Piyush Goyal, Steve Wozniak, Girish Mathrubootham, and more - TechSparks 2021 starts with a bang

And we're off with a bang!

The first day of the 12th edition of Asia's largest and most influential startup-tech summit, TechSparks 2021, kickstarted with a stellar lineup of speakers delivering exhilarating and inspiring sessions, doing justice to the theme of — 'What’s next: Rethinking the future'.

Delivering the inaugural keynote address, Piyush Goyal, Honorable Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Govt. of India, and the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, hailed the power of storytelling in enabling the next generation of “entrepreneurs, disruptors, and innovators”.

For Freshworks Founder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham, ringing the opening bell at NASDAQ last month signalled the arrival of homegrown startups on the global stage. He talked about how the development not just presented new learning opportunities and a renewed sense of responsibility, but also enabled him to deliver on promises to Freshworks’ stakeholders.

Later in the day, Intel, along with YourStory at Techsparks 2021, celebrated stories of four of India’s women leaders — Nivruti Rai, Country Head of Intel India and VP of Intel Foundry Services; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Founder and Chairperson of Biocon; Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals; and Divya Gokulnath, Director, and Co-founder of BYJU'S — who are at the helm of India’s digital transformation and came together to decode what’s next for India @ 75.

But this was just the beginning of the power-packed six-day event. Today, YourStory's flagship startup-tech conference will feature several more big names from the Indian startup industry.

Day 2 will kick off with a fireside chat featuring Ronnie Screwvala, Chairperson and Co-founder of upGrad, on understanding how online learning can fast-track career growth.

We’ll also have Zomato Co-founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal, along with Sequoia Capital India's Mohit Bhatnagar, Nexus Venture Partners' Sandeep Singhal, and Accel's Prashanth Prakash discuss how they are giving back to the Indian startup ecosystem.

Also, catch Zerodha Co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath, who will discuss how the startup has disrupted the Indian brokerage and investment-tech landscape.

Check out YourStory's full coverage of TechSparks 2021 here.

Join here to experience TechSparks 2021 with thousands of other startup-tech enthusiasts from around the world.

Check out the TechSparks 2021 calendar for the line-up of action-packed sessions.

The Interview

A Silicon Valley icon, technology entrepreneur, and philanthropist for more than 40 years, Steve Wozniak was instrumental in shaping the industry with his design of Apple’s first line of products. He also influenced the popular Macintosh.

At TechSparks 2021, the Silicon Valley icon and computing wizard unravelled what the future might look like in a post-pandemic world.

Editor’s Pick: Tête-à-tête with Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham

Last month, Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham made history by ringing the opening bell at NASDAQ. It signalled a new dawn for homegrown startups and heralded a new era for the Indian startup ecosystem.

At TechSparks 2021, the entrepreneur says that the IPO was a turning point as it put India's burgeoning SaaS startup ecosystem on the map. But it is only more hard work from here as Girish says he and his team are building new solutions to stay relevant. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

Helping businesses grow

Whenever Atul Mathur met entrepreneurs in Jaipur, his hometown, he found that they faced one common challenge – a lack of resources to grow their business.

To help these startups and new ventures in Rajasthan, he founded LocaGlobe, a digital marketing firm that provides a range of digital marketing services, which includes search engine optimisation (SEO), pay per click, social media marketing, etc. Read more.

News & Updates

• Omni-channel home interior and renovation platform Livspace announced it is expanding into the Middle East with a strategic JV with the Alsulaiman Group (ASG), Ikea’s operating partner in the region.

• Fintech startup BharatPe raised Rs 100 crore (about $14 million) in debt from MAS Financial Services Private Limited (MAS Financial), a non-banking financial company. This is the eighth round of debt fundraising for the company in 2021.

• Glance has invested in Collective Artists Network, an Indian talent management network and pop-culture marketplace. The collaboration will give Glance strategic access to India’s top creators and celebrities while providing disruptive and sustainable monetisation opportunities for the country’s entertainment talent.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“I think every quarter, founders have to step back and see where the industry is going and listen to their customers —  what are their problems, can you solve for existing customers or can you replace the tools they are using today.”

— Girish Mathrubootham, Founder and CEO, Freshworks

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