The 2nd edition of Proto.in will open in exactly 8 days. It’s the event where 20 of the best startups from India (& Malaysia), selected from over 100 contenders, will get exactly 6 minutes of stage time to present to an impressive line up of Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors, Media Professionals, CEOs & Technology Influencers.
Proto.in has grown impressively in its 2nd edition. I’m not saying this just because I’m part of the organizing team. Take a look for yourself.
* The line up of VCs & Angels is one of the best I’ve seen. You must take a look at the list. It’s almost the Who’s who. If you are an entrepreneur or technologist looking for connections, you should be brain-dead to miss this opportunity.
* The event saw over 100 nominations from startups…. and this within 6 months of Proto.in’s first edition earlier this year. Many said its too early and there may not be that many startups. We’ve proved otherwise. An indication of a strong entrepreneurial growth in India. Take a look at the breakup of the nominated companies by categories.
* The event has been sold out. We can accommodate about 200 members as audience and all the seats have been sold out at least a month before the event. We had to expand by opening up the adjacent halls with live video feed, a la TED. Guess what? We sold out those extra 100 seats as well.
* We hired a professional PR agency to help us with media and its paid off. Proto.in has been covered by Red Herring, Economic Times, Business Standard, The Hindu, The Financial Express, Business Line, MoneyControl.com, IT Magazine, EFY and BusinessWorld magazine.
* We held road shows in Bangalore and Delhi. Mumbai & Pune roadshows had to be called off due to the rains. Road shows take lots of effort, time and money but judging by the turn out of entrepreneurs and media, it was worth it.
* The event is supported by leading industry bodies : TiE, NASSCOM, TeNeT, IAMAI. They have been helpful in reaching out to influential members and that’s paid very well. Connections matter and how!
* There’s definitive signs Proto.in will be a Pan-Asian event in the coming years. This time, the Malaysian government had shown interest and there are over 15 Malaysian companies that were nominated for Proto. This will only get bigger.
* Proto.in’s progress has been very well documented at the Proto Blog by the lead man, Vijay Anand. A good way to know the turn of events leading to the big day.
* And oh, the Proto.in tshirts were put up on Myntra (a nominated company) on an experimental basis and the number of Tshirts sold surprised us. We bought a few ourselves. I put them on, not withstanding my shoulder pain, so you can take a look.
