TechSparks 2019 is finally here to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship
The 10th edition of TechSparks kicks off today, where promising entrepreneurs, policy makers, investors, and innovators converge to discuss, debate, and develop ideas and engagements on how to build technology-enabled and data-enriched solutions to define India’s growth in the next decade.
How does the future of the Indian startup ecosystem look? What new technologies and emerging industries will rule the startup world? How are business leaders, policymakers, investors, and startup accelerators/incubators enabling the startup ecosystem in India? What winning strategies can budding entrepreneurs learn from changemakers and successful entrepreneurs? Will the investors find a winning startup horse in these two days?
The 10th edition of TechSparks, which boasts an impressive line-up of an elite list of speakers and leaders from across the world, will answer all these questions, and more, all through the two-day event, Oct 11-12, at Taj Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru.
Through various masterclasses, product launches, workshops, expert panels, policy discussions, product exhibitions, investor interaction and themed debates, some of the biggest investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders and technologists will share their stories and experiences and network with innovators and entrepreneurs at this India’s most loved annual startup summit.
Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO, YourStory in a conversation with Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder, Paytm
Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory, said,
“The 10th year is a milestone for us at YourStory. With every TechSparks, we try to catch the pulse of the startup ecosystem bringing conversations on tech, business, innovation, and entrepreneurship to our equally eclectic audience. We are happy to uncover new startups and enable connections. This year, we bring another power-packed lineup of speakers, who through their insights, will help you make sense from all the noise around.”
During the welcome note, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO, Paytm, said,
“For every stress and uncertainty a person goes through, we need cheerleaders like YourStory and Shradha Sharma. Also, cheers to those who are present here and building great companies to make India proud.”
In the keynote address, Dr Ashwathnarayan CN, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Higher & Medical Education, IT & BT, Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, said:
“I firmly believe that we would see 50 more unicorns emerging from Bengaluru and participating in Techspark2024. I congratulate YourStory for the incredible support they lend to this promising startup ecosystem and been the torchbearer of this startup movement."
What’s a tech event without fireside chats? There will be enough and more at this year’s TechSparks. Conversations with business leaders and investors like Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital; Munish Varma, Managing Partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers; Varsha Tagare, Managing Director, Qualcomm Ventures; Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder & CEO, OLA; Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart; William Bissell, Chairman, FabIndia, and S Iswaran, Minister for Communications and Information Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Republic of Singapore, will be the highlights.
The audience can also look forward to the conversations with actors like Taapsee Pannu and Rajkumar Rao, who have taken the less beaten path in their careers.
In addition, experts and leaders in the fintech, logistics, foodtech, content, e-sports, mobility, agritech, and healthcare will delve into how innovative inventions in these industries are poised to shape the future.
These include Nithin Kamath, Founder & CEO, Zerodha; Ashwarya Pratap Singh, Co-founder & CEO, Drivezy; Yashish Dahiya, Co-founder and CEO, PolicyBazaar; Suraj Saharan, Co-founder, Delhivery; Kannan Chakravarthy, Head – Smart Sustainable Mobility Solutions Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd; Sai Srinivas, Co-founder & CEO, MPL (Mobile Premier League); Farid Ahsan, Co-founder, ShareChat; Hari Krishnan Nair, Co-Founder and Director, Great Learning; Sushil Kumar, Co-founder, Loco Content; Harsh Pokharna, CEO, OkCredit; Gaurav Chopra, Founder & CEO, IndiaLends; Sumit Gupta, CEO, CoinDCX; Gaurav Agarwal, Co-founder, 1Mg; Jyotsna Pattabiraman, Founder and CEO, Grow fit; Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Co-founder & CEO, Ninjakart; Abhay Hanjura, Founder, Licious; Kumaar Bagrodia, Founder & CEO, NeuroLeap; Deepak Visweswaraiah, Senior VP & MD, NetApp; and Amit Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Yulu among others.
Manu Jain, Vice President and MD, Xiaomi India will talk about the Chinese smartphone manufacturer’s journey and its growth in the Indian market.
The much awaited annual Tech30 list, which includes selected talented young startups based on their journey to scale and succeed, will be unveiled at the TechSparks event.
CKK Kumaravel, Founder & CEO, Naturals Spa & Saloon, will drive the conversation around enabling India's consumer brands' ecosystem. While, Kunal Shah, Founder and CEO, Cred will address the closing keynote and speak about building India's first trust-based community through his venture.
Last year, TechSparks welcomed over 140 speakers, 80 exhibitors, and more than 3,000 attendees. Some of the top speakers from past years include Shri Amitabh Kant of NITI Aayog; Shri Priyank Kharge, former Minister for IT and BT and Tourism, Govt of Karnataka; Kishore Biyani of Future Group; Shri Giriraj Singh, Former Minister of State MSME, Govt of India; Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm; Ashish Hemrajani of BookMyShow; Binny Bansal of Flipkart; and Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola, among others.
In nine years, more than 40,000 attendees have been a part of the TechSparks event, of which over 10,000 were from startups alone. Also, startups showcased in Tech30 list over the years have gone on to raise growth capital of over $1 billion.
For the TechSparks 2019 agenda, please visit the website.
YourStory's annual extravaganza TechSparks brings together the best and the brightest from the startup ecosystem, corporate world, policymakers and, of course, the investor community. Over the past decade, TechSparks has grown to become India's most loved tech and startup platform for knowledge sharing and networking. A big thank you for all your support over the years and a big shoutout to our sponsors.
