Four Hyderabad-based start-ups with innovative & ground-breaking offerings for the healthcare & lifestyle sector have achieved top honours at the TiE Woman Regional Finals, which was hosted virtually by TiE Hyderabad on Monday. One winner and three runners up were declared in a competition that witnessed over 16 women-led startups battle for top honours.
The winner of the Regional Finals Sapien Biosciences, Co-Founded by Dr. Jugnu Jain got the top prize for her biobank multi-disease screening solution idea. The first runner up position went to washable and reusable face mask and headgear creator Dibbu Solutions. Luxpack founded by Silpa Reddy, bagged the second runners up spot while Hemis that is founded by Prashansa Shahani took away the 3rd runners-up spot.
Dr. Jugnu, the winner bagged a fully paid Boot Camp organized by empoWer (a tech accelerator exclusively for women entrepreneurs) and would be representing Hyderabad at the TiE Global Competition to be held in December 2020 where she could stand a chance to win an equity-free fund of $100,000 for her business pitch.
The winners were adjudged by an eminent jury panel comprising Lakshmi Nambiar (Anthill Ventures), Ranjan Chak (Oak Investment Partners) and Jay Krishnan (Mantra Capital) evaluated the business pitches put forward by the companies based on their strength of ideas, global scalability, and presentation.
TiE Women Winners List
Winner: Sapien Biosciences, Co-Founded by Dr. Jugnu Jain, was declared the winner of the Regional Finals. The firm is a biobank and has a diverse sample collection across cancers, rare disorders, cardiovascular conditions, type two diabetes to name a few.
1st Runner up: Dibbu Solutions, represented by Deepthi Nathala, was adjudged the first runner up for their product Hecoll, a washable and reusable face mask and headgear that protects humans from airborne viruses.
2nd Runner up: Silpa Lingareddy- founded Luxpack was announced as the second runner up for their business of manufacturing a rigid box company that promises to deliver an unparalleled luxury packaging experience.
3rd Runner up: Hemis, founded by Prashansa Shahani, was named the third runners up, A one-of-its-kind movement sees a range of possibilities using Hemp to create a wide range of sustainable products across several categories including apparel, footwear, accessories, stationery, home furnishing, wellness, and nutrition.
The three-runner ups will be eligible to attend the fully paid boot camp by empoWer and have an opportunity to be incubated at the technology business incubator SRiX besides access to a six-month-long mentorship at T-Hub in addition to the Mentor Advisor programme offered by TiE Hyderabad among other membership benefits.
Each of the startups supported by 39 charter members from TiE Hyderabad were mentored for over 188 mentor hours through a massive exercise to embrace, engage and empower Women Founders, reflecting TiE organisation’s unflinching commitment in fostering women entrepreneurship.
“It’s an honour to be part of an event ideated by personalities who’ve set an example for several women entrepreneurs. India needs to go a long way in addressing the gender gap and involving women in economic activity can show tremendous impact in our growth,” says Nara Brahmani, Executive Director, Heritage Foods, a keynote speaker at the event.
“Our aim at TiE Women has always been to reach out to women entrepreneurs on a large scale and ensure job creation. The access that the forum has given for its applicants to investors and mentors alike, ensures a great opportunity to learn,” stated Hemalatha Annamalai, Chair, TiE Women Global and Founder, Ampere Vehicles.
“I am glad to see tremendous progress made by TiE Women. This is a great platform for women entrepreneurs to exchange ideas and leverage TiE Hyderabad mentorship opportunities, and gain access to the investor community. Women-led firms have consistently generated great revenue and have proved worthy of all the trust and investors who’ve believed in them,” stated, Sridhar Pinnapureddy, President, TiE Hyderabad (also Chairman & Managing Director, Ctrls).
TiE Women chapter Lead and board member Rashida Adenwala (Founder R&A Associates), members from the Delhi and Amaravati chapters of the TiE played an integral part in the seamless organization of the event.
The jury evaluating the business pitches through the Finals had generous words to share about the participants. “Scalability and a co-differentiator in business plans are significant to march ahead and I would want budding entrepreneurs to establish that before investing money in their products and entering the market,” shared Lakshmi Nambiar, Partner, Anthill Ventures.
Jay Krishnan, General Partner, Mantra Capital stated, “The fact that a lot of women are committed to chasing their entrepreneurial dreams, braving all such roadblocks and challenges, is wonderful to hear. The Indian startup ecosystem is only getting better with time, startups need to look at it as an opportunity to pivot your model”.
Ranjan Chak, Partner, Oak Investment Partners stated “They have surprised us with the level of insight in their well-fleshed out ideas. It’s encouraging to see their preparedness and for someone who has been in the startup sector for two decades now, I can assure you that the scope and innovation in these ideas are among the best I’ve seen in a long time”.
