Killer startups awarded at SiliconIndia Startup City in Bangalore Date:   Wednesday , July 06, 2011 After a roaring success of the previous editions of the event across India, the biggest event for Startups was back in Bangalore on July 28th at the Nimhans Convention Center. For startups across India, siliconindia Startup City 2011 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. The event kick started with the inaugural keynote on ‘Entrepreneurship - Pleasure, Pressure & Perils’ by Krishnan Ganesh, Founder & CEO, TutorVista. "You have to have not just passion, but foolish passion, to start a venture," said Ganesh, a serial entrepreneur with 4 successful startups to his credit. Following the keynote was a panel discussion on ‘Entrepreneurial Journey: Concept to Success’. The prominent speakers were, Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder and CEO, Consim Info — the brain behind the No. 1 Matrimonial Brand, 'Bharat Matrimony.com'; Pallav Nadhani, Co-founder & CEO, FusionCharts — one of the youngest today, Pallav, started FusionCharts after class 12th which today is an industry leading charting component; and Param Parameswaran, Chairman, Sulekha.com. ‘Best Advice to get funded in the current environment’ was another panel discussion for which the panelists were Vani Kola from IndoUS Venture Partners; Alok Mittal from Canaan Partners; Subrata Mitra and moderator being Rajnish from Althea Systems. Alok said, “The key item to get funded in this current climate is the preparation that is required on part of entrepreneurs before they embark on fundraising exercise, and the care they should exercise in choice of their partner”. Post lunch, was exciting VC panel discussions on ‘Opportunities for Entrepreneurs in the Products Space’, ‘Internet and Mobile Space’ and ‘Services Space’. “Product companies are happening, the pace is increasing, and they are also getting funded. Indian markets becoming large and fast growing in many sectors, talent becoming available and VCs providing funding, are some of the reasons enabling the growth of such companies,” said Samir Kumar, Managing Director, Inventus Capital. At the Services end, Venkatesh Peddi, AVP, IDG Ventures said, “Although, in general services companies in the tech space are finding it difficult to get funded, VCs could still consider companies, if they are playing in a ‘niche / upcoming segments’ and have generated some traction before approaching VCs”. “In services businesses, especially when starting at a small scale, timing is very important. If you can create a niche and brand for yourself in an emerging market before the competition, it has immense value,” said Gaurav Saraf, Director, Epiphany Ventures. Around 80 technology startups exhibited their products and services and 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. The event saw some startups clinch awards after their performances were evaluated by an expert panel of judges, which comprised of highly experienced VCs. Expicient and Sacona, bagged the best start up award in the Products and Solutions segment. Hopsim and United Mobile Apps bagged the best startup award in the Internet and Mobile sector and P factor India won the best startup award in the Services sector. SiliconIndia Startup City also held ‘CEO Conclave’, a closed door event for CEOs and Managing Directors of Technology companies, facilitating an informal discussion among the senior management about the best practices of building technology companies in India, what works, what doesn't work, potential pitfalls and other challenges. Many people from different walks of the IT industry crowded the NIMHANS Convention Center to attend the SiliconIndia StartupCity. The exciting event was sponsored by Forum Nokia, Century, PubMatic,Aqualogic, Tally Solutions, Digital River, Wallsys, Century, Regus, Evoma, Net4, ZNet, SKODA, HopSim, 160 by 2, LiveWebcasting.in and Quick Heal.