DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

Bangalore July 25th, 2012

"Behind every successful entrepreneur is a devoted wife and a surprised mother-in-law", quoted a humble and humourous K. Ganesh, CEO of TutorVista, as the crowd roared with laughter and cheered.

An hour's panel discussion with CEOs of TutorVista and Mind Tree Ltd had the attendees comprising of IBM SmartCamp finalists, startups, IBM executives and others soaking up every moment of it. The discussion on how startups could scale up while staying relevant and rooted, turned into a fun and engaging chat as K. Ganesh and Krishnakumar Natarajan touched upon the challenges one would face while building and growing one's company and of coure the ever elusive ways of keeping family (read as mother-in-law) supportive of one's cause. :)

The IBM SmartCamp 2012 kickstart event for Bangalore region was held on the 25th of July, 2012. As an on-going series of events, IBM is aiming at collaborating it's vision of a smarter planet with entrepreneurs innovating to turn it into a possibility. The SmartCamp Bangalore finalists represent a new generation of entrepreneurs whose technology and business models capitalize on the growing opportunity for businesses to optimize their resources by applying the next gen entrepreneurs' vision for a smarter planet and integrating their innovative technologies in the ecosystem.

Karthik Padmanabhan, Country Manager - ISV & Developer Relations, IBM Software Group - India/ SA believes that entrepreneurs play a critical role in addressing the needs of cities around the world. "The planet is flooded with data, and that is creating huge opportunity for startups. IBM is working with startups to equip them with the technology, skills and mentorship needed to get their solutions off the ground. Working closely with the Entrepreneurs helps us innovate better and help clients and partners solve some of society's most pressing challenges."

For two consecutive  years, IBM has been boosting entrepreneurship through its Global Entrepreneur program and Venture Capital Group mentoring smart businesses as they strive to align their vision with that of IBM and turn opportunities into accomplishments. Identifying early stage entrepreneurs globally, this program has helped to launch more than 500 new businesses in key areas such as energy, health care and transportation.

The winners of IBM Smart Camp 2012 were a Delhi based company in knowledge management space called Yonyx, Inc. The other four finalists who participated and presented their plans at SmartCamp Bangalore were:

Imagine Software Labs- world renowned augmented reality (AR) based technology enterprise that offers innovative visualization products and services which enhance the consumer experience of reality.

LinkSmart Technologies Private Limited- Bangalore based firm and of the first to have developed a new security technology, known as smartDNA.

WinHire Technologies- a break-through innovative technology product company based in Bangalore and offices in USA and Singapore.

Wifinity Tech- provides the enterprise sector with customer intelligence solutions that enable Energy Management, Physical security and Industrial/ Manufacturing execution systems.

Yonyx- will proceed to participate in the SmartCamp Global Finals where they will face-off with winners from SmartCamps in America, Asia, Europe, and Latin America

Report by Poonam Kulkarni

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