India has become 1 of the top destinations for startups. According to 1 report, it is also 1 of the youngest startup nations of the world with over 72% of founders being under 35 years of age. So it does make sense to host startup summits here.
With the country becoming the hotbed of all the startup activity, it is also comes as no surprise that Web Summit, considered to be the biggest gathering for startups, is hosting its 1st conference in India this year. Aimed at the tech & startup communities in India & internationally, the 2-day event, Surge 2016, will take place in Bengaluru on February 23-24. Over 4,000 attendees, 500 startups, 250 investors, 200 media & other influencers are expected at the conference.
Top speakers include Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus, Ritesh Agarwal, CEO & Founder of OYO Rooms, a network of branded hotels, Nicolas Brusson, Co-Founder & COO of BlaBlaCar, & Sachin Bansal, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Flipkart.
The conference will host a series of discussions on various startup initiatives, ideas, marketing strategies as well as success stories. Paddy Cosgrave, CEO of Web Summit, outlined how SURGE will act as a catalyst in supporting the startup community in the country & the region.
“In recent years, we’ve seen a significant rise in the number of Indian startups attending our global conferences. India is increasingly producing globally competitive startups that have disrupted markets & the way we live. Bangalore is a significant part of the global startup ecosystem & we think it is the ideal venue for SURGE 2016,” Cosgrave said.
A special event called Pitch will also be a part of the conference, where startups will compete to be named the best in attendance. They will have to pitch their ideas to a judging panel & answer their questions successfully to win the competition.
Also a part of the conference is the Surge Mentor program that will pair startups with experienced industry professionals to help them troubleshoot their problems. Mentors will provide startups with advice on smooth running of their businesses.
Top investors including Dave McClure, Founding Partner of 500 Startups, Subrata Mitra, Partner at Accel Partners & Bharati Jacob, Managing Partner of Seedfund have confirmed their presence at Surge 2016.
Surge is also inviting significant participation from women entrepreneurs. There are free tickets for women entrepreneurs who intend to participate in the conference. They can either be nominated by other attendees, or apply themselves.
“We’re inviting 10,000 extraordinary female entrepreneurs from around the world to our events around the world – & that includes Surge, our first event in India. We want as many female entrepreneurs as possible to attend,” said Sinead Murphy, Web Summit’s Head of Production
The Web Summit flagship event, held in Dublin for the last five years has seen growth from 400 attendees to over 42,000 from more than 134 countries in 2015. It was founded in 2010 by Paddy Cosgrave & co-founders Daire Hickey & David Kelly. In addition to Web Summit, the team runs a series of founders events, which have been described by Bloomberg as “Davos for Geeks” & are regular gatherings that include 150 CEOs of the world’s leading technology companies. Over 50,000 people have attended Web Summit events across the globe in 2015.
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Image Credit: Web Summit
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