KOCHI: Around 10 top venture capitalists and angel investors in the country will have a direct one-to-one with selected startup entrepreneurs during the second edition of the National Deeptech Startup Conclave, Hardtech' 19. The two-day event is being organised by Maker Village and will be held at the Technology Innovation Zone, Kinfra Hi-Tech Park, Kalamassery on April 5 and 6.
According to Maker Village CEO Prasad Balakrishnan Nair, top academicians from the country and abroad will give keynote speeches on various aspects of the entrepreneurial journey with a special focus on the sustainability and social perspectives. "A major highlight of the event will be the life stories from some of the most successful start-up entrepreneurs the country has produced.
The session will see the start-up founders charting a course for the newbies and bring to them a picture of their excruciating journey towards success," he said.“This the biggest hardware start-up conclave in India in which more than 50 speakers from various countries including India are participating, it will also have focused parallel sessions on key drivers for creating a vibrant start-up ecosystem," he said. "Live product showcased by matured startups from across the country who have anchored cutting edge technologies will be another major highlight. Startups from IIM Bangalore, IIT Mumbai, IIT Chennai and T hub Hyderabad have already confirmed their participation for the product showcase," said Prasad.
The technology expo will showcase products and prowess by technology firms, service providers, vendors and products from SMEs and MSMEs from the technology space apart from those of the startups. "The event is scheduled to coincide with the setting up of advanced or scaled-up prototyping and productisation facilities, commencement of Centre of Excellence on Engineering Design and Simulation and the initiation of the operation of International Hardware Accelerator," he said.
He said Maker Village has been successful in helping startups get global exposure with the help of these events. "One of the companies Sastra Robotics which have been incubated at Maker Village was zeroed on in by Lockheed Martin, a US defence company, during an event that was recently organised by the company in association with the Union Defence Ministry," he said.