Bangalore start-up wins 'Hottest' award
6 Mar, 2009 | DNA

Technology consulting firm activecubes picks up the Tata NEN (National Entrepreneurship Network) Hottest Start-up Awards 2008
- JayaLakshmi Venugopal, Bangalore

Six months of campaigning, intense scrutiny by industry experts and through a public voting system, Bangalore-based start-up, activecubes, a technology consulting firm was among the top five start-ups in India to win the Tata NEN (National Entrepreneurship Network) Hottest Start-up Awards 2008.

"After working for six years with Infosys, I decided to leave and stat my own firm. I contacted a friend working for Adidas in Germany and pitched the idea to him. Next thing you know, he'd packed his bags and arrived. Within eight months, we had our core team in place and were all set to start our firm," Rajesh Varrier, CEO, activecubes recalls.

The firm, set-up in 2007, uses the science of analytics to find custom-made solutions for clients. They faced stiff competition at the awards with 600 nominations coming from 40 cities during the initial stages.

Now, activecubes has around 40 employees including their Bangalore, US and Australia operations. The average experience of employees at the firm is very high for a start-up. The most experienced being 28 years and least being 13 years.

Asked about the best part of competing at Tata NEN awards, Rajesh says, "Ever since we entered the top 30 list, many prospective employees got in touch with us. We got many good quality profiles coming our way. These people were keen to work in our start-up."

During the initial stages, identifying the city they wanted to set-up in was tricky, as real-estate prices in Bangalore were very steep. "Incidentally, the software Technology Parks of India opened its Bangalore facility a few months prior to our launch. We were able to use their incubation facilities at a subsidised rate till we grew in number," Says Rajesh.

According to Rajesh, the winners can benefit from interaction with experts and faculty from the National Entrepreneurship Network, IIM-B and IIM-A. "Being young firms, we have little brand recall or recognition. The award has given us a platform and helped us build credibility and visibility to acquire and attract the right talent. We can leverage their network, an institutions like IIMs have deep pockets of knowledge," he adds.

They are eligible for prizes like free entry for two representatives to short duration courses at the NS Raghavan Cell for Entrepreneurial Learning at IIM-B, consultation by IIM-A faculty associated with the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship and special rates and free nights stay at the Gateway Hotel, Taj properties. The other four start-ups which won the award include Lakshya Institute from Patiala, Star AgriWarehousing and Collateral Management from Jaipur, takeovercode.com from New Delhi and The Loot from Mumbai.