Startups honored at SiliconIndia Startup City
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 31 May 2010, 22:07 IST
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Bangalore: For startups across India, siliconindia Startup City 2010 Bangalore turned out to be a multifaceted platform allowing them to flex their muscles to warn the corporate biggies that they ought to be counted upon and in the process grab some awards. Around 100 technology startups exhibited their products and services and gave live demonstrations in their booths. They also had an opportunity to present their business plans in the auditorium in front of an audience, which comprised of Venture Capitalists (VCs) and entrepreneurs. These startups also had an opportunity to have lunch with the VCs and they tried to pitch about their products and services to the VCs. The event saw some startups clinch awards after their performances were evaluated by an expert panel of judges, which comprised of highly experienced VCs. Best Startups from five segments including internet, services, education, products and mobile were recognized. VidTeq, Bangalore based startup that provides video maps for Bangalore city bagged the best start up award in Internet segment. LeadForce, a provider of next-generation marketing automation, dubbed as Marketing Automation 2.0, secured the best startup award in product sector. E-learning solutions provider Edujini Labs won the best startup in Education and Prakat Solutions bagged the best start up award in Service segment. While 160by2, which allows the users to send free SMS to cell phones across India, emerged as the best startup in the mobile segment. Awards were given based on the following criteria: the company overview, market opportunity, the team, solution value proposition, competitive positioning, growth plans, go-to-market plan, current status and investment opportunity. The judges who evaluated the companies were Raj Chinai, Principal, SVB India Advisors, Jagan Rao, Headstart Ventures, Rahul Chowdhri, Vice President, Helion Ventures, Rahul Khanna, Director, Clearstone Venture Advisors, Parag Dhol, Director, Inventus, Ashwin Raghuraman, Vice President, India Innovation Fund, Rajesh Sukumaran, Mercatus Capital, Srini Vudayagiri, Founder & Managing Partner, Stega Capital, Shailesh Lakhani, Vice President, Sequoia Capital India, Abhishek Goyal, Associate, Accel Partners, V.R.Venkatesh, Sr.VP and Head of External Innovation Initiative, Wipro and Abhishek Sahay, Director, Business Development APAC & MENA, Talisma. The two day event started with inaugural keynotes on 'Nurturing the Indian Innovation System' by Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder and CEO of Rediff.com. Sunil Rao, Head of Forum Nokia India, addressed the audience with the topic 'Innovation & Monetizing Opportunities for Mobile Entrepreneur' and Krishnakumar Natarajan, Co-founder, CEO and Managing Director of MindTree shared his MindTree experience with the participants. Following the keynotes there was a panel discussion, where VCs discussed on the topic like 'Mistakes entrepreneurs make when approaching VCs' and 'Best Opportunities for Entrepreneurs in 2010.' The speakers of these exciting discussions were Dr. Ashish Gupta, Kumar Shiralagi, Managing Director, NEA-IndoUS Ventures, Rahul Khanna, Srini Vudayagiri, Mahesh Vaidya and Shailesh Lakhani. Also, SiliconIndia provided a platform, CEO Conclave, for the CEOs and Managing Directors of technology companies that facilitates an informal discussion among the senior management about the best practices of building technology companies in India, what works, what doesn't work, potemtial pitfalls and other challenges. Many people from different walks of the IT industry crowded at the NIMHANS Convention Center to attend the SiliconIndia StartupCity.

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