Dream2be

Six months of heady campaigning culminated in a suspense filled evening where India’s first people’s choice awards for startups, the TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards 2008, were announced on February 27, 2009. We are delighted to announce that the winners of the first-ever community-chosen awards are: activecubes solutions, Lakshya, Star AgriWarehousing and Collateral Management, takeovercode.com and The Loot.

The 5 Winners of the TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards 2008 reflect the diversity and dynamism of today’s entrepreneurial India – the winning startups cut across education, legal & IT consulting, agriculture and retail. The winners represent a unique blend of cities – with two of the five winners located in tier two cities: Patiala in Punjab and Kota in Rajasthan, thus mirroring the entrepreneurial revolution happening across India. Four of the winning startups are self-funded.

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony on Friday at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, which was attended by several successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, industry captains and professionals. Dr. J J Irani, Director, TATA Sons, presented the keynote address.

The ceremony was preceded by a series of round table discussions, which were facilitated by top industry experts to discuss the entrepreneurial challenges in current economic environment. Designed exclusively for the 30 finalists, the round table discussions were kicked off following an opening address by Ms. Naina Lal Kidwai, Group General Manager and Country Head, HSBC Group Companies in India.

Check out the pictures from the glittering award ceremony held at the Taj Mahal Hotel>>

Visit www.hotteststartups.in to know more about the awards.

Awards for Winners

The 5 winners are entitled to a host of awards, sponsored by TCS Small & Medium Business (SMB) Group, IIM-B’s N.S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), IIM A Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), Microsoft and The Gateway Hotel.

Special Awards

In keeping with the premise of the contest to provide value not just to final winners but also the shortlisted finalists, the knowledge partners of the TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards stepped forward with three ‘Special Awards’ that were handed out at the Awards ceremony. These included:

The ‘IIM Ahmedabad-CIIE Mentorship Award’' awarded to the Chennai based firm, Ennovasys.

The ‘IIM-B NSRCEL Incubatee Award’ awarded to Bangalore’s Wyn Brands, and Belgaum’s Vayavya Labs

The ‘Microsoft BizSpark Award’' awarded to the Noida based firm, ITCONS e-Solutions

About the winners:

1. activecubes solutions, a technology consulting based in Bangalore, founded in 2007, helps firms harness information to understand customers better and differentiates itself by using the power of analytics to find solutions for clients.

2. Lakshya Institute, located in Patiala, is an educational institute that focuses on test preparation. It was started by four IIT graduates to prepare class X and XII students for school and college entrance examinations. It differentiates itself through the use of interactive digital content and works with schools to eliminate the need for external coaching.

3. The Loot, is a branded apparel retail chain headquartered in Mumbai. The Loot sells branded clothing at discounted prices through out the year across its 45 stores. The company makes profits through a differentiated business model that allows it to source inventory at far lower costs than original prices, so it can sell them cheaper.

4. Star AgriWarehousing and Collateral Management, is in agriculture warehousing and is located in Kota and Jaipur. It provides end-to-end solutions in procurement, warehousing and collateral management of agricultural commodities. A process driven management approach in an unorganized industry differentiates it from its peers.

5. takeovercode.com, based in New Delhi, provides legal, financial & management consultancy. The company provides solutions to different corporate organizations through Information Technology, while helping demystify the regulatory environment.

Once again, thank you for your support in TATA NEN Hottest Startups. We look forward to the second edition of Hottest Startups next year.

Regards

Team NEN