BML Munjal University (BMU), a Hero Group initiative, through the Atal Community Innovation Center (ACIC) and Propel incubator at BMU organized Propel Pitchfest22, announced the results of grand finale of Propel Pitchfest22 on April 21st, 2022. The University’s objective through this fest was to be able to provide a platform for budding entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas and innovative ventures, and network with successful entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders of the start-up ecosystem.
The winning ideas were presented by BlisCare, First Helpers and Hivericks Technologies under the Product-based, Service-based and Women founded startup categories respectively. Each winning team received a cash award of INR 50,000, a seed funding of 2 Lakhs INR from Incubation at ACIC-BMU | Propel in addition to the other benefits. Along with the winners, three other runners-up namely We-Moove, Smart PAPA and AgriVijay trailed closely at the contest. Each runners-up team received a cash prize of INR 30,000 and a seed funding of INR 1 Lakh from Incubation at ACIC-BMU | Propel along with the other benefits.
The winners, runners up and the finalists won awards worth INR +15 lacs (+1.5 Mn) and an opportunity to pitch to various angel investor networks – namely Lead Angels, ah! Ventures, IAN and numerous benefits through the Passport by TheOneValley, membership to TiE Delhi etc.
This year’s Pitchfest saw a great response from 541 registrations received from 343 teams from across the country and had tracks on startups with women founders as well. The first day of Propel Pitchfest22 had the keynote address by Dr. Chintan Vaishav, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) at NITI Aayog and Mr. Vineet Rai, Founder & Chairman Aavishkaar Group.
The organizing committee also held Masterclass sessions by Mr. Sriram Sundarajan, CEO and Co-founder, Hyperstack, USA and Mr. Durjay Puri, Founder Member Delhi Chapter & Advisor – Lead Angels on topics – ‘Entry and Growth for SaaS Startups in North America’ and ‘Making Start-ups Fundable’ respectively. The first day of PitchFest also witnessed a Panel discussion on Building Successful Start-Ups with Purpose with Nupur Sarda (Co-founder of Vahdam Tea), Ariba Khan (Founder-Jumping Minds), Meghana Narayan (Founder of Slurrp Farm), Utkarsh Singh (Founder of BATX Energies). The session was moderated by Dr. Dhruv Nath, Author and Angel Investor, Director – Lead Angels.
The first day of Pitchfest22 had a fireside conversation with Rahul Garg, CEO & Founder Moglix, who spoke about how there is no age bar to explore entrepreneurship instead the question should always be what is the problem that you are solving. He further mentioned now being the right time for India as we are having an opportunity to play far bigger roles in the global supply chain and building technology and manufacturing solutions for consumers.
The budding startups were also provided with the opportunity of individual networking sessions with investors and legal experts. The eminent jury for Propel in the Panel 1 for Product and Service based start-up tracks consisted of Manish Johari (Senior Vice President Lead Angels), Sandro Stephen (Vice President Indian Angel Network), LV Sastry (Board Advisor & CXO Mentor Internet Start-Ups), Shantanu Chaturvedi (iCreate Head CoE-Ev). The Jury for Panel 2 for the Women Founder based start-up track consisted of Kruti Raiyani from Lead Angels, Upasana from TiE Delhi NCR and Manglesh Yadav from AIM. Every startup idea that was presented was judged based on innovation, creativity, originality and challenge it set-out to solve.
Congratulating the winners Prof. Manoj K Arora, Vice Chancellor, BML Munjal University said, “It gives us immense pleasure on successfully hosting the Propel Pitchfest22 at BMU. The faculty and students have come together for this year’s pitchfest and the response was incredible that we have received from the start-up ecosystem. I congratulate all the winners for their stupendous performance. We shall continue to provide a platform for students so that more such new ideas emerge and get an opportunity to become a reality in the days to come.”
About Propel Incubator @ BML Munjal University
Propel Incubator @ BML Munjal University has been established to encourage and support the aspiring entrepreneurs in their pursuit of innovative solutions and develop entrepreneurship among the students through its programs and activities. Propel provides regular interaction, mentoring and training with successful entrepreneurs, angel investors and industry experts. There would be regular competitions (ideathons, pitching etc.). The student teams would be nurtured to form ventures and would be provided with the support to grow and gain funding.
About BML Munjal University
Named after the late Founder Chairman of the Hero Group, BML Munjal University (BMU) is a state-private university founded by the promoters of the Hero Group. BMU is mentored by Imperial College London and is engaged in creating, preserving, and imparting internationally benchmarked knowledge and skills. The university seeks to transform higher education in India by creating a world-class innovative teaching, learning, and research environment across Schools spanning the disciplines of law, management, economics, commerce, and engineering. The School of Management at BML Munjal University has been ranked 41st among all management institutions All India in the NIRF Rankings 2021.
The university offers undergraduate to doctoral programmes comprising B.Tech, BA (Hons) in Economics, BBA, BCom (Hons), BA LLB (Hons), BSc Computer Science, LLB (Hons), BBA LLB (Hons), BBA, Integrated BBA-MBA at the undergraduate level and MBA, and PhD at the post-graduate level.
For more information log in to www.bmu.edu.in.