Tech Rocketship Award 2016: Chennai battle
Chennai hosts a battle between young entrepreneurs to win an all expenses paid business trip to UK to get their companies on global fast track.
Tech Rocketship Award 2016
The event will be in front of a live audience of ICT professionals and an expert panel of judges. Tech Rocketship Award 2016 was launched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and has seen a staggering 600 tech companies and 50 entrepreneurs compete across 4 cities for a spot in the final top 10.
British Deputy High Commissioner Chennai, Bharat Joshi said:
The UK is third in the Global Innovation Index and boasts the world’s most diverse startup ecosystem. London is the digital capital of the world. Startup formation in the UK increased by 4.6% last year with 608100 new businesses started in 2015. I’m looking forward to an exciting and challenging exchange with some of India’s best up and coming tech entrepreneurs, with the 10 best companies securing first class seats on the UK Rocketship to launch their businesses internationally with a UK Royal stamp of approval. I’m also looking forward to engaging with Chennai’s NextGen talent pool who, I hope, will be future competitors for this unique competition.
The 9 companies who will participate in the pitching round in Chennai are:
- Daniel Raj David, DeTect Technologies
- Sriram Gopal, Future Farms
- Tanuj Jhunjhunwala, Planys Technologies Pvt Ltd
- Harit Soni, Ecolibrium Energy
- Bala Bhaskar, Genius Edu Labs Pvt Ltd
- Paul Alex, Hound Electric
- Vaishali Nepotia, Merxius Software
- Arun Thomas, Green India Building Systems & Services Pvt Ltd (GIBSS)
- Sneha Priya, SP Robotic Works Pvt Ltd
Further information
| Date | Time | Venue |
| 26 August 2016 | 1000 – 1230 hrs | Gatsby 2000, Crowne Plaza Adyar Park Chennai |
The panel of judges are:
- Sameer Mehta Angel Investor & Director, Dr Mehta’s Hospitals
- Alpesh Patel, DIT India Dealmaker, Global Entrepreneur Programme
- Bharat Joshi, British Deputy High Commissioner Chennai
- Padmaja Ruparel, President, Indian Angel Network
- Padma Chandrasekaran, Angel Investor
The contest is part of the Tech Rocketship Awards 2016-17, an initiative by the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) aimed at identifying India’s top young entrepreneurs and providing them with expert business advice and support to help them go global by investing in the UK. The duration of each pitch will be 6 minutes followed by a 4 minute session on audience voting and Q&A.
The contest helps India’s top young entrepreneurs raise their profile with UK and Indian investors. The most promising ten win a week-long business trip to the UK. They will experience the UK’s world-leading tech environment first-hand, meet UK venture capitalists, mentors, entrepreneurs and incubators, as well as experts from DIT and professional services firms who will guide them on how to establish a firm footing abroad.
This year’s awards were launched in April by Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at a high profile business event in Mumbai. 37 young entrepreneurs have been shortlisted from over 600 quality applications.
One winner will be selected from each of five categories – cleantech, edtech, fintech, medtech and smart manufacturing - and a further five winners will be selected in the ‘Judges’ Awards’ section, from any sector. The final 10 winners will be announced at the India-UK TECH Summit in New Delhi, in November 2016. The competition is a GREAT for Collaboration initiative, seeking to form a lasting partnership between India’s fast-growing start-ups and UK financing and support for entrepreneurs.
Our partners are:
- YourStory
- Indian Angel Network
- British Airways
- Social
- iSpirit
For media queries please contact:
Anita Mawdsley
Press and Public Affairs Officer
British Deputy High Commission, Chennai
Ph: +91-96001-99956
Mail to: Anita Mawdsley(mailto:anita.mawdsley@fco.gov.uk)
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