Proto.in

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The finally awaited moment is here – well, atleast the first of it. The nominations are open for companies that do want to submit their products for evaluation, out of which 20 companies will present before an esteemed audience – the creme de la crop, the movers and the shakers of the IT industry from and around India on the dates of January 18th and 19th 2008 in Chennai, India.

If you are a company that wants to make a nomination, head to the website at http://www.proto.in and click on the nominate link, on the right hand side, enter the details and hit submit. A copy of the nomination form will be mailed to you. But should you require a copy, in case, do write to me and someone from the Proto.in team will be sure to respond to you at the earliest.

As always, there is an entry fee attached to this. But you wont have to make a payment till you are confirmed to one of the 20 finalists who will be taking on the stage.That said, we also do request you to kindly make an evaluation of the product yourself, and with your peers and only submit products that are complete and ready for demonstration so as to not take the time of the organizers or have any disappointments. There is nothing that i would hate to see than for your team and company not being able to make an impact because of an unpolished demo or product which isnt able to convey the solution that you have built with such commitment.

If you do have any queries on this regard, do let me know and in the meantime, I strongly encourage you to take a visit to the site, and cruise around so that you get a good understanding of what Proto.in is about and what we are hoping that you will benefit from.

I would also, at this time, like to clarify that entering into Proto, and showcasing your product as one of the 20 might not be the only criteria for funding, as much as that is one of the activities that happens around the stage. Investor firms might decide to sit back and watch as you evolve from that snapshot on the stage to a few months before they decide to make a deal, depending on the growth that you are showing. I wanted to make sure that expectations are set right in terms of those who would be nominating.

Of the crowd that attends Proto.in, there are segments of people from the VC and Angel Investment Community, Heads of Mergers and Acquisitions, Our Friends from the Media (Print and broadcast), Executives from Large corporates and SMEs who are exploring partnerships, Professionals who are looking for prospective companies to be a part of, and pool of bloggers looking to get a glimpse of the next big thing to happen out of this region. We can assure you that it is the liveliest gathering of all your well-wishers from the ecosystem, if you are to be an entrepeneur.

There are a few other invited guests from the Industry who are to visit us this edition, from abroad and the names are yet to be revealed. We will disclose them as the days close in, so that the excitement still remains.

Thanks again for your attention and time, and I look forward to seeing you at the event. Good luck and Be in touch.

Regards,
Vijay Anand
Key Organizer – Proto.in

Hello Everyone,

So the dates for the third edition of Proto.in have been announced. They are to be held on the dates of January 18th and 19th (Friday and Saturday) of the year 2008. We have a little less than two months before we hit those dates.

Dates: January 18th, 19th 2008
Venue: Asiana Hotel
Old Mahabalipuram Road
Chennai

One of the reasons why we have gone for Friday and Saturday is that, this way more people will find it convenient to stay behind for the second day – which is the most crucial day as far as the event is concerned.

So what do we have special for this edition of the event. Well, we have booked an hotel, which probably will be exclusively at our disposal for this time. All this means one thing: Lots of space. Plenty of high class networking time and amenities. And quite a world to yourself.

We are going to be raising the bar in terms of the attendees this time. The registrations would open in a week for both the presenting companies and for the participants who want to attend the event. Do keep your eye on the blog, on the site and on this newsletter to be updated when that happens. Tentatively all will be live by November 20th, 2007. Seats are limited, so do make your booking at the earliest. There will be options to pay using your credit card, or as a Demand Draft. Registrations will be confirmed on approval for the participants – since we do want to ensure that the quality of audience is maintained as high as possible. If you can explain, or better yet, make an impression as to how you could change the life of a startup or an entrepreneur, then you’ll have no problems at all.

We do make an invitation at this time for folks from the angel and investment community to send in their confirmations as to their presence during the event so that we can make the necessary arrangements. Should you require a stay here in Chennai, we can arrange for that. But that would only be possible if you could make your confirmation at the earliest. So please do so.

I know that there are quite a few startups who are gearing to be ready for the event. The nomination forms will be ready by the 20th. Do drop me an email if you require clarifications on this aspect.

We will be considering sponsorship opportunities – since we already have a few interests in place. If you are a company which is looking at sponsoring Proto.in January Edition, do get in touch with me. We are open to having Venture capital firms as well, as our sponsors for the upcoming edition, but on one or two spots. If you would be interested, do write.

We are planning a roadtrip to the cities of Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi this time. I will be announcing the dates and agenda as we draw close and in a few days time with the overview.

As usual, this will be updated frequently with updates and latest news. The website should be updated with the contents in a day or two. So, do stay with us, and I look forward to seeing you at the venue.