TiE program gives boost to 13 Pune startups

6/7/2020

PUNE: TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Pune, a non-profit global network that fosters entrepreneurship, recently held the 8th graduation ceremony of its successful Nurture Accelerator program.

This 9 month long structured mentoring program is provided free to start-ups. The participants also attend several workshops and boot camps and are exposed to the very best angel networks and VC’s that support young start-ups. Last year, more than 400 Startups from Pune, Surat, Nagpur, Hubli and other places had applied for the program.

This year, the program was virtual and was held digitally, with live-streaming on Facebook. As part of the Nurture Accelerator 8.0 program, 50 Companies were at the heart of TiE Pune's contribution. The rigorous and methodical selection process finally culminated in the selection of 13 Start- ups across Maharashtra and Western India. These 13 companies were awarded graduation certificates after successful completion of  program. This year’s program was held in association with Hubli, Nagpur and Surat chapters of TiE.

TiE Pune President- Ravi Nigam, shared his vision on the importance of strategy, not distracting for opportunism, making the right choices, and the sheer joy of entrepreneurship. He also opined that one needs to face challenges squarely, and hustle is the name of the game during one's entrepreneurial journey.

Nurture Program Chair, Jitendra Tanna, emphasized the four key pillars of the program - Globality, Strategy, Leadership and Ethics. He also appealed to all mentee companies to continue to be a part of the Nurture alumni and keep the Mentor – Mentee engagements alive. He urged them to help TiE in achieving its objective of “Fostering Entrepreneurship”. 

Industry leaders, Supam Maheshwari (Co-Founder & CEO at FirstCry.com) and  Venk Shukla (Past President of TiE Silicon Valley and Chairman of TiE Global, General Partner of venture fund Monta Vista Capital) were also present on the occasion. Supam Maheshwari  shared  pertinent  facts from his corporate journey. He emphasized how important it was to stay focused and never give up in the pursuit of your goal, despite challenges or periods of dejection. Venk Shukla delivered a highly motivating and inspiring speech. 

All 13 mentee companies presented their business with amazing zeal and enthusiasm during the Nurture Mentee companies presentation pitch session. The highlight of this pitch presentation was that two companies could generate interest in the investment community in less than 24 hours and currently the process of discussing potential investment is underway. 

Nurture 8.0 Mentees Mr. Siddharth Pujari, MD & CEO at Sendriya Jeevan and Ms. Surbhi Saxena Madhwani, Co-Founder of WooHoo Screens, recounted their experiences and the value they had derived from this program.