BENGALURU,12 December 2022: In a first-of-its-kind effort by any state government, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), in association with TiE Bangalore, began a special bus yatra today—titled the Start-up XPRESS—from Bengaluru in preparation for the TiE Global Summit (TGS) 2022. The trip brings together start-up founders and mentors/investors in a 12-hour journey that will end in TGS’ host city, Hyderabad.
25 start-up founders have been joined by 25 investors/mentors who will be closely networking and interacting with them to finetune their eventual pitches at the showcase event. The bus ride will provide the founders ample opportunity to hold detailed discussions with some of the start-up industry’s finest leaders and entrepreneurs in a unique, fun environment. Over the course of the trip, founders will undergo peer learning and pitch development activities and receive feedback on their proposals, helping them refine their overall strategies and product pitches at the summit.
Mentors, investors and startups on the bus include from following companies
July Ventures Kmart Australia Proofile.in CITYX Super App
Nay.ai Gannet Academy Pencilinteriors INFOPACE
Innovation Scaleup Advisors Pi Square Suzhiyam – Kidvento
Advisors Technologies ResponsiveB ISBR
10xGrowth Ideaspring Capital Vrddhi SILE.ai
SCMNOW Krishikalpa GiGa Innovation
Bhogaraju Foods Foundation Dhiyo.ai
among others, alongside TiE and KDEM teams.
B V Naidu, Chairman KDEM & Madan Padaki, President of TiE Bangalore flagged of the journey today from Bengaluru. The bus will make stops at Tumkur and Bellary—two emerging start-up clusters—to encourage the ecosystems and shed light on the benefits these regions can expect with future investments. The bus’s residents will be met by academicians, business influencers, researchers, incubators, and the student community in another exchange of ideas and knowledge and a display of the state’s start-up prowess.
BV Naidu, Chairman of Karnataka Digital Economy Mission said, “We’ve incorporated over 400 start-ups through the Beyond Bengaluru start-up grid in our vision of deepening the link between start-ups/ESDM/GCC and talent in these regions. And we expect to double that number by the end of the financial year. Our focus remains on making significant contributions towards realising a 300-billion-dollar contribution to the digital economy, primarily through an innovation and technology start-up ecosystem that generates employment, improves market access, and allows for infrastructure upgrades and policy implementation. The Start-up XPRESS is a microcosm of our attitude and will play a small but influential part in the bigger voyage that we’re undertaking.”
This year’s TiE Global Summit is being held between 12 and 14 December in Hyderabad. The event will host eminent entrepreneurs and leaders and features mentoring sessions, marquee keynotes, roundtables, masterclasses, and showcases covering several topics and focus areas. KDEM will have a pavilion at the summit, highlighting the state’s start-up growth through clusters outside Bengaluru, the opportunities achieved in the recent past, and the potential for investors to connect with Karnataka’s favourable markets.
BV Naidu, Chairman of Karnataka Digital Economy Mission, elaborated on KDEM’s role in developing the state’s start-ups: “KDEM aims to empower organic growth across cities and build on it by forming a supportive ecosystem where different communities come together to raise the state’s profile through investments in technology and business. Start-ups are a critical component of this plan: We are continuously assessing opportunities for promising entrepreneurs and companies to exploit the manufacturing, IT, educational, and industrial strengths of emerging clusters. We’ve leveraged cyber security, ESDM, and AI/VR for Mysuru, fintech for Mangalore, and agritech, edtech, and Industry 4.0 for Hubballi. We’ve also facilitated vital investments in these regions and have recently launched the Karnataka Skill Connect Portal to improve the industry-academia coalition. The portal will help start-ups address gaps and connect them with suitable personnel across the demand-supply chain.”
Madan Padaki, President of TiE Bangalore, spoke about his expectations of the bus yatra and said, “TiE Global Summit is like the kumbh-mela for entrepreneurs, and this is the first time that we are organizing this Start-up Xpress as a concept. The response to the bus trip has been fantastic from both ends of the spectrum. The founders are looking ahead to rich, insightful conversations with some of the best mentors in the industry. Our mentors, in turn, have expressed their enthusiasm at meeting the next wave of start-up talent. We believe the journey will inform, educate, and open new ideas, not just for the founders but for the ones lending their expertise, too, while leaving a similar effect on the two clusters along the way.”