The Winners Of The Challenge Will Be Awarded $20K Cash Prize, Apart From Access Many Other Benefits
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The 22nd Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) has announced the finalists of the Yes Bank – Wharton India Startup challenge. Originally announced in August this year, the contest offers up-and-coming Indian startups a platform to interact and connect with investors and industry stalwarts from the Indian startup ecosystem.
In the startup challenge, top 10 finalists will compete for $20,000 in prizes, a chance to be crowned with the Judges Award and People’s Choice Award, and more.
The startup challenge jury will include people like – Rehan Yar Khan (Managing Partner, Orios Venture Partners), Sandeep Murthy (Partner, Lightbox Ventures), Shivani Bhasin Sachdeva (MD & CEO, India Alternatives), Karan Mohla (Executive Director, IDG Ventures India), Preeti Sinha (Senior President and Global Convenor, YES INSTITUTE at Yes Bank Limited), Vishal Khare (Director, Enterprise, Citrix India and Angel Investor).
The competition will also feature a Startup Exhibit, which will host the top 10 finalists as well as 10 additional high-calibre startups that have demonstrated tremendous potential. All exhibitors will have also have access to WeWork India co-working space, fundraising services from LetsVenture and Baytree, and more.
The Top 10 Finalist Of Wharton India Startup Challenge 2017
Draft Spotting Technologies: The company operates SpotDraft, an AI-driven end-to-end contract lifecycle management platform launched in January 2017 by Harvard Law School graduate Shashank Bijapur and Madhav Bhagat. SpotDraft’s technology is currently aimed at small businesses and freelancers to help them draft solid contracts, send automated invoices and payment reminders. The AI platform also allows customers to read through contracts, organise, manage and analyse them.
Eduvanz Financing: The startup’s mission is to make education universally accessible by providing easy, transparent and speedy financial assistance using innovative technology solution. The startup is currently based in Mumbai and the founders are Atul Sashittal and Varun Chopra.
Perpule: Perpule’s 1Pay is a self -checkout app for express checkouts and easy payments in Perpule’s partnered stores like Hypercity, Spar etc. Customers can scan barcodes, create a cart and pay online seamlessly in the app to skip queues. Founded in 2016, the startup is currently based in Bengaluru and was founded by Abhinav Pathak, Yogesh Ghaturle, and Saketh BSV.
PlexusMD:
The Other 10 Startups Which Will Be Exhibiting
Niramai:
Ware Now Services: The startup connects businesses in need of warehousing solutions with facilities that have space available. Founded by three classmates from IIT-BHU, Rahul Raj, Aditya Goel and Arvind Jain, the company aims to help businesses of all sizes streamline their supply chain and reduce their warehousing costs.
Maximl Labs: The company has a goal to empower industries with next generation technologies in order to bring breakth
Luharia Technologies Pvt. Ltd: Based in Hyderabad, Luharia Technologies owns and operates peer-to-peer platforms for businesses and individuals. Founded by ISB alumni Keerthi Kumar Jain, Luharia’s flagship solution is Vote4Edu, which is an online peer-to-peer lending platform for K-12 education loans. The company also runs Vote4Cash, a P2P marketplace where borrowers can avail cash loans. Machine Bank, an infrastructure ecommerce platform, and P2P lending platform SMEBank are also owned by Luharia Group.
The Wharton Indian Challenge: The Journey Till Now
Founded in 1996, the Wharton India Economic Forum, is an annual conference hosted by the students of Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. It is a global business forum focussed on understanding and engaging with India’s startup landscape.
It has historically attracted a host of speakers ranging from President APJ Abdul Kalam, to industrialists such as Mukesh Ambani, to investors such as George Soros. One of the objectives of the contest is to provide support to aspiring entrepreneurs by offering them a global platform to showcase their grand ideas and raise funding from leading investors.
- 2017: CropIn Technology Solutions, Detect Technologies(Grand Prize Winner), HELPUSGREEN(People’s Choice Award),GreedyGame, Ftcash, Eckovation Solutions, Karma Healthcare, MyEasyDocs, and Nonspec Inc
- 2016: Ketto (Grand Prize Winner), Kheyti (People’s Choice Award), Pratilipi (Powerhouse Winner), Trebene (Powerhouse Runners Up), Acuity, FRS Labs, Greensole, LoanMeet, iFreedom, and Art & Found.
- 2015: Flintobox, PosterGully, Babychakra, Haptik, Leova, Simpa Networks, Jiffstore, Mr. Hot Foods, Smart Paddle, and Pratilipi.
Powered and supported by companies like RBC, JBM Group, Prodigy Finance, the final round of the Wharton India Startup Challenge will be held in Mumbai on January 5, 2017.
Some of the speakers and panelists for the event will include Ajay Piramal (Chairman, Piramal group), Dalip Sehgal (Former MD, Godrej Consumer Products), Kishore Biyani (CEO, Future Group), Shehnaz Gill (Head of Operations, Coca-Cola), Gopal Sarma (Partner, Bain & Company), Falguni Nayar (Founder and CEO, Nykaa), Greg Moran (Co-founder, Zoomcar), and many more. You can buy tickets here.
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