Start-ups get a thumbs up at IIT fest

At a time when receiving funds for a start-up is difficult, seven budding entrepreneurs have received a positive funding response from investors at ‘Investor Pitch’. Around 15 shortlisted teams pitched their plans before a panel of venture capitalists during the Entrepreneurship Summit, organised by the Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) of IIT Mumbai, on Saturday.

“Investors have shown interest for funding seven teams and the panel has agreed to mentor all 15 teams,” said Paras Jain, in-charge of Investor Pitch.

 Dux Soft, which provides end-to-end solutions for animation, visual effects and the gaming industry, is one of the start-ups marked out for funding. “We want to grow and focus towards other digital industries and expand globally. So capital is crucial,” said Devang Parikh, operations manager at Dux Soft.

Also held at the event was the final of a business plan competition, Eureka, which gave young entrepreneurs the chance to fine-tune their ideas. The first three winners were Empower, Acceptor, and Deltaclimate.

Bhavna Bahri and Samarth Mungali, students of National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad), who won the second position at Eureka, said the competition helped them brush up their finance skills.

The three teams will now represent India at the Intel B-Plan competition at University of California, Berkeley, US, said Cyrus Vesvikar, media manager at E-Cell.
The summit also gave 12 innovative start-ups the opportunity to network and get feedback through “start-up showcasing”.