Tag Archives: POCC

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

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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.

Job Mela 2014 for final year Engineering Students by @PuneStartups/@CSIPune

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It’s back! The Pune Open Coffee Club and The Computer Society of India, Pune are organizing a job mela for final year engineering students on Saturday, 14th June, at Cummins College Pune, from 9:30am to 4:30pm.

This event is free for students, as well as 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 please read the For Students section below.

For Companies

We already have 850+ students signed up, and we expect the number to go up even more by the time of the event. These are engineering students who are interested in jobs with Pune startups.

On 14th June, you will get a chance to give a short pitch about your company to the students, interact with selected students, shortlist the ones you like and interview them right away (or schedule an interview for later). And this is free for you.

So sign up here.

If you’ve been to a previous job or internship mela organized in Pune, you know that handling 1000+ students is a complete mess. Hence this time is a bit different. We are making all students go through an online programming test by ReliScore, and only students who do well in the test will be allowed to attend the event.

In other words, you get only good students, and you will not be inundated with resumes of unemployable students.

What are startups expected to do there?

Get marketing material – lots of it. Visiting cards, leaflets and what not. Get banners – you will have one table of size 3ftx4ft for you. Get a laptop with a running PPT. Your main aim is to attract the best students to your company.

This must be costing a bomb?!

NO! This event is totally FREE of cost. However, prior registration is mandatory.

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.

Ok, as a student, what should I do?

Get in touch with the T&P officer of your college. An online programming test has been arranged for 10th June with participating colleges, and you need to find out the procedure for being part of this event.

If you are a student of a Pune college, and your college is not participating in this event, please ask them to contact CSI Pune (or send mail to punetech@punetech.om and we can forward it to the appropriate people), before 9th June.

If you’re a student from a college that is not participating, or if you’re a student from outside Pune but are willing to work in Pune, and willing to travel to Pune on 14th, then please visit ReliScore.com on 11th June for instructions on how you might be able to get into the event on a wild card entry.

Internship/Job Mela 2014 by POCC/CSI-Pune

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It’s back! The Pune Open Coffee Club (POCC) and The Computer Society of India, Pune Chapter (CSI) are organizing an internship mela again!

This mela is different! Here you will not meet the same old large corporations, but will meet up with Pune’s rocking startups!

The internship mela is on 18th Jan 2014, from 10am to 5pm at Millenium School, Karvenagar.

What’s so great about that?

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

Startups: You get to meet a bunch of enthusiastic students from MCA, BCA, BE, and MBA, who are ready to work as interns at your great company, or would love to work with you on a long term basis too! Last year, there were 770 students!

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.

I’m game. Am I eligible? Plus, when and where is the fair?

If you are pursuing your B.E, M.C.A, M.C.M, B.C.A, M.C.S, B.C.S or M.B.A, and want to / need to pursue your internship, then you are eligible. Great, right? The fair is on 18th January from 10am to 5pm. The venue is Millennium National School, 18 Hill Side, Karvenagar, Pune – 411052. The directions are at: http://myshala.in/team/contact-us/

What are startups expected to do there?

Get marketing material – lots of it. Visiting cards, leaflets and what not. Get banners – you will have one table of size 3ftx4ft 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 10am to 5pm. 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!

This must be costing a bomb?!

NO! This event is totally FREE of cost for students. However, prior registration is mandatory (and you have to arrange for your own food!).

For startups: the cost is Rs. 600 (to ensure that only serious companies participate – includes lunch and tea for two, and one electrical point.)

How do I register for the event?

After you register, you can follow the updates for the event on http://punestartups.org/events/internship-and-job-mela-2014

What do I need to do or bring along?

Get your resume along (d-uh!). Here is the format for the event:

  • The event starts at 10am and ends at 5pm. Come anytime in between.
  • Startups have been allocated spaces in the venue, and you are expected to go talk to them.
  • Startups will convince you why they are cool. You need to tell them why you are cool too!
  • Done! Go back with a great feeling of having interacted with Pune’s rocking startup community!

Short and sweet right?

Whom do I contact if I have any questions?

Join the POCC mailing list on punestartups@googlegroups.com, and ask away!

About Pune Open Coffee Club

With over 10000 members, the Pune Open Coffee Club is the largest forum for startups and entrepreneurs in Pune. It is an open forum, and anyone can join for free. See the PoCC website for more details.

Event website: http://punestartups.org/events/internship-and-job-mela-2014

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. (Note: If you don’t get 4 or 5 event annoucements by email every week from PuneTech, you are not subscribed to the PuneTech calendar of events. Click here to subscribe (free).)

Startup Showcase PuneConnect on 23 November – Apply Now

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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

Building world-class technology companies – Helion VC – 24 April

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Helion VC, TiE Pune, POCC, and YourStory.in have organized a panel discussion on “Building world-class technology companies” on 24th April, from 5pm-8pm at Le Meridien Pune. A panel discussion on Scaling Technology Companies will have these panelists:

  • Sanjeev Aggarwal, Co-Founder Helion and Daksh
  • Nitin Kulkarni, COO, Persistent
  • Sanjay Katkar, Co-founder & CTO, Quick Heal
  • Rajeev Goel, Co-founder & CEO, Pubmatic

Another panel discussion on Raising Venture Capital will have these panelists:

  • Ritesh Banglani, Director Helion
  • Swapnil Shinde, Co-founder and COO, Dhingana
  • Vishal Gupta, Founder and CEO, Seclore

This will be followed by a networking session over cocktail.

About this Event

This event is free open to all. Register here

The event is from 5pm to 8pm on Wednesday 24th April, at Le Meridien.

Fund-raising Environment in India: by Dev Khare, Lightspeed Ventures – 24 April

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The Pune Open Coffee Club has organized a talk by Dev Khare of Lightspeed Venture Partners on Wednesday, 24th April where he will talk about the areas of interest for venture investors and the current fund-raising environment in India at the seed, early-stage and growth stages. He will also discuss key challenges that he sees many startups in India facing across multiple verticals and growth strategies to overcome some of the hurdles.

About the Speaker – Dev Khare

Dev Khare is at Lightspeed Venture Partners in New Delhi and invests in Internet, mobile and software companies. He currently serves on the board of Dhingana, a leading Indian music streaming service.

As part of Silicon Valley venture fund Venrock, he has served on the boards of, among others, Slideshare (acquired by LinkedIn), Lavante (enterprise SaaS) and Aha Mobile (acquired by Harman).

Dev co-founded Covigo, a mobile application platform company, which was acquired by Symbol Technologies (now part of Motorola) in 2003. He has also been a product manager at CrossWorlds Software (enterprise integration software) and Aditi Technologies (eCRM).

Dev has an MBA from Harvard Business School and tweets at @dkhare.

About Pune Open Coffee Club

The Pune Open Coffee Club (POCC) was started to encourage Startup Founders and those connected to Startups from Pune to organize real-world informal meetups to chat, network and grow. At this time (April, 2013), POCC has over 9300 members including investors, lawyers, accountants and freelancers who work with startups.

About this Event

This event is free and open to all. Register here

The event is from 5pm to 7pm on Wednesday 24th April, at Conference Hall no. 6, MCCIA, 5th Floor, ICC Trade Towers, SB Road.

Pune Startup Pulse: Fill out YourStory.in’ Survey of Pune’s Startups

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As they often say, India is a continent in itself. With diversity galore, every region has its own flavor. So is the case with startups! Bangalore is oriented towards technology while Mumbai is more of a financial hub. The differences aren’t very obvious but each region has their own set of characteristics.

And to startup in any city, it is very important to know the local nuances. A step in this direction, YourStory.in is launching the “PuneStartup Pulse” which is an online campaign to know the city better. YourStory.in have been to Pune with the Techsparks roundtables previously and have very recently been covering startups from the region as a focus (here, here and here). Intensifying the effort, YourStory is launching this survey which will help us further to understand the region and chart it out.

YourStory’s has previously done Startup Pulse surveys about Bangalore and NCR.

As a result of the campaign, they will come out with a detailed report about the startup ecosystem in Pune. And in the run up to the report, they will be be carrying city specific articles for which contributions are also welcome.

Take the Survey here.

And get in touch with research@yourstory.in for suggestions, queries and inputs for the Pune Startup Pulse.

PuneConnect 2012 application date extended to 19 Nov

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Since this is Diwali Week, and people are on vacation, we have received a number of requests to extend the deadline for submission. The deadline has now been extended until end of day, Monday, 19th November.

For details of how and what to submit, see the Submit A Proposal page at PuneConnect.com. For more information about PuneConnect itself, see [the original Pune Connect call for applications[(http://puneconnect.com/puneconnect-2012-dec-1-apply-now/)

Remember, this event is absolutely free for all participants, so you have no excuse to not apply.

(Note: all those who have already submitted applications, you should have received an email acknowledgement. If you have not received an acknowledgement, please re-submit your proposal, or leave a comment on this post and we’ll get in touch with you.)

Here are some selected testimonials from companies that presented at PuneConnect 2011:

Anand Kekre, CEO and Co-founder of Vaultize

Overall it was a good experience in PuneConnect 2011. We got some publicity as well as used the “Best Startup” accolade and ET Now coverage in our marketing. […] I would recommend such events to all startups.

Saurabh Jain, Co-founder, Intellista Software Studios:

The PuneConnect experience was really helpful.

[…]

However, I thought the following were really helpful:

  1. Getting insightful feedback from many experienced and senior people from the Indian startup ecosystem – who have been there and done that. This is difficult to get for many young startups with few connections.
  2. We were short listed for the ETNow show – which as an interesting experience in itself 🙂 Taught us a few things on how to pitch, especially on the TV. The feedback by the judges helped too.
  3. We got to get the entire team out (even though it was just four of us) and everyone got to pitch and explain to other people what our product does. This is always helpful and provides good exposure to the team. And lets face it, how often do we get such chances?
  4. The format of the event was such that we did not have to spend a LOT of time preparing for it – maybe a couple of days. Which is always good – because you do not end up wasting time.

Overall, the event lived up to more than my expectations and we all had a great time.

Rahul Sawant, Director, BizPorto:

It was indeed excellent initial push for bizporto. One of the early recognition by 4 prominent organizations together gave us confidence to move ahead. Well, we couldn’t get into the ET Now session nevertheless the opportunity was big. The visibility through this event was big & it helped us networking with few industry dignitaries & we are getting an excellent guidance from them in running the business.

PuneConnect 2012: An event to connect Pune Startups to Enterprises – 1 Dec

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After the huge success of PuneConnect 2011, we are back again with PuneConnect 2012, a mega event for Pune startups to showcase their products and services to the world at large, and specifically to larger companies in Pune. PuneConnect 2012 will be on 1st December 2012, 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 amongst Pune’s established companies, and successful senior entrepreneurs.

PuneConnect is a joint initiative of Software Exporters Association of Pune (SEAP), TiE Pune, PuneStartups.org (POCC), PuneTech, and NASSCOM. SEAP and NASSCOM have large communities of established companies, and PuneStartups.org, TiE Pune and PuneTech represent thriving communities of Pune’s young startups. PuneConnect represents a one-of-its-kind activity that bridges the gap between the new companies and the established ones.

Any startup company from Pune or nearby areas, who has a product that they would like to demo, should submit a proposal by following the instructions at http://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 stall at PuneConnect on 1st December.

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 2011 showcased 12 Pune startups. All the companies got a lot of exposure to potential customers, angel investors, VCs and media.

Media Coverage: 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. One company, World Without Me, got a half-page article in Pune Mirror as a direct result of being featured in PuneConnect 2011.

Entries to other prestigious events: 4 of the selected companies (InnovizeTech, ReliScore, DroidCloud, and AdMogul) were selected to be featured on an episode ETNow TV Channel’s Starting Up show. 4 of the companies (kPoint, Vaultize, InnovizeTech and DroidCloud) were selected for participation in a national-level conference organized by Zinnov, where they got to demo their products to companies from all over India. Two of the companies (BizPorto, and InTouchId) went on to be a part of the TiE Pune Nurture Initiative where they got in-depth mentoring in becoming ready for funding.

Funding: DroidCloud (now known as AppSurfer) got an invitation to the SuperAngels show on the ETNow Channel as a direct result of being in PuneConnect 2011, and a chance to win Rs. 1 crore in funding on the show. AppSurfer actually went on to win the show and secure the funding.

If you’re interested

VCCircle Event: Meet investors from all over the country: Aug 23

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(Normally, PuneTech does not promote paid events, unless under special circumstances. In this case we are making an exception because we believe that the event is likely to be interesting for tech entrepreneurs in Pune, and also because the organizers have promised a 30% discount for PuneTech readers.)

VCCircle is one of the top forums/platforms in the country for investing, funding, VC activity in startups in India. And, given the amount of activity in the technology startup space in Pune, and the number of techies quitting their jobs starting companies, the need for networking with investors is the need of the hour. VCCircle is organizing a “Investment Forum” at Le Meridien, Pune, on 23rd August.

What to expect at the event?

Approximately 200 participants consisting of established and emerging entrepreneurs, CEOs, PE/VC investors, bankers.

Look here for the detailed agenda.

Who should attend this event?

This forum will give an excellent platform for a POCC/Punetech members to network with the leading investors of the country. These investors will have varied portfolios and will be from all three categories, Angel, VCs and PEs. The badges will be color coded so entrepreneurs can easily decide whom to talk to.

The agenda will cover what investments have happened in Pune already, which sectors are seeing lots of investments, and which sectors are expected to see more activity in the future. There will be special enclosed speed pitching session with investors for selected companies.

How much does it cost?

It costs Rs. 6000 for Entrepreneurs/Companies/Startups. However there is a 30% discount for PuneTech readers. Use the discount code VCCPE30. (If you are a banker/Investor/Consultant, it will cost you Rs. 9000. You can still get the PuneTech discount – use the discount code VCCNPE30.)

Registration details are here. For questions, other details, or group discounts contact register@vccircle.com or call Kanika / Sandeep at 0120-4171111.

Click here for more details of the event