Lakshya, activecubes solutions, StarAgri, takeovercode.com and The Loot make it to the final five
Six months of heady campaigning culminated on February 27 where India’s first people’s choice awards for startups—the TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards 2008 were announced.
Five innovative and high-potential startups made it to the top—activecubes solutions, Lakshya, Star AgriWarehousing and Collateral Management, takeovercode.com and The Loot.
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The TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards, the world’s first people’s choice awards for new startups attracted around 600 nominations, covering a wide range of sectors and geographies—with startups from over 40 cities spanning nearly 20 industry segments, making it India’s largest startup contest. For the first time the public was invited along with over 250 top experts, including distinguished entrepreneurs, investors and industry representatives, to help select the winners. The contest fired the imagination of the public, engaging over
two lakh voters in the very first year of its launch.
The five winners of the TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards 2008 reflect the diversity and dynamism of today’s entrepreneurial India, cutting across education, legal and IT consulting, agriculture and retail. In addition, the winners represent a unique blend of cities—with two of the five winners located in tier-II cities: Patiala in Punjab and Kota in Rajasthan, thus mirroring the entrepreneurial revolution happening across India. Interestingly, four of the winning startups are self funded.
The five winners are entitled to a host of awards, sponsored by TCS Small & Medium Business (SMB) Group, IIM-B’s NS Raghavan Center for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), IIM-A Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), Microsoft and The Gateway Hotel.
| Activecubes Solutions | |
| Bangalore-based activecubes solutions, founded by a team of techies with over 100 years of experience between them, is a crusader for 'intelligence technology'. Active in the business analytics space, the startup hopes its consulting, analysis and technology solutions will ring in profits for data-rich but information-poor companies. Started with a shoe-string budget in January 2007, the startup is eyeing the 100 million dollar mark in revenue in five years. | |
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In keeping with the premise of the contest, to provide value not just to final winners but also the shortlisted finalists, the knowledge partners of the TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards stepped forward with three ‘Special Awards’ that were handed out at the awards ceremony, including the ‘IIM Ahmedabad-CIIE Mentorship Award’ awarded to the Chennai-based firm, Ennovasys; the ‘IIM-B NSRCEL Incubatee Award’ awarded to Bangalore’s Wyn Brands, and Belgaum’s Vayavya Labs, and the ‘Microsoft BizSpark Award’ awarded to the Noida-based firm, ITCONS e-Solutions.
| Lakshya | |
| It all started during a trip to Goa. Four friends, lounging on a sunny beach, decided that they should get together and start something on their own. Being fresh graduates from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), and having experienced first-hand the struggles of getting into India’s most prestigious institutes, they hit upon the idea of establishing a preparatory institute for competitive exams. And Lakshya Institute was born, in small town Patiala, in 2006. Before 2006, the number of selections in IIT from Patiala was limited to four to five. In 2007, Lakshya produced 12 selections from their first batch, a never-achieved record in Patiala. In 2008, they upped their own record by producing 33 selections in IIT-Joint Entrance Examination and 115 in AIEEE, a national-level entrance examination for engineering colleges—the highest number of selections from any institute in the whole of Punjab. Growing phenomenally, with an overall growth of 348% in 2007-08, the startup has scaled up to include schools and junior classes as well. | |
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| The Loot | |
| Jay Gupta has built his business on the eight-letter magic word every shopper loves to hear—discount. A retail chain that offers upto 60% discounts on top apparels 365 days a year, The Loot has grown from a single store in 2003 to 95 stores in 35 cities as on March 2009. What works for The Loot is their differentiated business model that allows them to source inventory at far lower costs than original price stores, so it can sell them cheaper. With actor Gulshan Grover as its brand ambassador, The Loot is striving to create one of the most successful value retail formats in India. | |
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| Star Agri | |
| Four business rivals got together for a common purpose—to streamline agriculture warehousing activities in the agrarian parts of Rajasthan. Star AgriWarehousing and Collateral Management, a startup located in Kota and Jaipur provides end-to-end solutions in procurement, warehousing and collateral management of agricultural commodities. According to Amith Aggarwal, one of the co-founders, Star Agri’s mission is not only to provide complete agri-business solutions under one roof, but also to safeguard the interests of the farmers by providing modern scientific methods that ensure better farm prices. The startup, formed in 2006, has already posted a profit of Rs 1 crore in 2007-08. | |
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| Takeovercode.com | |
| The Indian legal system is unique for its plethora of laws. Breaking its complexities is takeovercode.com, a Delhi-based startup that is working hard towards demystifying the regulatory environment especially in the fields of mergers and takeovers. With the use of IT tools, entrepreneur Pavan Kumar Vijay has developed an online platform that automates the process of interpretation and determination of compliances, making preparation of lengthy documentation possible at 1/12th of the usual time. | |
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Quick snapshot
The contest was launched on August 27, 2008 with the goal of providing visibility for entrepreneurs, engaging the public and improving support for startups. The five hottest startups were chosen from among a shortlist of 30 finalists, who in turn, were selected based on a combination of expert reviews and public voting. Major partners in this initiative include Helion Ventures, Seedfund and Wadhwani Foundation. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and The Gateway Hotel provided support as special partners. Ernst & Young as the official tabulator of the awards, advised on procedures and auditing practices for the contest.
More articles on www.nenonline.org. Content provided by NEN
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