GAEE JMI organized the Startup Incubation Fest – STAROOM

After weeks and months of relentless preparations, the much awaited startup incubation fest organized by the Institution’s Innovation council in collaboration with GAEE JMI, commenced on 9th September, 2022. Showcasing glimpses of the significant event, The Jamia Review worked in collaboration as their media partner, with an aim to make the ideas on startups and entrepreneurship, accessible to a larger audience.

GAEE JMI is a student-led organization of Jamia Millia Islamia, which aims to advance the visions and goals of GAEE, an international NGO that promotes economic education, financial literacy, and further propagates entrepreneurial incubation among the youth.

With an aim to incubate and boost the aspirations of budding entrepreneurs, Staroom was an insightful 2-day journey which involved a profound mentorship session- Formentar, and a startup investor pitching event- Piranha Tank. With the best mentors, experts and investors on stage, ideas on startups and entrepreneurship were shared and welcomed.

FORMENTAR

The aim of the first event, Formentar, was to incubate and boost the budding and new faces of startups and entrepreneurship through a mentorship session. This interactive session was presided over by startup advisors, Mr. Kapil Kaur and Mr. Manish Johri.

With 12+ years of leadership experience in vetting scalable and investable startups and SME opportunities, Mr. Kapil Kaur is the founder of the Indian Startup Factory. Mr. Manish Johri is the Vice-President of Agility Ventures and Former Vice-President of Lead Angels. He has over 32 years of experience in the areas of fund raising and growth strategy consulting for Tech companies.

The two mentors addressed the gathering by discussing the basics and importance of startups and entrepreneurship. Addressing the significance of intention, Mr. Kaur initiated an interesting discussion on the difference between “creating wealth and creating money” in a startup company.

Further they engaged with the audience through a Q/A round within which many questions ranging from technical, hypothetical, and of moral values, were addressed. Some notable answers revolved around personal deliberation and motivation, features of a core team, execution of ideas onto actions, perspective of investors, exit strategies of a startup, and personal challenges in entrepreneurship.

PIRANHA TANK

An interesting version of Shark Tank, Piranha Tank aimed at inciting young entrepreneurs in their early stages of startups, through funding and mentorship from seasoned investors. Comprised of a screening round and a pitching event, the objective of Piranha tank was to analyze the business acuteness of startup founders.

The investors presiding the event were, Laxmi Datt Sharma, Ms. Shaan Raza, Mr. Sandro Stephen and Mr. Tarun Kumar.

The screening round involved the submission of the startup pitch summary of the participant teams. A total of 7 teams were shortlisted for the final round of the event: Azeedo, Growkheti, Spark India, Swasthamev, Alternate Dynamics, Enactus JMI, and Transcreations.

Each team pitched their startup plan to the investors in the presentation room. After each presentation, the judges cross examined the participant teams and further guided them in developing and improving their startups.

With the final vote of thanks from GAEE JMI, the fest came to a successful end.

Report by: Maryam Hassan for TJR.