Tata First Dot, powered by NEN invites people to vote online for student entrepreneurs in thePeople’s Choice competition
- People can log onto www.tatafirstdot.com to cast their votes
- Out of 411 shortlisted student ventures, 54 are from Mumbai
- The 5 winners of the Tata First Dot People’s ChoiceCompetitionwill be felicitated during the national conference and will receive professional mentoring
Jaipur:TheTATA First Dot, powered by NEN- India's definitive platform for student entrepreneurship, supporting and accelerating high-potential entrepreneurship across the country, is inviting people to vote online for determining 5people’s choice winners of thecompetition for best student start-ups.
The five winners of the Tata First Dot People’s ChoiceCompetition willbe determined through,national level,public online-voting. These winners will be recognized during the Tata First Dot National Conference along with the 5 winners of the jury-based Tata First Dot National Competition and will receive professional mentoring. The detailed profiles of the 411 shortlisted student ventures have been showcased on the Tata First Dot website. People can log onto www.tatafirstdot.com to cast their votes, and support the young entrepreneurs in achieving their dreams. The last dayfor voting is December 30, 2012.
Tata First Dot, powered by NEN is the country’s first national recognition and mentoring platform for student startups. In the first phase of the programme, 15 regional workshops were held across different cities, designed to help the students to refine their business models, connect with peers, and interact with experts and Tata leaders.These workshopsattracted participation from 690 aspiring student entrepreneurs.The second and third phase of the programme consists of two competitions; a jury-based Tata First Dot National Competition and a public voting based Tata First Dot People’s Choice Competition. The competitions have attracted overwhelming response from student entrepreneurs with entries spanning the areas of technology, retail, education, agriculture and media, among others.
Overall, 411 validated entries have been shortlisted which have been showcased on Tata First Dotwebsite, and will be adjudged to determine the overall winners of this year’s competitions.
Speaking about the initiative,Mr. Atul Agrawal, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Tata Services said, “We are delighted to receive an enthusiastic response from young entrepreneurs,from across India, for the Tata First Dot workshops and competitions this year.Our aim through this initiative is to promote innovative leadership endeavours, and encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship among the youth.”
Dr. K. ShriKrishna, Executive Director, National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) said, “We are ecstatic that the number of participating student start-ups has nearly doubled over last year in Tata First Dot powered by NEN. This demonstrates the value that the First Dot platform offers by mentoring, supporting and showcasing student entrepreneurs.Building on the successes of last year, this year’s collection of student entrepreneurs showcases a wider variety of student ventures from agriculture through biotech, food and beverage, and info-tech all the way to training and consulting.”
Top 30 shortlisted best student start-ups, including the Top 5 winners from the Tata First Dot People’s Choice Competition andTop 5 winners of thejury-basedTata First Dot National Competition, will receive professional mentorship via the NEN mentoring platform and will also get networking opportunity with Entrepreneurs, Angel investors, Mentors, Experts and other Student start-ups. The Top 10 Winners will be felicitated in an award ceremony at the Tata First Dot National Conferencescheduled to be held at IIT-Madras on the 20th and 21stof January, 2013. The Conference will feature talks by business leaders, mentoring sessions, and exhibition of business ideas, among other things.
To vote and know more about the initiative and contestants, log on to www.tatafirstdot.com.You may also follow https://twitter.com/TataFirstDot and www.facebook.com/studentstartups for regular updates.
For further information, please contact:
Atul Malikram
9827092823