Conquest, BITS Pilani – India’s first student-run startup accelerator, backed by HDFC Bank recently concluded with its Top 50 Mentoring Sessions in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
The Mumbai Session was held at Blume Ventures Office. The Bangalore Session was held at BHIVE Workspace and the Delhi Session was held at Investopad Office, Gurgaon.
The sessions were held on 20th May in all three cities and were attended by industry leaders including Chirag Jain, Senior Operations Manager, Uber, Ainara Kaur, Ex Head: Marketing Communication, Myntra, Ashim Jolly, Ex COO, Haptik, Harish Rawat, CMO, Zoomcar, Ashish Khushu, CTO, L&T.
Conquest, BITS Pilani in association with Accel, JetBrains, Balsamiq and InfoTech Hub, witnessed a participation of more than 600 startups from across the nation. These applications were scrutinised based on their models, sustainability, user traction and a number of other parameters by Registrations and Shortlisting Partner, LetsVenture. Following multiple rounds of application review, the top 50 startups were shortlisted for the Mentoring Sessions held in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
The startups were mentored individually by mentors in the categories of Customer Acquisition, Fundraising. Scaling Up & Operations, Product Management and Tech(UI, UX and Development). From the feedback received from the mentors and LetsVenture, Top 10 startups have been shortlisted. These startups will be invited for the Startup Accelerator Program at Bangalore.
The Top 10 shortlisted startups are:
Xwards Services Pvt Ltd: In-cab entertainment platform that brings fun-filled cab ride to commuters while enabling advertisers to promote their product to commuters.
Lazy Inc: Aina is an AI based smart ring. Itisplays the right shortcuts just before user needs it. One can take phone calls and check time right from your fingers.
Juiceworx: A first of its kind, automated beverage retail system for urban communities like offices, campuses, gyms, apartments etc.
Pencilton: Simulations to improve financial literacy using application-based and experiential learning through our products based on gamification.
TravelShelf: Dribbble for Travel Micro-Influencers. Influencers digital profile/shop showcasing their travels and digital presence.
Hyrelabs: Smart AI that deals with social profiles and CVs, allowing teams to deal with just candidates.
BuzzOpinion: A Virtual Voice Assistant for shopping, entertainment and travel recommendations. It uses AI to analyze every online opinion.
Small Spark Concepts: SCHÖRL is the patent pending technology for vehicles that ionizes the air to gain 30-50% more mileage & curbs harmful emissions up to 45%.
IMPACT: The most fun way to lose weight- get fit and transform your life in 6 weeks.
Bodhiai: AI based student score improvement platform for educational institutes that predicts future performances & gives personalized recommendations.
These top 10 startups will be invited for a one-month summer mentoring program for early age startup founders. The program will be held in Bangalore and all invited startups will get free accomodation at The Hub and working space at BHIVE Workspace. The program will include weekly mentoring lunches with success founders and investment workshops with leading investment firms including Blume Ventures, Accel Partners, Invest India, LightSpeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, Saif Partners, LetsVenture. The startups will also be onboarded on an online mentoring platform, powered by TapChief where the startups can request help anytime from the industry leaders in multiple sectors and industries.
One of the most attractive part of the program is the guaranteed investment opportunity from Startup Jalsa. Startup Jalsa has committed to offer at least INR 5L to each of the top 10 startups and a total of at least INR 1 crore in all the ten startups which are a part of the Conquest Mentoring Program. Startup Jalsa was started with the mission to aid early stage ventures become more sustainable. After three years of conducting numerous conferences and workshops, Startup Jalsa has also moved towards investing in young ventures.
The program ends with the Grand Finale scheduled on 30th June at Sheraton Grand, Bangalore where the ten startups are presented with an opportunity to pitch themselves before India’s leading investment firms and media houses. The Grand Finale is known as a star-studded networking paradise attended by the leaders of the Indian business ecosystem. Previous editions have witnessed attendance from the likes of Dr Bindu Dey, Secretary of Technology Development Board, R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM and Sanjay Nath, Managing Partner, Blume Ventures.
