Espark-Viridian, a startup accelerator for early and growth seeking startups in-association with Headstart Network Foundation, announced Marketyard Agrisolutions from Pune as the winner of its - SmartUp 2017, a pan-India B-plan Competition. SmartUp 2017 offers a nurturing platform with competitive spark to facilitate budding entrepreneurs by validating their ideas, mentor them under globally acclaimed experts and offering access to a wide network of investors.
Marketyard is a Mobile Platform that enables Users to buy, sell and rent everything related to agriculture using Classifieds services, Hourly Weather Forecast, Digital Land Records, Local Business Listings, etc. They help farmers to directly sell to end consumer by removing the need for middlemen. Machstatz from Bengaluru an end to end solution in the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) space became the first runner-up and ClinMD from Jaipur which offers help doctors to record store and digitize regular handwritten notes & prescriptions was chosen second runner-up. The winning teams were awarded a cash prize of Rs. 1 Lakh, Rs. 50000 and Rs. 25,000 respectively.
"India has a 1.25 billion of youth population and entrepreneurship is the need of an hour. Our endeavor has been to identify budding entrepreneurs and provide them with all necessary support. It is important to nurture and guide an idea in its early stage to ensure it reaches its maximum potential," said Vibhuti Channa, Director, Espark-Viridian Accelerator.
Espark-Viridian in association with Headstart Network is committed to promoting entrepreneurship in India. The top 25 startups were shortlisted by the jury members. The event culminated in Delhi at Kirori Mal College Delhi over two days dedicated to intensive one to one mentoring by expert mentors and investors followed by a pitching session.
The esteemed jury - which included Arpit Agrawal, (Principal, Blume Ventures, Co-founder and Director, Headstart Network Foundation), Ashish Taneja (Managing Director, Growx Ventures), Paresh Gupta (Founder, Global Centre for Entrepreneurship and Commerce), Amit Singh (Founder & CEO, Wow Labz Co-Founder and MD, Headstart Network Foundation ) and Vibhuti Channa (Director Espark- Viridian Accelerator) - selected the prize winners.
"Such Competitions provide a good platform for young entrepreneurs to showcase their talent and gain from one on one mentoring. I am thankful to the Espark-Viridian and Headstart Network who have provided clarity in further enhancing my idea," says Anil Lade from Marketyard Agrisolutions.