Five of the 15 start-ups that competed for investor mindshare at Venture-I, the Angel Funding competition hosted at i5 Start-up Summit by IIT & IIM Indore, received funding commitments on Wednesday. A total of 300 start-ups registered for the competition, which was open to all start-ups that are less than two years old and have not raised more than ₹50 lakh. Even those start-ups with a business idea were eligible to participate in Venture-I, provided they have a full team and a ready prototype.

Show-stealers

While Indore-based start-up Bingage and Gurgaon based start-up Hate2Wait received ₹15 lakh of funding each from MP Angel Networks (MPAN); Delhi-based start-up SponsifyMe and Kolkata-based start-up Planmyad received investor commitments from MPAN for undisclosed amounts. However, Gamezop, a Delhi-based start-up which was judged to be the most promising, politely declined the offer of ₹5 lakh from IIM Indore alumnus and founder CEO of Guts Unlimited, Neeraj Gutgutia.

Industry verticals

“Venture-I is not only a great platform for start-ups to showcase their talent but provides an ideal venue for Angel investors who are looking to invest in fast growth start-ups. We are a group of about 50 Angels at MPAN, who choose to invest across different industry verticals,” Sawan Laddha, Founder, MPAN, told BusinessLine .

Laddha funded Hate2Wait, an app that is all set to revolutionise the way the restaurant industry operates. “The app connects restaurants with guests to ensure a seamless, hassle-free dining experience. It allows guests to make table reservations, skip the wait and pre-order by going through the menu on the app and also pay via the app,” he said.

Founder CEO of Bingage Gaurav Padiyar told BusinessLine that he plans to use the Angel funding to build an app and market it better, as the company plans to go App-only. Bingage aims to give deals and loyalty benefits from brands to its customers via a single platform. Gamezop, a social network for casual games where users are given a handful of new games each week which can be played without downloading, is also in the process of creating a mobile-based social network app for addictive casual games. Planmyad helps advertisers save cost and time on outdoor ads with data-driven planning tools, real-time information and online media buying facility. And SponsifyMe is an online platform that connects events with the right brands for raising sponsorship.

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