A new ‘pitch’ for city start-ups
Why Hyderabad start-ups decided to have a full-on cricket league of their own
Start-up networking in the city has just got a fun twist. Doing away with serious talks or idea pitches, the latest event, a first-of-its-kind, is a Start-up Cricket League — a cricket tournament for entrepreneurs.
How did the idea come up? SaiKiran Gunda, founder of Memilog, says, “For my start-up Memilog’s first anniversary, we had planned fun events and one of them was a cricket match at our office. But seeing the enthusiastic response, I thought it could be made something bigger.”
There will be 16 teams and four rounds — Qualifiers, Quarter-Final, Semi-Final and Final — for the event to be held at Gachibowli stadium. With each match of six overs, they, too, have a start-up twist. “We have named the rounds as seed round, angel round, venture round and final as IPO,” says SaiKiran.
The planning has been going on for seven months now and six start-ups have already registered for the cricket league to be held on December 5. The tournament will of course be having start-up talks and pitches. “We are inviting investors and mentors too.
Although it will be a cricket tournament, there will be start-up talks and pitches too. “We are inviting investors and mentors. Registrations are also open for start-ups who would like to pitch at the event. But we will be curating the start-ups, a random group of students can’t take part in the event, it has to be a company,” he says.
Networking, too, is an important part of the tournament. Pallav Bujjuri, founder of Sadda Haq, who will be taking part in the tournament, says, “I go out for start-up events a lot so I meet people but our developers or other team members don’t get to do that. So, it will be like a day off for us.”
And Mohammed Kaludi, co-founder of the start-up magazine3.com agrees. He says, “We are connected to a particular set of start-ups, with this event we will be meeting so many more. Also, at most start-up events it’s a formal gathering but when it comes to a sporting event, it makes for a fun outing.”
So, obviously the excitement is on an all-time high. For SaiKiran, who works in a collaborative office, says, “When I pitched the idea first, everyone was interested. And now every time I walk into office, people are asking about what are we going to do, the preparations and more.”