The conference hall at Symbiosis in Pune, where Khoj 2017 Pune was held seemed filled with enthusiasm and hope in the eyes young entrepreneurs as the event was set to begin. Bright, young and adept minds with colossal ambitions along with insatiate veterans who hoped to satisfy their hunger for innovation filled the room with the right kind of positive aura.
The opening remark of the event was by me where I spoke how I conceptualized Khoj with an aim to revolutionizing the startup ecosystem especially in tier-II cities in India and I am so overwhelmed with the feedback we received so far not only from the startups but also from all our university partners and mentors. We have conducted KHOJ initiative across multiple cities in India and have to date accelerated and funded about 12 startup Entrepreneurs in the last one year.
The event progressed as our keynote speaker, Mr. Ganesh Natrajan, Founder and Chairman, World LLC took the stand and astounded the crowd by giving an extremely articulate speech on the Global startup scenario.
As the startup world is esoteric to many, it is required to have discussions, to steer clear of doubts and to give innovation and knowledge a room to grow. Hence there were 2-panel discussions that took place throughout the course of the event. The first discussion was on Startups fueling the Indian economy and the 2nd one was on Specific Sector highlights.
In the course of the event, Startup pitches were up next. With more than 85 entries received the most competent were chosen to have their ideas pitched in front of the panel. Entrepreneurs presented their ideas in front of a jury which consisted of Mr. Vishwas Mahajan – Global Trustee, TIE Global. Mr. Maneesh Bhandari – Director CIIE, Mr. Amol Chaphekar – Director, Gabriel Cap, Mr. Altaf Rehmani, Founder Pune Angel Network, Mr. Manish Kumar – Convener Fintech Forum, Mr. Rohit Bhatia – Founder Payltr, Mr. Anup Mehta –Director CEO, Z Nation Lab in a room that was filled with 45+ investors.
A plethora of new ideas was discussed and every entrepreneur presented themselves in the most zealous manner possible. These budding entrepreneurs soared high beyond the myriad of mediocre startups and wowed the jury.
Bharat Robotics was announced as the winner of Khoj 2017 Pune thus ending the magnanimous event. The event would not have been possible without our partners at Your Story, Symbiosis Pune, Mumbai Angels, Hyderabad Angels, Lead Angels, My cute office, The Hacker Street and 111 Startups.
Khoj, as the word suggests is a search for entrepreneurs, for ideas and most importantly for innovation. Khoj is a venture of Z Nation Lab curated in order to nurture and support worthy ideas in order to infuse innovation into SME’s MSME & Corporates in India. Innovation is at the core of Khoj, where the idea is to bring together the entire ecosystem to collaborate, network and to find the right connects. It is a competition where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas and present themselves in front of a jury of investors and entrepreneurs alike. The one, most deserving startup will be called to Mumbai for the finals where they stand a chance to obtain funding, tech validations, scaling up opportunities and Z Nation Lab partnership programs as well.
If you are looking at partnering or sponsoring our next khoj event. Write to me at neha@znationlab.com.
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