IAN & Springboard Ventures launch Bootcamp, a series of multi-city startup events

The Indian Angel Network (IAN), India’s premier network of angel investors, has joined hands with Springboard Ventures, an emerging startup enabler, to launch Bootcamp, a series of startup showcase events scheduled to happen in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi over the next two months. We at YourStory caught up with Satish Kataria, the Managing Director of Springboard Ventures, to know more about Bootcamp and what it seeks to do.If you were to tell someone about Bootcamp in about three sentences, what would you say?

‘Bootcamp’ is a series of India’s largest and first-ever multi-city startup events, which is organized and backed by Indian Angel Network (IAN), India’s largest network of angel investors and is powered by Springboard Ventures.

The event will give an opportunity to both budding as well as established startups to validate their ideas, make hard-core pitches to country’s best-known angels for funding and also benefit from series of high-profile discussion panels, which would give valuable insights on the journey on ensuring start-up funding and success post that.

Further, it brings more excitement through some innovative formats such as open online voting to decide the shortlist as well as enabling participants to invest in an idea through fake currency – a fun way to validate one’s idea.

How is Bootcamp different from other startup showcase events?

For one, it is first time that such an event is structured as part of multi-city series, thus hopefully enabling better representation opportunities for entrepreneurs from each centre.

Secondly, the shortlisting of entries will be a blend of analysis by IAN members as well as open online voting, thus enabling startups to garner support, let others to know what they are planning to do and lead to strong open-market validation too.

Also, there would be a format called ‘Ideas Marketplace’ which is designed to bring forth fresh, raw ideas and get them validated at the centre through ‘proxy investments’ by participants. The people with such ideas will also be given an opportunity to meet and discuss the same with angel investors, thus hopefully providing them with the correct investor-orientation, at the ideation stage itself.

There will also be a few focused panel discussions for startups to learn the various nuances of fund raising and garner other support as they may require.

Can you share with us the schedule of Bootcamp?

What is the format of the event?

The basic format to be followed at every centre is as follows:

1) Entries to be invited from each centre (fresh ideas and start-ups)

2) The top 20 ideas and top 15 startups would be decided by panelists from IAN

3) They would then be given a week to garner support through online voting

4) Based on the scores given previously and voting garnered, a final shortlist of top 10 ideas and top 8 start-ups will be invited to Bootcamp for every centre

5) The top 10 ideas will participate in Ideas Marketplace. The top 4 ideas winning this will be given an opportunity to meet angel investor members from IAN

6) Eight startups will be given the opportunity to make detailed presentations to angel investors

7) Two startups will be picked from every centre and they will all compete in the Grand Finale at Delhi

8) Every event will also have the following panel discussions:

a. IAN Showcase : Talks on fund pitching by successful investee companies of IAN

b. Earthy Entrepreneurs: Showcase of social entrepreneurs and panel discussion on how social entrepreneurs can seek support

c. Early Stage Investment Challenges : A panel comprising of some successful entrepreneurs and IAN members on challenges with respect to early stage funding and how to overcome the same

Can you throw some light on the nature of IAN's involvement with Bootcamp? Also, what's in it for participants and winners?

IAN is the organizer behind the event and also, the main promoter. Key members from IAN will be involved in the shortlisting of entries as well as attending the Bootcamps and interacting with startups.

At this stage, there is no financial commitment from IAN’s end. But they definitely are seeking investible options through this event and that’s the reason why such a comprehensive shortlisting process has been defined. Furthermore, all the selected ideas will get affirmed support from IAN Incubator and MyBPlan for incubation and business plan-making services respectively.

While all the short-listed participants will obviously get that rare opportunity to directly pitch their ideas to the some of the country’s best known angel investors, the event promises to be a learning and practical experience for other participants as well as it constitutes series of knowledge exchange sessions as well as panel discussions.

What is the fee that enterprises will have to pay to take part in Bootcamp?

There is no submission fee for entries. However, if someone is keen to attend the event as a participant, he/she would have to pay the fees of INR 500/-. This ticket comes with two month complimentary membership to India’s first crowd-funding platform, Grow VC India and thus, this money may actually be invested in a startup!

Please note that Bootcamp has started accepting applications from today. To know more, check out http://www.boot-camp.in/. Also, do let us know about your thoughts on this story. You can write to us at [email protected].

Sriram Mohan | YourStory | 2^nd March 2011 | Bangalore