Witness the Unveiling of Tech30 at TechSparks 2012 Grand Finale
It has been a spectacular journey for us so far with TechSparks 2012. In the hunt for the top 30 tech startups in the Indian startup ecosystem, we began our journey for this 3rd edition of TechSparks 2012 in May. We’re closing in towards the 5th and final Roundtable at Hyderabad and using the word ‘overwhelming’ would be an understatement for the response we’ve seen!
TechSparks 2012 kickstarted in Aamchi Mumbai to a huge group of close to 300 startup enthusiasts and entrepreneurs from in and around Maharashtra. This RoundTable also witnessed India’s first product development workshop wherein participants are taken through all the nitty gritty of building a product from ideation to scaling up. Following Mumbai, we headed to the capital city of New Delhi which saw highly matured crowd and the Indian Habitat Center proved to be a spawning ground for many strong networks. Kunal Bahl, CEO & Founder, Snapdeal.com addressed the audience in a power packed session sharing the 7 key lessons that he learnt in his journey as an entrepreneur. That’s not all. The crowd posed questions to one of the most receptive panel that TechSparks 2012 has seen - Mohit Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital, Sachin Kelkar, Head India and APAC, Intel, Rick Harshman, Head of ASEAN and India, AWS, Shabir Momin, Founders & CEO of the Zenga Group of companies.
Overwhelmed by the response in Mumbai and Delhi, we reached the southern city of Chennai which enchanted us with its own idiosyncrasies. A reticent but perspicacious audience was witness to a brilliant talk by V.T. Bharadwaj of Sequoia Capital who profiled the entrepreneurship landscape in India through an investor’s eye. Veering slightly from the usual tradition of a roundup wherein no pitches are made, Chennai gave entrepreneurs a chance to make a 2 minute pitch and the likes of 1000Lookz, HmmApp, Localever, Lema Labs, Metrosmith, and PlayText drove home a point.
Next in line was Ahmedabad and it came as the biggest surprise of all! Having to close registrations 3 days before the event, even after having moved to a bigger hall at IIM-A. The IMDC auditorium was jam packed 300 people in the audience where we expected much less! The young and enthusiastic crowd was treated by a fantastic key note speech by Gautam Gandhi, Head – New Business Development Emerging Markets, Google. One sentence that will definitely keep ringing in the crowds head and give them the motivation to startup has to be, “Think Big, Fail Big, Fail Spectacularly; They’ll Remember You.” The Panel discussion in Ahmedabad was brought to life by the local hero, Vishal Mehta, the founder at Infibeam; with questions galore, Ahmedabadis imbibed as much as they could.
Now in the last leg of our campaign, we are set to meet the startup ecosystem in Hyderabad on July 29, 2012. With just 13 more days left to apply (applications close on July 30, 2012) to be a TechSpark 2012, the anticipation is beginning to build.
All these Roundtables culminate into a Tech30 report which will be unveiled at the Techsparks2012 Grand Finale on September 8th, 2012 in Bangalore. These 30 startups will pitch at the startup extravaganza and we’d love you to join us in the celebration! Come, be a part of it, block your seat today!
