FLAME University's Entrepreneurship Centre all Set to Catalyze the Indian Startup Ecosystem

PUNE, India, February 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

• BLAZE- Igniting Ideas, its flagship start-up summit brings together a stellar group of successful entrepreneurs, Investors and business leaders to support deserving start-ups 
• Invites applications from start-ups with less than five lakhs revenue seeking to fund and scale their ventures  
• Announces business competition to incentivize students with game changing ideas to pursue entrepreneurship as a career choice 

FLAME University, the pioneer of liberal education in India, will bring together a stellar group of successful entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders at BLAZE- its flagship start-up summit on March 1-2, 2019 at its campus in Pune. Designed with the aim of supporting and growing start-ups, the summit will be led by Darshan Doshi, Director of the FLAME Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (FCEI).

     (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/522127/FLAME_University_logo_Logo.jpg )

Making the announcement, Professor Dishan Kamdar, Vice Chancellor, FLAME University, said, "BLAZE is an initiative by FCEI at FLAME that envisions to bring together thought leaders, entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders on a common platform to support deserving entrepreneurs. We will provide them the opportunity and incentive to reach their potential and hope that they build ventures that will create jobs and wealth in the future." 

The theme of BLAZE is to understand the challenges faced by innovators and startups in their journey to scale through workshops, talks and panel discussions with trailblazers in this space and give aspiring entrepreneurs an opportunity to grow through the new venture competition. As a part of this, FCEI will select 15 truly amazing new ventures and business ideas from applicants across India to present their business-pitch to an 'Investor Panel', comprising of eminent names from the industry and the start-up world.

Outlining the value-add that BLAZE will provide to start-ups and idea stage ventures, Darshan Doshi, Director of FLAME Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (FCEI) at FLAME, said, "BLAZE will play the role of a catalyst in accelerating the growth of entrepreneurship across the country. What differentiates BLAZE is that it offers a multifold ROI to the promising ideas and selected ventures. We will partner with the entrepreneurs to identify their growth areas, solve their challenges and hand-hold them till they are ready to go to market. We will also connect them with prospective customers and Investors for potential funding support and provide them the much needed boost to grow and scale their ventures confidently."

The agenda for the two-day summit and the speakers who are expected to speak at the summit is as follows:

Friday March 1, 2019 (1pm - 8pm) 

• Opening address by Dr. Dishan Kamdar, Vice Chancellor, FLAME University
• 'Startup Opportunities from the eye of an investor' by Pranav Pai, Partner 3one4 Capital
• 'Scaling & Exiting a Fintech Startup' by Patanjali Somayaji, CTO, Capital Float and Co-founder, Walnut App
• Investor Panel Discussion: 'What Investors want to see in Startups' with Pranav Pai, Vaibhav Domkumdwar, Sachin Oswal, Abhishek Prasad

DEMO Day - Eight Early-stage startups Pitch to Investors 

• 'Building a Brand in India' by Riya Shah, founder, The Quick Wok
• 'Indian Startup Ecosystem: Deriving benefits from events, incubators, accelerators' workshop by Praveen Dorna, Co-founder, StartupByte
• Product Showcase - Student Exhibits across FLAME Campus

Saturday March 2, 2019 (9am - 6pm) 

• 'How to Build Scalable Global Startups from India' by Tarun Davda, Partner & MD, Matrix Partners
• 'RealLives to Real Life - Training Youth in Empathy, Sustainable Development & Change making' by Dr. Parag Mankeekar, Ashoka Fellow, Leader - RealLives Global Scaling, Founder Director - NeetiMr. Bennychan Solutions, Founder - YoungChangeMakers Conference
• 'Enterprise AI Landscape and Data Science General Practices' by Rohit Pandharkar, Head of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Mahindra Group

BLAZE New Venture Competition - 15 Selected Startups Pitch to Investors 

• 'Changing Global Trends in Media Consumption' by Tapas Sen, Co-founder & CPO RadioMirchi
• 'Working with Legends in the Indian Music Industry' by Shameer Tandon, Founder, Music Boutique
• 'Should I Startup | Succeed not Fail' workshop by Vikas Kumar, serial entrepreneur, investor and founder, LoanTap

Key Initiatives at BLAZE - Igniting Ideas: 

• New Venture Competition - Startups with less than INR 5 lacs in annual revenue as well as game-changing new business ideas from students from universities, technical and management schools across India are eligible to apply before February 22, 2019. Top three winners will receive INR 85,000 in cash prizes while 15 startups selected to pitch to the investors will receive an opportunity to incubate their ideas at the FLAME Incubator Program to achieve next stage of growth. New Venture Competition Application Link: https://www.flame.edu.in/research/centres/centre-for-entrepreneurship-innovation/blaze-igniting-ideas 
• FLAME Origins Program Demo Day - FCEI's startup accelerator initiative, the FLAME Origins Program, has accelerated eight early stage startups across India over the last five months. These startups will make their business pitch to prominent angel investors and venture capitalists.
• Product Showcase - Over 30 FLAME entrepreneurship undergraduate and postgraduate student groups will display a range of products created over this academic year.
• Workshops, Speakers and Networking - Aspiring entrepreneurs and students can attend the two-day event for free upon registration and get the opportunity to network with prominent business leaders, investors, entrepreneurs and talented students. Individuals interested to attend BLAZE startup summit can register here: https://www.townscript.com/e/blaze-igniting-minds-204341

About the FLAME Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (FCEI):

The vision of FCEI is to build an 'entrepreneurial village' that helps talented individuals launch and scale successful ventures. FCEI runs multiple initiatives to meet the need of various stages of venture growth. 

• FLAME Origins Program is a startup accelerator program that helps early stage startups scale up through a structured mentorship program over 5 months 
• FLAME PathBlazers is a series of workshops and talk where we invite entrepreneurs, business leaders and investors who have positively impacted the world
• FLAME Incubator Program helps idea stage or product ready startups achieve next stage of growth over 6 months

FLAME BLAZE is the flagship startup summit that brings together the Indian startup ecosystem. 

About FLAME UNIVERSITY: 

FLAME University is the pioneer of liberal education in the country. It aspires to be the most reputed and respected university in India and among the top-ranked universities across the world. FLAME envisions itself to be the University of Choice for students, faculty, industry, academia, government and the larger community by creating an impact through its teaching and research. Since its inception, FLAME has been successful in setting benchmarks - unparalleled education experience with its best faculty- student ratio, faculty with great global credentials, association with some of the top international universities, close industry connect, support of an illustrious Board, and creating a strong alumni network. All these are ably supported through the world - class infrastructure and facilities nestled in a picturesque 60 acre green and sustainable campus situated in a valley in Pune.  

FLAME University has been established as a state private university vide the FLAME University Act 2014 (Maharashtra Act No. II of 2015) of the Government of Maharashtra. The University is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under Section 2(f), and degrees awarded by the University are recognized under Section 22 of the UGC Act, 1956. Through its four schools-FLAME School of Liberal Education, FLAME School of Business, FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of Fine & Performing Arts-the institution is committed to develop individuals who value creativity, innovation, determination and enterprise.

For more information log on to: http://www.flame.edu.in