India-based telecommunications firm Bharti Airtel and corporate venturing unit SingTel Innov8, are jointly organising Startup Weekend Gurgaon, a platform for Indian entrepreneurs to showcase ideas which could potentially form the basis for businesses, news service India Infoline reported on Thursday.
The weekend follows Bharti’s decision last year to close its corporate venturing fund. The Airtel Innovation fund had been set up in 2008 with R200 crore ($42m) to invest in early-stage entrepreneurs providing content, value-added services and other services.
Singtel Innov8 operates as a venture investment unit for the conglomerate Singapore Telecommunications and, in April, paid Rs93 crore ($19.1m) to increase its share (including that obtained through subsidiary companies Viridian and Pastel) in Bharti Airtel to 32.25%.
The event, which will be held in November, follows the startup weekend model instituted by the US-based TechStars investment program. Teams of budding entrepreneurs from a variety of fields form ideas in teams over a 54 hour period. Startup Weekend Gurgaon is one of several regional events running throughout the world.
Leading on from the Startup Weekends, up to 15 teams from across Asia will get the opportunity to take part in a 100 day long boot camp in January organised by Singtel Innov8 and seed incubator Joyful Frog Digital Innovator (JFDI). Each team will receive $15,000 in seed funding and guidance from experienced mentors and industry experts as they aim to build their ideas into operating businesses.