Category Archives: Events

PuneConnect 2016: Startup Showcase Event for Pune’s Startups: Apply Now

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PuneConnect, Pune’s startup show case event, is now in its 6th year, and is one of Pune’s most important events for startups. This is an event for startups to showcase their products and services to larger companies in Pune, VCs and angel investors from all over the country, and others from the ecosystem. PuneConnect 2016 is on 19th November 2016, at Westin, Pune. It is a half-day event where selected startups in Pune can find customers, mentors, business partners, affiliates, and investors amongst Pune’s established companies, successful senior entrepreneurs, and angels and investors from all over.

This event is free for startups selected by PuneConnect. If you are unsure of whether this event is appropriate for you or not, please go ahead and apply, and our selection committee will figure out whether you’re a good fit or not. Please apply right away. The last date to apply is 8th October.

Any startup company that has a product that they would like to demo, should submit a proposal at http://db.puneconnect.com/pc/combo-form/. (The product must be ready before 19th November.) A panel of selectors drawn from experts in the industry will select the most promising startups who will be allowed to set up a demo at PuneConnect, in Westin, Pune, on 19th November 2015.

There will be a special quota for students – i.e. startups whose founders are still students will be given special consideration, so if you know someone in this category, please forward this info to them.

Benefits to selected startups include:

  • Exposure to Pune’s top companies, potential customers and potential mentors
  • Exposure to Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors who are being
    invited to the event
  • Press and media coverage before and after the event
  • Winners of the event get automatic entries to other country-level events (e.g. those organized by NASSCOM)

PuneConnect started in 2011 and is held in late October/early November every year. For the last few years, we’ve been selecting 30+ startups for demos out of 150+ registrations that we receive. Click here for more information about past PuneConnect events.

Media Coverage: In past PuneConnects, Economic Times, Indian Express, The Financial Express, the Financial Chronicle, Business Standard, and the top Marathi newspapers Sakal and Maharashtra Times all have carried detailed articles about PuneConnect and the companies.

PuneConnect is a joint initiative of Software Exporters Association of Pune (SEAP), TiE Pune, PuneStartups.org (POCC), PuneTech, and NASSCOM, SME Joinup, CIIE Ahmedabad, and MCCIA Pune – basically all the important players in Pune’s startup ecosystem. PuneConnect represents a one-of-its-kind activity that bridges the gap between the new companies and the established ones.

Entries to other prestigious events: Companies featured in PuneConnect have been selected to be on TV (e.g. an episode ETNow Channel’s Starting Up show), or in national-level conferences (e.g. one organized by Zinnov), where they got to demo their products to companies from all over India, or for mentorship programs (like the TiE Pune Nurture Initiative), or even got funding (e.g. AppSurfer, a company from the first PuneConnect that got Rs. 1 crore in funding on the SuperAngels show) – all as a result of being featured on PuneConnect.

Apply now. It costs nothing. Please apply right away. The last date to apply is 8th October.

Event: Talk on Planet-Scale Distributed Storage by YouTube/PayPal architect Sugu Sougoumarane

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Talentica Software invites you to a talk by Sugu Sougoumarane, a senior architect at YouTube, and co-founder of Youtube’s Vitess Project, which is an open-source scalable, distributed storage system that is used by YouTube for scaling.

The talk is on Friday, 8th July, from 3pm to 5:30pm, at Talentica Software, 4th Floor, Amar Megaplex, Baner Road. (Ample parking on Baner Road near the venue.) The event is free and open to all, but RSVP is necessary.

About the Speaker – Sugu Sougoumarane

Sugu is the co-founder of Youtube’s Vitess project, which has been under development since 2010. He hails from BITS Pilani and has been in the software industry for over 30 years. He has experience in a variety of fields including computer graphics, compilers, IDEs, databases, payments and software architecture. Prior to YouTube, Sugu joined X.com/PayPal in its early stages where he built many of its core features. He was also a member of the elite scalability team that was responsible for keeping PayPal scalable.

Abstract of the Talk

Sugu will cover the following topics as a part of his presentation

General Storage Concepts and Guidelines:

  • Computing trends: How distributed systems are changing the way we design software.
  • Challenges of distributed systems: Principles that govern the trade-offs.
  • How to practically apply these principles in real-life systems.
  • What is Paxos and how to tone it down when it’s not always needed.
  • How to make 2PC work, when it has always failed
  • Simplifying it all.

Vitess, the present and future

  • How was Vitess started and why we open-sourced it
  • Evolution of Vitess, from a connection proxy to a sprawled out planet scale storage solution. We are the real cockroach.
  • V3, the latest coolness
  • What’s in the future

Location, Fees, and Registration

The talk is on Friday, 8th July, from 3pm to 5:30pm, at Talentica Software, 4th Floor, Amar Megaplex, Baner Road. (Ample parking on Baner Road near the venue.)

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. However, seating at the venue is limited, so you must RSVP by sending a mail to rsvp@talentica.com.

Event: TiECON Pune – Indian Startup Ecosystem Conference – 15 April

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TiECON, one of the top startup conferences in the country, will be held in Pune again this year for the 4th time, on 15th April.

The keynote address will be by Sanjiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Holdings & Investment, Bajaj Finserv, and Bajaj Allianz. In addition, there are a number of other speakers – startup founders, venture capitalists, and others from the startup ecosystem including Ambareesh Murty of Pepperfry, Hari Menon of BigBasket, Sanjay Katkar of QuickHeal, Sanjay Nath of Blume Ventures, Varsha Tagare of Qualcomm Ventures. See this page for a full list.

The event costs Rs. 2099 for TiE Pune members, and 3199 for non-members, and 2499 for “members of supporting organizations” (including PuneTech readers). Thus, if you’re not a member, you can use the “Members of Supporting Organizations” ticket, with the code “TiE-Pune Tech”.

See the event website for more details.

Internship/Job Mela 2016 for Pune startups+students

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It’s back! The Pune Open Coffee Club is organizing an internship/job mela for final year students (MCA, BCA, BE, ME, MTech, MBA) on 16th January, 2016, from 9:30am to 5:30pm, 14th June. The difference from other internship/job melas is that only startups are invited to participate in this.

This event is free for students, and has a nominal charge of Rs. 500 for startups. Startups who wish to be part of this, please signup here, and read the For Companies section below. Students who wish to be part of this register here, and read the For Students section below.

How does it work?

The actual event is on 16th January, at IMED campus. One week before that, on 9th January, there will be a qualifying test for the students, conducted by ReliScore for C/C++/Aptitude.

On the day of the event, Saturday 16th January, registered startups are expected to set up a table from 9:30am to 5:30pm at the venue: IMED Campus, Bharati Vidyapeeth Erandwane Campus, Paud Road. Map. Detailed agenda for the event will be put up on the event page later.

Benefit For Companies

Last year 1000+ students signed up. Similar numbers are expected this year.

All these students will go through an online test of minimal programming competency by ReliScore. Only students who get a passing score on will be allowed to attend. (Last year, 400 out of 1000 made it through.) The students who pass will be given grades from A to E based on their performance. Out of those (last year, about 100 students secured the top two grades.) Student grades will be shared with companies who have registered for the Job Mela. Companies are free to set their own minimum grade criteria for students wishing to talk to them, or submit a resume.

On 16th January, companies will get a chance to interact with selected students, shortlist the ones you like, and interview them right away (or schedule an interview for later).

So sign up here.

What are startups expected to do there?

Get marketing material – lots of it. Visiting cards, leaflets and what not. Get banners – we will arrange to have one table for you. Get a laptop with a running PPT. Come with your mind prepared to be asked the same question a hundred times over, from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Stay for the whole duration – you never know when you might find the correct match. You can also interact with other startups to grow your network and see if you can find some synergy!

For Students

Students: You don’t find so many startups in one place, at one time, all accessible to interact with you!

Why work with startups?

Startups are cool. Startups are where the action is. The experience that you would get in a startup in a few months, would be better than what you would get from large corporations in a few years. In startups, you get an exposure to the various moving parts of a company – coding, testing, admin, HR, marketing… you name it! More than all of this, you get to work directly with founders of the company, who will one day make it very big (like Google, Twitter?).

What do startups want from me?

Life at startups can be very exciting – but you need to be prepared to give more than 100%. Many startups work on cutting edge technologies, and there is going to be a huge learning curve for you, to be able for you to meaningfully contribute to the company. So, it requires dedication, patience and a positive attitude.

Please register here.

Event: “The Distributed Web and the Internet we Build Next” by Eric Klinker, CEO of BitTorrent

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Presenting a talk by Eric Klincker, CEO of BitTorrent Inc, on Monday, 28th December, 4pm, at MCCIA, SB Road.

Whenever a distinguished technology leader visits Pune, we like to arrange a talk for the benefit of the tech community in Pune. For example a few months earlier, we had Vincent Hsu, CTO for Storage and SDE at IBM, and Mark Re, CTO of Seagate. Often, these talks have to be arranged at the last minute, with less than a week’s notice, and the date/times are constrained by the visitors’ schedule, but in spite of that, the community steps up and we end up having a great event.

This time, GSLab brings to us, Eric Klinker the CEO of a company and technology that truly changed the world – BitTorrent. The event will be on Monday, December 28th, at ICC Trade Center, SB Road. The schedule is as follows:

  • 3:45 – 4:15 pm Networking
  • 4:15 – 4:20 pm – Introduction
  • 4:20 – 5:20 pm – Eric’s Talk
  • 5:20 – 5:30 pm – Q&A and closure

(There is parking at the venue, but you’ll need to budget 10 minutes extra for security and parking. We started this week’s event exactly on time, so please plan to reach a bit early.)

Abstract of the Talk – The Distributed Web and the Internet we Build Next

Who has not heard of BitTorrent today? Come and listen to the philosophy behind this landmark company from none other than the CEO, Eric Klinker. He would like to talk about the Internet becoming increasingly centralized, straining the operating principles of openness and neutrality that have led to its phenomenal growth. But what if more of the web worked the way BitTorrent does? Eric will discuss a platform that powers a new way for web content to be published, accessed and consumed. Truly an Internet powered by people, one that lowers barriers and points towards a brighter future.

About the Speaker – Eric Klinker

Here’s what Eric’s Wikipedia Page describes him:

Eric Klinker is an American technology executive and is best known as the CEO of BitTorrent. Along with Bram Cohen and three other venture capitalists, he is also on the board of governors of BitTorrent. He was instrumental in formulating BitTorrent’s position on network neutrality, testifying before the FCC as well as other worldwide telecom regulators.

As CEO, he is credited with guiding BitTorrent through the 2008 financial crisis and growing the user base to over 170m users. In 2012, BitTorrent expanded its mission under Klinker and broadened the product portfolio, introducing additional distributed applications like BitTorrent Sync, BitTorrent Bundles, Bleep, and BitTorrent Live, a linear broadcasting P2P protocol also invented by Bram Cohen. In 2014, BitTorrent announced Project Maelstrom, a distributed web browser designed to power a new way for web content to be published, accessed and consumed.

Fees, Registration, Logistics

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://punetech.eventbrite.com/?aff=punetech

The event is from 4:00pm to 5:30pm, on Monday, 28 December, at Navalmal Firodia Hall, 5th Floor, A Wing, MCCIA, ICC Trade Tower, SB Road.

(Paid) PuneConnect 2015: Pune’s Largest Startup Showcase Event 28 Nov: Register Today

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After 4 successful years, PuneConnect has quickly become one of Pune’s most important events for startups, and it is now back with PuneConnect 2015, the mega event for Pune’s startups to showcase their products and services to the world at large, specifically to larger companies in Pune, VCs and angel investors from all over the country, and others from the ecosystem.

Register today to be part of this show.

30 of Pune’s most promising startups have been selected from a huge pool of applicants, and they will be joining some of Pune’s established startups and companies in showcasing their products at the Westin, on 28th November from 9:00am to 2pm.

This is an ideal event to connect with the who’s who of the Pune Startup ecosystem. You will find lots of startup founders, successful senior entrepreneurs, potential recruits, angels and investors from all over, potential customers, mentors, business partners, affiliates, and investors from all parts of Pune’e startup and technology ecosystem – including SEAP, PuneTech, TiE Pune, PoCC, MCCIA, IPMA, HIA, IIMA’s CIIE, and SME Joinup.

Agenda

  • 08.30a.m Registration
  • 09.00a.m Welcome Note, Also, Start-up Showcase (Demo Room) Open
  • 09.15a.m Keynote
  • 10.15a.m Panel Discussion
  • 11.15a.m Break: Go see the startups
  • 12.00p.m On-stage Startup Shootout
  • 1.00p.m Networking LUnch
  • 2.00p.m onwards: VC Round Table for selected startups

Background

PuneConnect started in 2011 and is held in late October/early November every year. In 2011 we showcased 12 startups, and had attendance of about 250. In 2012, we showcased 21 startups, and had to close delegate registrations at 600 because of space limitations. Since 2013, we have been showcasing about 30 startups out of approximately 150 applicants each year. See PuneConnect website for more information about past PuneConnects.

PuneConnect is a joint initiative of Software Exporters Association of Pune (SEAP), TiE Pune, PuneStartups.org (POCC), PuneTech, and NASSCOM, SME Joinup, CIIE Ahmedabad, and MCCIA Pune, IPMA, Hinjewadi Industries Association, and IIM Ahmedabad’s CIIE (which will soon have an Pune presence) – basically all the important players in Pune’s startup ecosystem. PuneConnect represents a one-of-its-kind activity that bridges the gap between the new companies and the established ones.

Entries to other prestigious events: Companies featured in PuneConnect have been selected to be on TV (e.g. an episode ETNow Channel’s Starting Up show), or in national-level conferences (e.g. one organized by Zinnov), where they got to demo their products to companies from all over India, or for mentorship programs (like the TiE Pune Nurture Initiative), or even got funding (e.g. AppSurfer, a company from the first PuneConnect that got Rs. 1 crore in funding on the SuperAngels show) – all as a result of being featured on PuneConnect.

Fees and Registration

This event costs Rs. 1000 if you want to be part of the lunch, Rs. 500 if you want to just attend the event, and is free for students with a college ID card.

The event is from 9:00am to 2pm at the Westin, Pune.

Register here

PuneConnect 2015: Startup Showcase Event for Pune’s Startups: Apply Now

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PuneConnect, Pune’s startup show case event, is now in it’s 5th year, and is one of Pune’s most important events for startups. This is an event for startups to showcase their products and services to larger companies in Pune, VCs and angel investors from all over the country, and others from the ecosystem. PuneConnect 2015 is on 28th November 2015. It is a half-day event where selected startups in Pune can find customers, mentors, business partners, affiliates, and investors amongst Pune’s established companies, successful senior entrepreneurs, and angels and investors from all over.

This event is free for startups selected by PuneConnect. If you are unsure of whether this event is appropriate for you or not, please go ahead and apply, and our selection committee will figure out whether you’re a good fit or not. Please apply right away. The last date to apply is 8th November – end of this week.

Any startup company from Pune or nearby areas, who has a product that they would like to demo, should submit a proposal at http://db.PuneConnect.com. A panel of selectors drawn from experts in the industry will select the most promising startups who will be allowed to set up a demo at PuneConnect on 28th November 2015

Benefits to selected startups include:

  • Exposure to Pune’s top companies, potential customers and potential mentors
  • Exposure to Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors who are being
    invited to the event
  • Press and media coverage before and after the event
  • Winners of the event get automatic entries to other country-level events (e.g. those organized by NASSCOM)

PuneConnect started in 2011 and is held in late October/early November every year. In 2011 we showcased 12 startups, and had attendance of about 250. In 2012, we showcased 21 startups, and had to close delegate registrations at 600 because of space limitations. In 2013, we showcased 27 startups, out of 104 applications, and had to close registrations at 1055 due to space limitations. In 2014, we showcased 30+ companies out of 150+ registrations. Click here for more information about past PuneConnect events.

Media Coverage: In past PuneConnects, Economic Times, Indian Express, The Financial Express, the Financial Chronicle, Business Standard, and the top Marathi newspapers Sakal and Maharashtra Times all have carried detailed articles about PuneConnect and the companies.

PuneConnect is a joint initiative of Software Exporters Association of Pune (SEAP), TiE Pune, PuneStartups.org (POCC), PuneTech, and NASSCOM, SME Joinup, CIIE Ahmedabad, and MCCIA Pune – basically all the important players in Pune’s startup ecosystem. PuneConnect represents a one-of-its-kind activity that bridges the gap between the new companies and the established ones.

Entries to other prestigious events: Companies featured in PuneConnect have been selected to be on TV (e.g. an episode ETNow Channel’s Starting Up show), or in national-level conferences (e.g. one organized by Zinnov), where they got to demo their products to companies from all over India, or for mentorship programs (like the TiE Pune Nurture Initiative), or even got funding (e.g. AppSurfer, a company from the first PuneConnect that got Rs. 1 crore in funding on the SuperAngels show) – all as a result of being featured on PuneConnect.

Apply now. It costs nothing. Please apply right away. The last date to apply is 8th November – end of this week.

Pune Product Leaders Forum: 1-day conference on creating Software Products 21 Aug

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Product Leaders Forum (PLF), a volunteer-driven non-profit initiative to build stronger product mindsets and skill sets in India, is hosting PLF – Pune 2015, a 1-day conference on creating software products in the Indian software industry; either in startups, or established product organizations, or in services organizations as platforms and productized services.

This is a paid event; and normally we don’t promote paid events on PuneTech, but in this case we’re making an exception because the line-up of speakers is really quite good. The (Pune) heads of Persistent, BMC, Symantec, Amdocs, Allscripts, Sungard, NVIDIA are expected to be there, as are senior leaders from companies like Intuit, Cisco, TCS, Accenture, and so are a few VCs (disclaimer: I’m also a panelist for one of the sessions.) And they’re giving a 50% discount to PuneTech readers (use discount code PUNETECHDISC when you register.)

Agenda

There are 3 tracks. One track has workshops on “Productizing Services,” “Growth Hacking,” and “Gamification.” The other two tracks mostly feature panel discussions on topics like “Building Products & Platforms in the Services Industry,” “CTO as a Career Path,” “Art of the Start after 30,” “Product Management as a Career Track,” and “Product Management in MNCs and Indian Companies.”

See the website for the detailed agenda.

Intended Audience

For Product Managers, Business Leaders, and Technology Marketeers, this event hopes to provide you with active study sessions, and relevant networking: to help you get into a techno-business role, or accelerating your product management career.

For Engineering Leads, Architects, and Project/Program Managers, the event hopes to help you understand practical design thinking, to go from code centric to customer centric, and how the CTO career paths are different than people management, and how to leverage tech knowledge for better product roadmap decision making.

For Entrepreneurs and Intrepreneurs, this should give them examples of how they can start products and mini-startups “inside” the organization, with the help of fellow senior execs and BU Heads on how they are engaged in corporate innovation and inspiring intrapreneurs.

There are several ways in which this event promises to be different from other events. First, most of the sessions are panel discussions, so you get to hear from a lot of the leaders of Pune’s software industry. And second, it is focused on intrapreneurs & corporate innovation – so it is not a typical startup event.

Fees and Registration

Anyone can attend this event. The price of a ticket is Rs. 2999. Use discount code PUNETECHDISC to get a 50% discount. Register here

PuneStartups Event: Immersive User Experiences for Mobile Applications

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Most (if not all) startups today are focused on building applications for the mobile. What is often an ignored or unknown aspect is the concept of immersive user experiences. Building an app which engages users with a solid user interface and a powerful functionality is key to acceptance. Design plays a very crucial role right from the seed stage of the idea of building the application.

POCC has organized a talk from the experts in the field of design, who would like to share their experiences in creating immersive user experiences for the mobile. Since the talk will be based on case studies and some theory, you will be able to gain insight into the world of design thinking.

Speakers for the seminar:

Mr. Anirudh Natuu

Principal Domian Expert- UX- Persistent Interactive at Persistent Systems Ltd.

Equipped to work in 2D and 3D space, skilled in Industrial design and now migrated to interaction design practice.Translating design Insights, Personna Mapping , Business process analysis and converting this into an Improved user experience.

Before moving to Interaction Design headed Industrial Design Practice at Radeus a BU of Persistent Systems Ltd. Working experience of White goods ,FMGC and Banking products.Worked with leading companies in India in the area of Industrial design through these assignments.

Mr. Manoj Kothari

Co-Founder Design Thinker, Insight Engineer, Futurologist, Innovation Coach at Onio Designs

Manoj currently leads Research and Innovation Strategy practice (which is now recast as TURIAN LABS) at Onio Design Pvt. Ltd., a leading design-led innovation consulting company which he co-founded in 1997. He is also the driver behind Onio’s design pedagogy, knowledge creation, marketing initiatives & brand manifestations.

Manoj uses his experience in building innovation capabilities in organizations, mentoring young entrepreneurs and speaking on design, innovation & entrepreneurship. He is skilled in managing multiple teams, profit centers and quickly structuring the fuzzy opportunities into scalable models. Handling cross-cultural issues, bringing up knowledge centric work culture and empowering the teams early on, are his strengths.

Mr. Harsh Munjal

Design Thinker, UX Designer, Artist at Persistent Systems

Harsh is an experienced specialist in human-computer interaction (HCI), usability research, and user experience design.

Design is his passion and since last 12 years, he has engaged in various aspects of design and believe in a mix of holistic and empathetic design. At the intersection of technology and art he believes in creating meaningful experiences that users understand, desire, and care about.

About PuneStartups (POCC)

With over 16000+ members, PuneStartups (aka POCC) is the largest forum for startups and entrepreneurs in Pune. It is an open forum, and anyone can join for free. See http://punestartups.com for more details.

Fees

This event is free and open to all. Please register here: http://punestartups.org/events/event/show?id=1988582%3AEvent%3A420879

The event will be from 5pm to 7pm on Saturday, 8th August, at Symbiosis SICSR (Room 707) Atur Center, Model Colony.

Please double-check the date/time/venue of the event at the above link. We try to ensure that PuneTech calendar listings are accurate, but occasional errors creep in.

Event: “Trends in Storage & Software Defined Environments” by Vincent Hsu, CTO of IBM Storage

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Announcing a talk by yet another global CTO of a top tech company in Pune.

Earlier this week we had the CTO of Seagate in Pune. One week later, we have Vincent Hsu, CTO for Storage and SDE at IBM who will talk about trends in Storage and in Software Defined Environments.

The event will be on Tuesday, July 28th, at ICC Trade Center, SB Road. The schedule is as follows:

  • 5:30 – 6:00 pm Networking
  • 6:00 – 6:05 – Introduction
  • 6:05 – 7:00 pm – Vincent’s Talk
  • 7:00 – 7:15 pm – Q&A and closure

(There is parking at the venue, but you’ll need to budget 10 minutes extra for security and parking. We started this week’s event exactly on time, so please plan to reach a bit early.)

About the Speaker – Vincent Hsu

Vincent (Yu-Cheng) Hsu is Vice President, IBM Fellow, CTO for Storage and SW Defined Environments. His responsibilities include future storage technology, storage system architecture, design and the solution integration. Currently, he is technical leader on IBM Storage technology for big data, cloud storage and software defined storage infrastructure.

Mr. Hsu has devoted his entire 23 years of his career on enterprise storage system development. He is a master inventor at IBM. He was named an IBM Fellow in 2012. In 2005 he was named a Distinguished Engineer (executive level engineer) and Chief Engineer for IBM Enterprise storage. In 2009, he was named the CTO for IBM disk storage leading IBM storage technology council to oversee storage technology for all IBM disk storage products.

Mr. Hsu is a graduate of the University of Arizona, and holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Engineer and MBA degree. He is also a member of IBM Academy of Technology.

Fees, Registration, Logistics

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://punetech.eventbrite.com/?aff=punetech

The event is from 5:30pm to 7:30pm, on Tuesday, 28 July, at Hall #4, 5th Floor, A Wing, MCCIA, ICC Trade Tower, SB Road.