Hello Everyone,
I have been realizing that lately there is a lot of activities happening centred around “nurturing creativity” and in aiding product companies. One prime example would be the efforts that NASSCOM is putting towards helping product companies. It is good to see such changes and I am even more keen to see the changes that it brings forth.
This post is to keep you aware of such events, so that you could benefit from it:
NASSCOM’s Innovation Awards 2007 – Call for Nominations
Introduced in 2004 for the first time, the NASSCOM Innovation Awards have grown into a prestigious platform.
The awards recognize organizations that have made innovation a part of their DNA and developed extraordinary and pioneering products and services. Over the past years, the awards have been presented to the winners at the prestigious NASSCOM India Leadership summit held in Mumbai, by none other than former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.
If you are an emerging company that has chosen to do things differently and thought “out-of-the-box,” to differentiate yourself in the market, this is the platform for you.
URL: http://www.nasscom.in/innovation
The Chennai Fund – Call for Applications
The Chennai Chapter of TiE has members who have put together a fund, which is aimed at very early stage seed investments. The investment size per company could vary all the way from 20 Lakhs and above upto a crore or such (depending on the need of the company). They are calling in for business plans and for those who are looking to raise capital.
For more information, contact George Samson [gs@tiechennai.org], or Raghu Raghagopal [raghu.rajagopal@energeate.com]
PS: Finalists are expected to be TiE Chennai Members.
NASSCOM Product Summit
NASSCOM is conducting a Product Summit on the dates of 19th and 20th of November, 2007. Do keep an eye on their website for more information.
GreyLock Partners India – Startup Advice : Advisory Day a Month
“As you know, we have been evaluating early, growth and late stage venture capital investing opportunities at Greylock India for an year now. Having been entrepreneurs in the past, we realize that several early stage entrepreneurs or first time late stage fund raisers are looking for guidance on several fronts; but there are limited structured platforms or opportunities for these entrepreneurs to interact with an investor in informal, non-”investment pitch” mode.
Towards this, we have started an Advisory day a month program at Greylock to invite qualified entrepreneurs (qualified by trusted sources like yourself; qualified means entrepreneurs or companies you think highly of and/or are your clients/partners etc.) to pose questions they are looking for suggestions/advice on. Ganesh and I will host the sessions from our end”
Greylock is planning to do this on the 3rd or final Friday/Saturday of every month (starting Friday, September 21st). Each company will have a 25 minute slot (with 5 minute buffer time). Meetings can be in person in Bangalore/Mumbai or over the phone. Do get in touch with Ganesh at [ganesh@greylock.com] for more information and to book your timing.
It is good to see Venture Capital Firms taking an active interest in grooming companies.
Out Of the Box Conference
If you have ever seen the TED videos, or had the fortune of being there in person, you would easily grasp what OOB is about. It is about bringing in high-calibre dynamic people who can paint a bigger vision, and share their insights on various topics. From the list of speakers, the theme seems to be circling around Entrepreneurship this time.
The conference is planned to happen in Bangalore, on the dates of 14th and 15th of September. There is a registration process and fee, so do check out the website for more information.
