Coimbatore Vizha is an annual event celebrated during December and January as a reflection of the city’s rich cultural heritage and tradition. Coimbatore Vizha, as part of its celebration, organized a startup pitch, ‘The Pitch’, which attracted a large number of startups from across the region belonging to different industry sectors. The Pitch , which is in its 5th year, is one of the important events marking the 16th edition of Coimbatore Vizha, and is hosted by several government and private organizations and communities including CII, TiE, YI, Native Lead, Forge, PSG Step, StartupTN, AIC Raise, et al.
With around 19 startups shortlisted after a preliminary screening conducted by an expert panel comprising mentors, investors, and startup enablers, the event’s semi-final was conducted at Forge Accelerator at Saravanampatti in Coimbatore, which saw 10 startups, including women entrepreneurs, making it to the finals of the event.
BTS Mentor Panel at ‘The Pitch 2024’
Members of the By The Startups Community (BTS) mentor panel, Shameer of By The Startups, Ravi of Sri Kailash Builders, and Thirukkuralkani of Tectzu Solutions Pvt. Ltd and manager at SREC SPARK Incubation featured as adjudicators at the semi-finals of the event at Forge.
Finals of The Pitch 2024 & Winners
The finals of the mega annual event was conducted at the PSG Institute of Management, one of the oldest B-Schools in India. Around 150 individuals, including student entrepreneurs, participated in the finals that commenced with a keynote speech delivered by Senthil Natarajan, MD, Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam. Indira Vidyaprakash, Senior Director of Product Management at Workday was among the esteemed members of the jury panel. The panel also included Vasukumar, the founder of Vridhi Techno Farms. Vishnu Vardhaan, co-founder & CEO of Cercle X, a popular Sustainability & Waste Management firm, gave an insightful talk on entrepreneurship and funding, quoting his startup journey and the firm’s success.
Xera Robotics, a startup specializing in the development of robots designed to clean water bodies, which recently secured substantial funding of INR 1.5 crore from the Native Angel Network (NAN), was also recognized at the event.
The first, second, and third place winners received cash prizes of Rs.75,000, Rs.50,000, and Rs.25,000, respectively. Additionally, each recipient of the Special Awards was granted Rs.10,000.
An elite panel of startup VCs adjudicated the pitching event in which Coimbatore-based Mentorbee Educational Solutions, a K – 8 Edu solution firm, emerged as the winner. Talking to Jyotsna, the co-founder of Mentorbee said, “Our startup offers tailored academic solutions to schools, assisting them in attaining academic excellence through a comprehensive approach. We’re really happy about winning this prestigious event because it wasn’t easy for us.”
Coimbatore-based startups including Nanic Ayurveda led by Savumiya, Sahayatha founded by Sruthi, and Glamscrap Technologies Pvt. Ltd (an incubatee of SREC Spark) led by Dr. Kayalvizhire received special awards at the event.
Details of Prize Winners of The Pitch
- First Prize: Mentorbee Educational Solution
- First Runner-up: Goat Robotics
- Second Runner-up: Sahayatha Dhanvantri Biomedical
- Women Entrepreneur Award: Nanic Ayurveda
- Social Impact Award: GlamScrap Pvt Ltd.
- Environment and Sustainability Award: Scute Wrap Pvt. Ltd.
The organizing Young India (YI) team honored the event sponsors, mentors, VCs, Angel investors, and adjudicators with a special hardbound copy of the ‘A Field Guide to the Birds of Coimbatore’ authored by A Pavendhan, PB Balaji and G Prakash.