Public invited to ‘Weekend @ Startup Village’

TechnoparkToday.com>>  July 26: Startup Village is opening its doors to the public on Sunday (July 28) as part of its celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit that has helped the project become one of India’s best regarded business incubators in just 15 months of its inception.

Weekend @ Startup Village is a two-day flagship event hosted by the country’s first telecom technology business incubator featuring workshops and pitch sessions for aspiring entrepreneurs, networking opportunities, a chance for the general public to experience telecom technology and entertainment programmes.

The event will kick off on Saturday (July 27) morning with a series of workshops for student entrepreneurs on a range of topics relevant to nascent businesses – from design and coding to intellectual property and financing – from 11 am to 1pm. Later in the afternoon, the young entrepreneurs will get an opportunity to pitch their ideas to the Startup Village’s community of angel investors for funding. From 7pm to 9pm some of India’s leading entrepreneurs will share the stories of their failures and successes.

The event will be open to the public on Sunday from 11am to 2pm, and dignitaries at the celebrations will include Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy, Hon’ble Minister for Industries and IT Shri P K Kunhalikutty, and Infosys co-founder and Chief Mentor of Startup Village Shri Kris Gopalakrishnan.

Startup Village will also introduce three new initiatives on Sunday – the Startup Village People Network, the 1K Developer Programme and the Experience Zone. The People Network is aimed at bringing together mentors to support companies incubated at the Startup Village. The Developer Programme is a platform designed to provide 1,000 interested student developers a chance to gain exposure to the latest technology.

As part of the event, Startup Village is also launching an Experience Zone for the public, enabling them to see and experience the latest developments in technology. It will open at 11 am on Sunday. People interested in visiting the zone may inform Startup Village in advance by sending an email to [email protected].

“We want people to come and see the entrepreneurial culture at Startup Village for themselves and understand the technology that drives their smartphones and other electronic devices,” said Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman of the Startup Village Board of Governors. “We hope it will make some of the younger visitors curious about technology and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

Startup Village CEO Sijo Kuruvila George said the weekend event will be first-of-its-kind platform to bring all stakeholders together over the weekend to express solidarity with the entrepreneurial community and to support Startup Village in its efforts to build a powerful entrepreneurial eco-system.