.

Time Vision Infotech: Founded in 2009 by Siddharth Goyal. The product, Conwizta, is a content wizard and testing application. Based in Kolkata.

Vrixx Education Solutions: Co-founded in 2008 by Santhosh Thriviraman and others. Web portal solution for educational institutions that streamlines activities related to academics, administration and communication. Based in Bangalore. Seeking venture capital.

Enterux Solutions: Founded in 2008. The product, English Seekho, is a telephone-based tutor that imparts a course in basic English. Based in Pune. Seeking venture capital.

Compark Education: Co-founded in 2009 by Raju Moza and others. The product, TestMerit, is an online entrance test preparation portal. Based in Ghaziabad. Seeking venture capital/ investment.

ThinkCore Technologies: Founded in 2008 by Narendra Narayana and Santhosh Thrivikraman (he is also a co-founder in Vrixx). Enterprise communication and collaboration solution. Based in Bangalore.

Aerosoft Systems: Founded in 2006. E-commerce reconciliation system. Based in Pune.

HyCa Technologies: Founded in 2006 by AB Pandit, Anjan Mukherjee and Vivek Ranade. Makes reactors (patent pending) that use energy dissipated by collapsing cavitation bubbles to modulate physical, chemical and biological processes. Based in Mumbai. Seeking venture capital/ investment.

Intsolvers Technologies: Founded in 2006. Automated optical inspection system for auto component manufacturers, etc. Based in Trivandrum.

TouchMagix Media: Founded in 2008 by Anup Tapadia. Digital media solutions. Based in Pune.

Vardenchi Motorcycles: Founded in 2006 by Akshai (no surname). Custom motorcycle manufacturer. Based in Mumbai. Seeking venture capital/ investment.

Automotive Robotics: Founded in 2007 by Rajeev Ranadive. Bolt-on-Kits to enhance the performance of existing cars. Based in Pune.

• Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar Technologies, will deliver the keynote address
• Experts will analyse how intellectual property rights affect startups
• Discussions on how government and policy can be better leveraged by startups

15 startups will be showcased at the one-day event. The venue is the Dewang Mehta Auditorium, Persistent Systems, Pune. More details on other activities here.

For more on the 12 companies that were showcased in Edition 5 in January visit the Proto.in blog here.

What’s new this edition? Here’s an excerpted and edited version of events to unfold, based on Proto.in curator Vijay Anand’s email on the same:

The day will be split into two moods. The first, from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm, will have talks and sessions aimed at educating, nurturing and supporting the startup landscape in India. Post 5.00 pm, 20 of the best startups will take to the stage to pitch their idea/business plan to the audience.

A three-day bootcamp for the showcase startups precedes the actual pitch. Day 1 will focus on diving into the business plan. The organizers would like to ensure that the startups focus on the client and market for the next one year of operation. Day 2 will be all about teaching startups the art of the pitch. The organizers will bring in investors and gurus of the advertising world to teach startups how to convince clients and journalists to buy their story. Day 3 will be all about the stage. Event management company BuzzWorks will teach startups how to present themselves in front of the camera.

There’s also something for startups who don’t make it to the shortlist. The organizers are going to ensure that the people who are involved in the shortlisting process spend more time with companies that are not quite ready yet and ensure that they are “helped in some way to help find the way”.

Rewind to the Edition 5 showcase startups here.