Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), in association with TiE Bangalore, has begun a special bus yatra —titled the Start-up XPRESS—from Bengaluru in preparation for the TiE Global Summit (TGS) 2022.
The trip brings together start-up founders, mentors/investors in a 12-hour journey that will end in TGS’ host city, Hyderabad. 25 start-up founders have been joined by 25 investors and mentors who will be closely networking and interacting with them to finetune their eventual pitches at the showcase event.
The bus ride will provide founders the opportunity to hold detailed discussions with some of the start-up industry’s leaders and entrepreneurs in a unique, fun environment. Over the course of the trip, founders will undergo peer learning and pitch development activities and receive feedback on their proposals, helping them refine their overall strategies and product pitches at the summit.
BV Naidu, Chairman of KDEM said, “Our focus remains on making significant contributions towards realizing a 300-billion-dollar contribution to the digital economy, primarily through an innovation and technology start-up ecosystem that generates employment, improves market access, and allows for infrastructure upgrades and policy implementation.” The Start-up XPRESS is a microcosm of our attitude and will play a small but influential part in the bigger voyage that we’re undertaking, he added.
The bus will make stops at Tumkur and Bellary—two emerging start-up clusters—to encourage ecosystems and shed light on the benefits these regions can expect with future investments. The bus’s residents will be met by academicians, business influencers, researchers, incubators, and the student community in another exchange of ideas and knowledge and a display of the state’s start-up prowess.
This year’s TiE Global Summit is being held between 12 and 14 December in Hyderabad. The event will host entrepreneurs and leaders and features mentoring sessions, keynotes, roundtables, masterclasses, and showcases covering several topics and focus areas.