Hyderabad is a charming city and the biryani more than lives up to its name. Unlike previous years, the Marriott, off the majestic Hussain Sagar, was the venue for TiE-ISB Connect 2009. The event has also gotten bigger. About 500-plus delegates were in attendance. But there was one key element missing this year. The Business Plan Showcase was not part of the schedule. The organizers, said Sateesh Andra, program convener and venture partner, DFJ India, are working on a revamp to give the showcase more teeth. This implies some kind of funding commitment to the winning startup, which has not been the case in the past.
The event started with the ‘Jumpstart Your Venture – Workshop’ and following are excerpts from some of the parts that I found particularly insightful:
Atul Phadnis, What’s On India
Phadnis founded What’s On India, a company that provides television electronic programme guide solutions, in 2005. It is backed by Nexus Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital and is based in Mumbai. Phadnis spoke about the importance of partnerships for startups. Edited excerpts:Read the full story
This winter, as has been with winters for the past couple of years, two kinds of entrepreneur showcase and networking events offer startups opportunities to promote themselves. First up is the old school model — TiE Entrepreneurial Summit 2008 (December 16, 17, 18) — which gives young companies a chance to connect with industry leaders via pre-formatted panel discussions.
Next up, in January, are what have come to be known as open source networking platforms, eg: Proto.in, HeadStart. Pre-formatted panel discussions dominate these events as well, but the content and participation is relatively more democratic. Incidentally, the fifth edition of Proto.in had planned to piggyback on the TiE summit but creative differences between the organizers nixed the deal.
Here’s a quick poll on which model works better for the entrepreneur:
PS: Does HeadStart have badges up yet? Thanks for the badge
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Anaxee started up in 2006. It has raised Rs 2 million seed funding from Nirma Labs, where it was incubated and is currently in the market for Series A funding.
MetroMela started up in 2007. Indu Projects promoter Syam Prasad Reddy is an investor in the company. DFJ India venture partner Sateesh Andra, who is a co-founder, has also possibly put in some seed money.
The final six were chosen out 149 initial entries, of which 112 were in the Bright Ideas category and 37 in the Cool Startups category. An imminent economic slowdown in the country doesn’t seem to have dampened entrepreneurial activity yet.
Update: TiE-Canaan announced the winners of its entrepreneurial challenge on Saturday — Equitas, Druvaa and iKen. More details here.
The TiE-Canaan Entrepreneurial Challenge 2008 finalists have been in the public domain for some time. Three winners will be chosen out of the eight finalists. Here’s a quick look at some of them:
Equitas Micro Finance India is a Chennai-based micro-finance company and serves the Tamil Nadu market. It appears to be a one-year old company and is targeting 1,80,000 members in its first year of operation. The founders come from NBFC backgrounds. Promoter and managing director PN Vasudevan was with Cholamandalam Investment & Finance.
11rupees is an online personal finance management company. Founder Anuj Gupta writes on his blog, “This started when my father gave me his list of stocks and accounts for me to put together in a spreadsheet for him to track his expenses. I was looking to find an easy way for him to track his finances and not update spreadsheets everytime. When I didn’t find anything, I decided to start this website.”
iKen Solutions is an IIT Bombay research spin-off in the area of intelligent business systems, according to the website.
HealthcareMagic is an online, one-stop shop to address all your healthcare needs — you can chat with or call a doctor, compare hospitals and products (medicines) and so on.
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