HYDERABAD: The GES Catalyst Pitch Competition (GIST) had an unusual visitor on Wednesday. White House Adviser Ivanka Trump stopped by at the exhibition hall to witness the live competition herself. The event began a little after 10 am and the competitors’ pitches did not disappoint the audience.Six of the 24 semi-finalists took the stage to convince a panel of five investors —representing leading technology firms like Google, Amazon and Cognizant— about their cutting-edge offerings and why they need mentoring and capital assistance.
“The mood quotient is lively, and just what is needed to encourage youngsters to get going. This infectious enthusiasm was what was lacking a few years ago,” Adhil Shetty, CEO, Bank Bazaar told Express. Shetty, an entrepreneur himself, has established a successful startup and has recently raised $30 million from Experian. The 24 startups out of 75 that made it to the semifinals at GES 2017, are competing for $400,000 prize money. There are six semifinalists for each for the four focus industries namely healthcare and life sciences, digital economy and financial technology, energy and infrastructure and media and entertainment.
The GIST Catalyst pitch competition includes startups from India, the US and other countries.
Teams will also learn how to pitch their business ideas to investors and potential partners— a critical skill for entrepreneurs. “I’m excited to make it to the next level and gives me a vote of confidence for my venture,” said Jainesh Sinha, COO & Co-Founder, GyanDhan, an online market place for student loans. Meanwhile, K T Rama Rao, IT Minister, Government of Telangana announced the 10 Indian startups shortlisted for ride-sharing platform Uber’s ‘UberExchange programme.
Winners will be awarded an all-expense-paid trip to San Francisco, Uber’s headquarters and also get an opportunity to meet potential investors as well as Uber’s executive leadership team. “We launched the program in partnership with T-hub last year to support the Prime Minister’s Startup India vision. Since then, we have had the opportunity to mentor over 150 startups and be a part of their entrepreneurial journey,” said Amit Jain, President, Uber India & SA. The finalists have been chosen through a selection process anchored by T-Hub, Telangana’s flagship startup incubator and accelerator.
How a teen girl generates power from rainwater
Reyhan Camalova is a class-9 girl from Azerbaijan, who carries a visiting card with her and rightly so. She is the CEO of RainEnergy, a startup that harvests energy from rainwater. She was one of the few women named by Advisor to US President, Ivanka Trump in her inaugural speech. “If solar and wind energy can be harnessed, I thought why can’t rain be used, My father is a doctor who is also interested in engineering. He is the inspiration for my interest dwelling deeper into the concept of harvesting energy from rainwater using engineering concepts,” she says.
How a teen girl generates power from rainwater
Reyhan Camalova is a class-9 girl from Azerbaijan, who carries a visiting card with her and rightly so. She is the CEO of RainEnergy, a startup that harvests energy from rainwater. She was one of the few women named by Advisor to US President, Ivanka Trump in her inaugural speech. “If solar and wind energy can be harnessed, I thought why can’t rain be used, My father is a doctor who is also interested in engineering. He is the inspiration for my interest dwelling deeper into the concept of harvesting energy from rainwater using engineering concepts,” she says.
Techie designs ‘Polludrone’ to keep tab on pollution level
A city cannot be tagged as a ‘smart city’ until it keeps a tab on environmental parameters to keep pollution levels under control. This is what prodded Ankit Vyas, a mechanical engineer to set up the startup—Oizom. He has developed a small device named ‘Polludrone’ which can be designed as per requirement to detect various pollutants depending on the need. The usage of his device ranges from odour detection and management. It is already being used on pilot basis at three cities in India.
Journalists miffed at ‘glacial’ WiFi spped at venue
Ironically for a summit that brought together best of technology experts from across the world, the Wi-Fi provided at the venue was incredibly slow leading to complaints from delegates and journalists. The entire event was being covered live by Indian and international journalists on digital, social and traditional media channels. But the poor internet network became a hinderance to the coverage. Not surprisingly, Annie Gowen, a India Bureau Chief of The Washington Post, Tweeted on first day of GES, “”Cyberabad”? Pffft. Wifi @GES2017 is glacially slow.”