Nasscom 10k Start-Ups to take 39 tech startups to Silicon Valley

Aimed at evangelizing and mentoring India’s burgeoning start-up ecosystem, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) is set to host the second edition of NASSCOM Innotrek 2015.

With 39 start-ups selected for this year’s edition, the program aims to provide this group of Indian technology entrepreneurs and founders, an opportunity to get encouraged through workshops, networking sessions, investor panels, expert roundtables and corporate briefings with subject matter experts and global veterans.

“InnoTrek initiative has received a very encouraging response from both – the participants and the industry – for promoting entrepreneurship, and providing learning and networking platform for the participants. The shortlisted will also have the opportunity to learn important lessons on scaling up globally and forge relationships to give them a competitive advantage,” said the official release.

Starting May 11th 2015, the program will provide insights into the booming technology markets along with networking opportunities with Silicon Valley investors, entrepreneurs and service providers. It will showcase 38 promising early stage tech start-ups from India working through diverse domains like ad-tech, mobility, big data analytics, SAAS, etc. The focus this year will be on practitioners networking and peer to peer interaction which will enable start-ups to learn from their counterparts in the valley.

On Innotrek Delegation visit, Ravi Gururaj, Chair, NASSCOM Product Council, said, “The U.S. is a large unified market with a single language and a single culture, which allows companies to grow big before they can start thinking of international expansion. Building on our event last year, we are excited to take 40 very promising and innovative start-ups to the Silicon Valley. We want to give them the exposure that will help them not only ‘think scale, but think global.”

Rajat Tandon, Sr. Director, NASSCOM 10,000 Startups added, “To win big, I need to move to Silicon Valley’. I’ve heard this American Dream from entrepreneurs. Valley, is yes the globe’s tech mecca and with InnoTrek our objective is to deep dive into the SV (Silicon Valley) experience for startups and build back in India, since it’s better to be there, where your customers are.”
On the agenda for the week-long trek are workshops, accelerator visits, expert panels and roundtables on growth hacking, consumer and mobile web, and fund raising tips with successful US entrepreneurs, and investors.

Entrepreneurs will also get to have a direct first-hand interaction with reputed seed accelerators like 500 Startups, Spinta Accelerator, and YCombinator that have an impressive portfolio of companies that they have invested in and accelerated from across the world. Delegation will also be attending the globally renowned TiECon.

A complete day is for campus visits to the corporate offices of global tech giants like Google, LinkedIn and Facebook followed by a Shark Tank where these start-ups will get the opportunity to pitch to valley investors. Innotrek will conclude with the visit to Maker Faire, to "celebrate arts, crafts, science projects, engineering and the Do-It-Yourself mindset”, basically to encourage out-of-the-box thinking, which is critical for entrepreneurs.