Enterprise: Encouraging Entrepreneurship
19 Oct , 2008 | The Statesman | Mathures Paul

Indian entrepreneurs have come up with solutions and applications that can easily be implemented on a large scale, in India or abroad, writes Mathures Paul

Look around and there are a dozen young entrepreneurs who have come up with solutions and applications that can easily be implemented on a large scale, in India or abroad, by organisations that matter or government agencies. Founded in 2003, the National Entrepreneurship Network, a non-profit programme of the Wadhwani Foundation, has been supporting over 300,000 young people across 30 cities in India.

To take its programme forward, NEN has started the Tata NEN Hottest Startups Awards, which would provide business training, mentoring and incubation support of up to Rs 50 lakh by IIM-A and CIIE, incubation opportunity to a befitting venture by IIM-B and NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), admission to Microsoft's StartUp Accelerator Programme for at least one winner, etc.

Laura Parkin, executive director of NEN, says, "Entrepreneurship will be affected, in some ways, by the meltdown. Funding, particularly for later stage companies, will be scarcer and valuation of companies will be lower. The financial crisis has created opportunities for 'startups': there are people who are willing to join 'startups'; salaries are reasonable and therefore within reach of smaller companies; and young people now understand that jobs in large companies are not necessarily 'safe'.

The crisis has shaped some of the content of a few NEN programmes. We think it's important for young entrepreneurs to understand the value of cash, to be able to conserve and use their funds wisely. NEN's funding comes from foundation grants and corporate sponsorships." Winners will be declared on 23 December. The Statesman quizzes a few of the nominees about their projects…

Company Name: Tunespray Mobile
Name: Rahul Nandi

Tunespray is a free service that allows you to create and deliver multimedia messages to mobile phones in a single download. Users log on to the company's online design tool and create personalized mobile promos with any combination of text, pictures and audio within seconds.

Rahul Nandi says, "Tunespray Mobile was formed because my partner and I share a passion for nascent technologies in the mobile area. In India, there is an absence of rich, interactive options for mobile communications. Largely driven by the operators, most current applications are just wallpapers or ring tones. We wanted to create a platform that has mass market appeal and allow common users to leverage their creativity to send graphic-rich content, pictures, music, etc. via mobiles to communicate. Plus, we are driven to show that a successful product company can be launched in West Bengal."

The advantages of the solution are…

FOR APPLICATION DEVELOPERS

Complex Eco-system: there are a lot of technical and business barriers that prevent web developes, graphic artists or the average person to create mobile applications. "Our solution is aimed at the non-technical users and allows them to prototype, test and deliver mobile applications in minutes rather than weeks. No programming knowledge is required"

FOR BRAND-OWNERS AND ADVERTISERS

Blanket Approach with SMS only advertising: Predominantly all mobile-based advertisements and campaigns are in the form of text based SMS. "While it can be argued that those with mobile phones can send or receive SMS, it is also true that SMS-based advertisements lack interactivity, is increasingly being perceived as spam (junk mail)."

Company: Reavirl Technology
Name: Prabhat Singh

Get to know more about the sites which you visit, search and share on Reavirl. Singh says, "We felt the need to improve Internet searches. 'Chatting' is an instant communication channel on the Internet, social networks connect 'like-minded' people and 'search' provides apt content. Reavirl is the outcome of efforts to fuse the three important pillars of the web. End-users connect to Reavirl chat pages via net surfing options. While searching for information through Reavirl, you would come across people searching for similar content or have common interests. Second, one can install a browser status-bar tool (currently for Mozilla only), which constantly update the user about the number of netizens, through Reavirl, on the same page. If users need more information about content or want to share views, clicking on the 'status bar' would navigate the page to Reavirl Chat Channel."

Company: Kitne Baje.com
Name: Siddharth Goyal

As the name suggests, the venture helps you plan in advance. "You can plan meetings in a coffee shop, buy movie tickets… even order radio cabs. You can plan not only your travel (airlines, hotel, car and bus) but also your daily schedule."

"While at IIM Calcutta, we used frequent movie halls and restaurants. Joka, where the IIM campus is located, is 22 kilometres outside Kolkata. After travelling all the way to the city, landing up at a multiplex and not getting our preferred movie was frustrating. We had to watch the movie which was on rather than the one we would have wanted to. This gave us the idea to come up with a 'concierge for the masses', a portal where people can either call 9007004445 or log on to www.kitnebaje.com and plan their outings, book and reserve. We have tied up with the best players in the industry, ensuring presence in over 20 cities. At present, for example, we have tied up with VLCC for personal care services, which gives us access to their 60 centres. This model is based on tie-ups," says Goyal.

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