Innovation Mission Punjab (IM Punjab) IMPunjab organised its first Demo Day on 8th December, where budding entrepreneurs from the first cohort of the Mohali Accelerator pitched to investors from various sectors.
The cumulative ask from the start-ups at the Demo Day was around Rs 65 crore.
The program wrapped up with a demo day dedicated to 16 product-ready stage start-ups that pitched to investors and sought funding for their businesses. The following businesses pitched to the investors.
Every start-up received interest from an average of seven investors reportedly, and January 2023 will see deal closures.
During the three-month accelerator program, start-ups will learn about scaling by leveraging technology and identifying national and global markets to create go-to-market strategies. They will also learn how to work on financial models, strategise in lowering the customer acquisition and operating costs, and learn the best ways to pitch their start-ups to investors and other stakeholders.
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Several start-ups learned how to build scalable models as per market fitment and how to pitch their start-ups to investors and other stakeholders. These included Add Veda, Cipher School, DreamBIG Edtech, Countryside Express, Enthu.AI, Innvocon Learning, Jaggercane, Manjha Technologies, Rimone Ingenious, ScratchNest, Verdant Impact, Vishwaaz.ai, Vyavsay, Terafac Tech and Pickkup.io.
Some investors present at the event included SucSEED, CIIE, Fluid Ventures, Omnivore, pi Ventures, IIML Incubators, Unicorn Venture Capital, Asha Ventures, July Ventures, LetsVenture altogether, First Cheque, Inflection, Venture Catalyst, Go North Ventures, Hunch, Ventures UNLTD, Exit Fund, OAKS, Indian Angel Network, Chandigarh Angels Network and Punjab Angels Network.
The event commenced with an IMPunjab Accelerator Program video showcase followed by a welcome note from key speakers Sibin C, IAS, Punjab’s secretary of industries and commerce, DS Brar, IMPunjab’s board of directors and Somveer Anand, CEO and Mission Director of IM Punjab.
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Commenting on the event, Pramod Bhasin, chairman of IM Punjab said, “The state of Punjab already has a burgeoning start-up ecosystem, with the finest education system, research institutions, and a highly bankable pool of talent. We have been able to support the early-stage start-ups throughout the Accelerator program by enabling them to utilise their best potential, to drive growth and leverage the ecosystem in the state.”
Having onboarded over 1100 start-ups, IM Punjab is building a start-up ecosystem by bringing investors and mentors and setting up virtual networks of incubators to support start-ups across all sectors. They concluded the event by launching the applications for the next cohort scheduled in February 2023.
IM Punjab’s Board of Directors includes former NASSCOM chairman Saurabh Srivastava, economist and author Ajay Shah, DS Brar, promoter-chairman of GVK Bio and film producer Bobby Bedi. The Mission also has former Country Head of HSBC India Naina Lal Kidwai, Softbank India’s country head Manoj Kohli, Sequoia Capital’s MD Rajan Anandan as well as Ido Arahoni, architect of Brand Israel on its Advisory Board.
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