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Start-ups Chant 'Visibility' Mantra At Kickoff Kolkata More than 10 start-ups rocked the tenth edition of Startup Kickoff with new ideas, products and business models

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"Jo dikhta hai woh bikta hai', roughly translates into - "to be sellable be visible'. And, facilitating visibility for fledgling start-ups and business ideas is what drives Startup Kickoff, an event that brings entrepreneurs, investors, VCs and accelerators on an idea sharing platform.

The tenth edition of Startup Kickoff, powered by Franchise India 2017, was held on April 15-16 at The Lalit, Great Eastern Hotel. It witnessed some feisty ideas and innovations being presented by a group of sparky young and aspiring entrepreneurs from Kolkata. Start-ups also showcased their products and services to the funders in "Demo Zone', an exhibition space specially designed for them.

Ideas Galore

More than 10 start-ups rocked the show with new ideas, products and business models, opening up new possibilities for customers, businesses and the world at large. The start-ups boasted of a broad repertoire ranging from services and apps to web development and e-commerce. These budding entrepreneurs enthusiastically presented their business models in a three-minute AV presentation, which was followed by a two-minute Q&A session by the panel of judges, which included Arijit Bhattacharya, Founder and CEO, Virtualinfocom, Rajesh Singhal, Vice-President, Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. (Times Group) and Raghav Kanoria, Director, Moni Viniyogh Pvt Ltd.

The evaluation was done on four basic parameters – market, team, uniqueness and selling point. The young and innovative minds drew applause from the delegates attending the event. The ones that left a mark include Rohit, CEO, Rest Brothers, Bidisha, CEO, Medwise Pvt Ltd, Jayanta Samdar, Founder, Kollab Lifestyle, Vishes Anand Singh, Founder, Fusion Art Jewellery, Arun Kumar Jaiswal, Co-Founder, Amara Concepts LLP, Muzzafar Ahmed, CoFounder and CEO, Info Height Web and Mobile Application Pvt Ltd. and Saptak Banerjee, Founder, AAPTI Future Guide Pvt Ltd.

At the end of the show, Jayanta Samaddar, Founder, Kollab Lifestyle — a designer street wear brand aimed at artists, rebels and independent thinkers, was declared the winner.

(This article was first published in the May issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)

Baishali Mukherjee

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