Tag Archives: entrepreneurs

(Paid) PuneConnect 2014: Pune’s Largest Startup Showcase Event 8 Nov: Register Today

Events, Featured, , , , , , ,

After 3 successful years, PuneConnect has quickly become one of Pune’s most important events for startups, and it is now back with PuneConnect 2014, 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 8th November from 9:30am to 2pm.

The keynote speech will be by Sharad Sharma, ex-MD of Yahoo! India, ex-MD of Veritas/Symantec Pune, and now an angel investor with 30+ investments and one of the driving forces behind iSPIRT, the national level forum for India’s software product startups. Dr. Omkar Rai, Director General of the Software and Technology Parks of India, and who has worked in various capacities with the Central Government, will also be speaking.

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

  • 09.00a.m Registration
  • 09.30a.m Welcome Note, Also, Start-up Alley (Demo Room) Open
  • 09.45a.m Guest of Honor
  • 10.00a.m Book Launch
  • 10.15a.m Keynote by Sharad Sharma, Co-founder Ispirt & CEO BrandSigma
  • 10.50a.m Panel Discussion: “Cloud and Mobility: Reason to Cheer or Fear?”
    • Suhar Kelkar: CTO BMC
    • Mukul Mukar, Co-Founder Pubmatic
    • K Vishwanathan: VP Operations, Eaton
    • Ankur Agarwal: CEO, Clarion Technologies
    • Nandu Kulkarni: Independent Consultant, Banking & Payments Tech
  • 11.45a.m Break. Also: Registration for Ispirt Roundtable
  • 12.00p.m How do we Support Startups?
  • 12.45p.m Lunch Break
  • 1.45p.m Student Entry Opens. Also: VC RoundTable starts
  • 2.30p.m On-stage Startup Shootout
  • 3.30p.m TiE Nurture Startups Presentation
  • 4.30p.m Awards
  • 5.00p.m Show Ends

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. In 2013, we showcased 27 startups, out of 104 applications, and had to close registrations at 1055 due to space limitations. Click here for more information about past PuneConnect events.

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.

Some of our past winners will also be featured at the show.

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 9:30am to 2pm at the Westin, Pune.

Register here

PuneConnect 2014: Startup Showcase Event for Pune’s Startups: Apply Now

Events, Featured, , , , , , ,

After 3 successful years, PuneConnect has quickly become one of Pune’s most important events for startups, and it is now back with PuneConnect 2014, 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. PuneConnect 2014 will be on 8th November 2014, and the idea behind the event is to allow the best startups in Pune a platform where they 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.

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 8th November 2014.

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. Click here for more information about past PuneConnect events.

Media Coverage: Economic Times, Indian Express, The Financial Express, the Financial Chronicle, Business Standard, and the top Marathi newspapers Sakal and Maharashtra Times all carried detailed articles about PuneConnect and the companies. All 12 companies got mentions in various articles. Click here for more information about media coverage resulting from PuneConnect.

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.

Pune’s @PersistentSys, @Zensar, Kirloskars, KPIT start I4C, a non-profit to mentor product innovators

News, , , ,

Top Executives from Pune’s Persistent Systems, Intel Ventures India, Zensar, Deloitte, Kirloskars, KPIT, and a bunch of other companies have come together to create I4C (Inter-Institutional Inclusive Innovations Center), a non-profit public-private-people-media partnership organization that aims to strengthen the product innovation market in India.

Excerpts:

The primary objective of i4C is to scout, showcase and mentor technology innovators and help them market products, which have the potential to positively impact the lives of people, he added.

Who is involved? Here are some interesting names. Anand Deshpande of Persistent is involved and:

Other prominent members of i4C include Ganesh Natarajan (Vice Chairman and CEO at Zensar), Kirloskar Brothers President (Innovations Society) Pratima Kirloskar, KPIT Chairman and CEO Ravi Pandit, Deloitte Partner Hemant Joshi and Sakal Media Group Chairman Prataprao Pawar, among others.

What are their goals?

“We want to help ‘productise’ 100 innovations in the nex three years. Innovators face a number of challenges ranging from funding to patents to right mentors and this is where we want to help,” i4C co-founding Director Arun Jamkar said.

And these are the areas that they plan to focus on:

i4C will search for technology innovations in the fields of Healthcare and Diagnostics, Water and Energy conservation, Information Technology, Engineering, Environment, Defence and Agriculture.

Read the full article

More About I4C

For more information, check out http://inclusiveinnovations.in. Anand Deshpande tells PuneTech that:

This is an open forum and we are keen to have more participants.

Those interested are encouraged to contact I4C via this contact form, or email idea@i4c.co.in

I4C also runs an annual Innovations Conference where they invite nominations for innovators in Health Care, Water, and Technology, and the best innovations are felicitated at the event, and also invited to pitch to get funded. The event was held in December last year, and received over 9000 nominations.

The call for nominations for next year’s event is already open.

Tech Events this Week: Robots; Scrum; Monish Darda; Cocoa; KnockoutJS; Mompreneurs

Events, , , , , ,

Here is a list of technology events happening in Pune over the next few days. To be informed of these events in advance, you should subscribe to get the PuneTech calendar event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe.

(Paid) Building Advanced Aerial Robots using Open Source Tools

  • Date: 9-10 May
  • Location: Venture Center, NCL Innovation Park, Pashan Road

See more details at: http://workshop.navstik.org/

This workshop costs anywhere from Rs. 10000 to Rs. 25000 (depending on who you are).

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.

About the PuneTech Calendar

Get event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events, or follow @punetech on twitter

Pune Scrum Meetup: Discussion on Impact Mapping

  • Date: Fri, 9 May 5:00pm – 8:00pm
  • Location: Ramee Grand, Apte Road, near Deccan Gymkhana Pune
  • This will be our first meet up, so lets get to know each other
  • Discuss what is Impact Mapping and how it helps agile teams

About Pune Scrum Meetup

This group is for Scrum enthusiasts or Scrum practitioners who are willing to share and learn about how they Play Scrum day to day. While focus is more on Scrum, we may discuss on how to make use of other Agile methodologies with Scrum to be effective in delivering great products.

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://www.meetup.com/Pune-Scrum-Meetup/events/180004682/

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.

About the PuneTech Calendar

Get event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events, or follow @punetech on twitter

My Story @TiEPune: Monish Darda, Founder Icertis

  • Date: Fri, 9 May 6:30pm – 8:00pm
  • Location: Sumant Moolgaokar Auditorium, Ground Floor, Wing A, ICC Trade Center, SB Road

Monish has more than 20 years of experience in application and systems software development and the architecting of enterprise distributed systems. Along with Unmesh, he co-founded Websym Technologies in 1998. He set up and headed the India R&D operation of Storability, an enterprise storage management startup from Boston. Storability was eventually acquired by Sun Microsystems after which Monish founded and led the India R&D of BladeLogic, helping build a highly scalable enterprise platform for server management in the data center. BladeLogic was acquired by BMC Software after a successful IPO, and Monish contributed to BMC’s cloud management vision, laying the foundation for some of the early pioneering work on cloud resource management and provisioning. He is also the co-inventor of two patents in this area. Monish has a BE in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s degree from Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA. In his spare time, Monish is a self-proclaimed “gadget freak” and “gamer” and loves his Xbox Kinect and PS3 Move systems (he just outgrew the Wii a few months ago) and often claims that video games keep him fit! His other interests are Formula 1 and reading. He is a sci-fi aficionado and loves Isaac Asimov.

About TiE Pune My Story Sessions!

“My Story – Inspiring Journey of an Entrepreneur”

This program is created to celebrate entrepreneurship and bring stories from successful entrepreneurs in their own words. The invited speakers will share their entrepreneurial journeys and talk about lessons learned, mistakes they wish they avoided, and key decisions that helped make their venture successful.

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/tie-pune-my-story-session-with-monish-darda-co-founder-and-cto-icertis-tickets-11502613627

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.

About the PuneTech Calendar

Get event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events.

Pune Cocoa Meetup: Experience with building 100% core data observing view controllers

  • Date: Sat, 10 May 3:00pm – 5:00pm
  • Location: Synerzip (3rd Floor, Revolution Mall, next to City Pride, Kothrud, Pune)

Event Organizer writes:

  • In last couple of months, we scraped some old code and built a small app from scratch, I decided to go with 100% core data supported, FetchResultController backed app. That way all view controller is automatically updated for any data change.

  • I would like to share some challenges I faced and overcame as well as some which still remains.

About Pune Cocoa Meetup Group

See http://www.meetup.com/Pune-Cocoa/ for more details about the Pune Cocoa meetup group.

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://www.meetup.com/PuneCocoa/events/178307942/

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.

About the PuneTech Calendar

Get event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events.

TechNext Event: Discussion on KnockoutJS

  • Date: Sat, 10 May 4:00pm – 6:00pm
  • Location: Synerzip Softech Recreational Area, 3rd Floor, Revolution Mall, Above Big Bazaar, Kothrud

Topics to be discussed

  • What is knockout js?
  • What is MVVM?
  • Why to use Knockout js ?(Along with Knockout Architecture)
  • What are observables?
  • What are computed observables?
  • What are subscribers?
  • What are knockout Bindings?

Examples to explain them all.

Speaker: Ravinder Mahajan

About Tech Next

Tech Next is a group which meets twice in a month in Pune, once for expert speakers and once for unconference at Synerzip’s recreation area. This group discuss topics pertaining to IT world from Developer centric technologies, QA centric practices and technology and Agile practitioners experiences.

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://www.meetup.com/TechNext/events/179988662/

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.

About the PuneTech Calendar

Get event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events, or follow @punetech on twitter

Panel Discussion: Mompreneurs in Pune

  • Date: Sat, 10 May 4:30pm – 7:00pm
  • Location: SCMLD (Sadhna Centre for Management, Learning & Development), 392-A, Mahale Plot, Deep Bunglow Chowk, Model Colony

Join us for a panel discussion with stellar Mom-Entrepreneurs and celebrate their journey. It’s a casual chat, where each mompreneur will share her story of building a startup while raising kid(s) at the same time. The speakers will share their startup story; challenges faced by them and will answer questions from attendees. The discussion will be followed by snacks and networking. The event is open for all aspiring and existing entrepreneurs who will get an opportunity to listen to challenges faced by Entrepreneurs in their startups.

Panelist:

  • Jasleen Manrao: Founder Figments Inc.
  • Dolma Balan: Founder Dial-an-Idli
  • Vaishali Sharma: Founder PurpleChai

Moderated by: Mr. Vikram Mehmi, Founder Sparkpluggers Innovation Lab

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/panel-discussion-mompreneurs-at-pune-tickets-11525018641

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.

About the PuneTech Calendar

Get event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events, or follow @punetech on twitter

Startup Conference TiECON Pune 2014 – 12 April; with keynote by Rajiv Bajaj

Events, Featured, , ,

TiECON Pune 2014, the second TiE Pune conference aims to bring together entrepreneurs, investors and industry, foster generation and discussion of entrepreneuri
al ideas, and develop a sustainable entrepreneurial infrastructure within Pune.

TiECON Pune will be held in Westin Pune, from 9am to 6pm on 12th April. Click here to register – before tomorrow 15th March to avail of the early bird discount. (Use the coupon code TiE-PuneTech to get a discount.)

Check out the agenda for the event. Highlights: 40+ Speakers, including a Keynote by Rajiv Bajaj.

Why Attend?

At TiECon Pune 2014 chances are you’ll come face to face with business’ leaders, entrepreneurs & industry luminaries. It will be a great opportunity to hear & interact with industry experts and explore:

  • New frontiers for the entrepreneurial journey
  • New enablers and support systems
  • New markets for seeking success

Stay connected and we’ll update you as soon as registrations open.

Who Should Attend

Entrepreneurs are passion-people. This event is for these passionate individuals. You could be passionate about technology, services, mobile, consumers, internet or engineering. But if you’re passionate about the future – you should be here.

Fees and Registration

The charges for the event range from Rs. 1599 for early bird TiE Pune members, to 3000+ for non-member late birds. If you’re not a TiE Pune member, you can use the code “TiE-PuneTech” to get a discount as a “Member of Supporting Organization”. The early bird discount ends on 15 March (tomorrow).

Register here

Pune’s Cuelogic acquires California based mobile apps development company

News, , ,

Pune based services company Cuelogic Technologies has just acquired the services arm of California based company Evolutionate, Inc. Excerpts from their press release:

The acquisition came out through a prior strategic partnership between the two companies in which Cuelogic offered Evolutionate and its customers, mobile application development services, cloud computing services and advanced testing services for their customers in enterprise and consumer software domain. Also, Cuelogic helped Evolutionate and its customers boost their internal team’s capacity and capabilities by providing them iOS and Android developers and designers for temporary and long-term assignments.

Last year, Cuelogic also acquired AU Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a mobile and web based game development company to boost and add game development services to the portfolio offerings.

Read the full press release

Pune based enterprise security firm Uniken raises investment from Nexus Venture Partners

Featured, Money Matters, , , , , ,

Pune-based enterprise security software company, Uniken, has just raised a round of funding from Nexus Venture Partners, reports the Economic Times. The amount of funding has not been disclosed, but the internet is claiming that it is around $4.8 million. This is Nexus’ second major investment

Uniken’s main product is the REL-ID platform which allows enterprise software to be accessed from remote clients (i.e. mobiles, laptops, or home computers of customers or employees) in a secure way, in spite of the fact that the client is connecting to the server via an untrusted internet connection.

Imagine a bank, which is able to give its customers a “secure” mobile app that connects to the bank servers over the internet, but then uses REL-ID’s “private communication circuts” to establish a secure connection between the app and the server. Similarly, imagine an the sales database of a company being accessed by one of the salespersons on the road using a laptop. REL-ID PCC can be used to secure the connection between the laptop and the enterprise app without requiring laptop to be on the company network, and without requiring a VPN.

So, how is Uniken’s solution different from using an SSL or IPSEC based VPN?

According to the company’s website, REL-ID PCC is based on the concept of App-to-App tunneling. VPN’s on the other hand are based on TCP/IP Tunneling technology. VPN’s are installed as virtual network adapters and need administrative rights on the client machine in order to install them. VPN’s do not come with in-built mutual authentication and encryption technologies, for that one has to additionally invest in 2-way SSL or IPSEC technologies, increasing the total cost and complexity of the solution. These solutions are not viable when it comes to roll-out to large number of users.

More information about the product is here and here.

The Economic Times reports:

The firm has filed three patents and expects to file 12 patents in next one year. “Uniken is disrupting the digital security space with this platform that provides military grade security with rich digital experience,” said Sandeep Singhal, managing director at Nexus.

So, in the last few days, we’ve made two additions to the list of Pune companies that have raised funding in recent times (and that is even without counting the 3rd round of funding for FirstCry, because that was already on the list.) Is any company missing from our list? Please let us know.

Baby products e-commerce retailer, Pune’s FirstCry.com raises Rs. 82cr funding

Featured, Money Matters, , , , ,

Pune’s FirstCry.com, a baby-products online retail store, has just raised Rs. 82 cr from Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, and existing investors IDG Ventures, and Saif Partners, reports the Economic Times. This is FirstCry’s third round of funding. Previously FirstCry had raised $4 million in 2011, and $14 million in 2012.

Excerpts:

FirstCry, which has tied up with 500 brands, offers over 70,000 products including diapers, toys, toiletries, strollers, apparel and footwear as well as books and toys for children up to the age of 15 years. It also has 50 branded franchisee stores across 45 cities and expects to grow this network to 100 stores. It gets 20% of its revenue from mobile-based transactions.

First Cry was founded by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha in December 2010. Before that, Supam was one of the founders of Pune based e-learning company Brainvisa Technologies, which was acquired by Indecomm Global Services for about $25 million in 2007. Amitava was a senior vice president at BrainVisa and had been there since 2003.

Startup Showcase PuneConnect on 23 November – Apply Now

Events, Featured, , , , , ,

PuneConnect 2013 invites all startups from Pune or nearby areas to apply for a chance to showcase their products at to larger companies in Pune, on 23rd November 2013, at Hyatt (Ista) Pune. This event is free for all participants. 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.

The idea of PuneConnect is to connect established Pune companies with the innovative startups on their doorstep. The hardest thing for a startup is to find early adopters that give them the credibility and experience that they require, and we believe that Pune’s established base of leading edge companies in Software, IT Services, KPOs and Engineering are the perfect early customers.  We want to make sure that a thousand innovative startups bloom in Pune’s Silicon Valley safe in the knowledge that there is a deep and caring ecosystem close to home to serve as mentors, customers, and as angel investors.  And for all of our established companies, the inflow of new ideas and technologies that these startups bring into our offices help to refresh us, energize us, and to make us even more ready for the global stage.

PuneConnect 2013 builds on the success of PuneConnect 2011 and PuneConnect 2012. See an Overview of PuneConnect 2011 Results and Media Coverage to get an idea of the benefits reaped by the startups selected last year (including getting funded, getting featured on TV, getting invited to national conferences, and newspaper articles.)

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 is an initiative of:

SEAP Logo
SEAP (Software Exporters Association of Pune)
PuneStartups Logo
PuneStartups.org (Pune Open Coffee Club)
punetech Logo
PuneTech
tie pune logo
TiE Pune
mccia logo
MCCIA Pune
NASSCOM logo
NASSCOM
HIA Pune Logo
Hinjewadi Industries Association

TiE Pune Chapter wins the “Best Turnaround” award at TiE Global Retreat

News, ,

TiE Pune, the Pune Chapter of TiE the worldwide community of entrepreneurs, has just won the “Best Turnaround” award at the TiE Annual Global Retreat in Athens Greek. They competed with 61 chapters globally, and were selected from 5 finalists.

5 years ago, when PuneTech and the Pune Open Coffee Club started, TiE Pune was dormant, and used to have one event per year (or less). In fact, it could be argued, that neither Pune Open Coffee Club nor PuneTech would have actually gotten started if TiE Pune had been active.

In any case, in the last few years, there has been a remarkable rejuvenation of TiE Pune. Here is proof – in 2012, these were the activities of TiE Pune:

  • 23 My Story Sessions (where entrepreneurs like the founder of Redbus.in talked about their startup story)
  • 19 Breakfast with TiE sessions – morning meetings with a discussion around a theme
  • 18 half/full day workshops were conducted on various topics related to startups
  • 7 Stree shakti fellowships were awarded
  • 2 6-month long “Nurture” programs were conducted to nurture young entrepreneurs

To support TiE Pune in these activities, you should consider buying a TiE Pune membership.

For more information see the TiE Pune website