India is destined to become a strong economic growth nation: it has the third-largest startup ecospheres; dynamic tech and digital services; and innovation-led entrepreneurship. As digital competence widens and innovations become omnipresent, technology is radically reshaping every sector of the economy. Innovation is indeed a catalyst for transformation for businesses as it opens doors for development, inclusion, and further investment.
To take this vision forward, tech giant Dell Technologies has announced the 6th edition of its Dell Startup Challenge program for early-stage (Seed to Series A) startups and student teams. It was once believed that relatively smaller and newer companies can’t leverage tech in the way that larger companies do. The tables have turned now. Dell Startup Challenge, enabled by YourStory, is offering a nurturing platform for emerging businesses and entrepreneurs to pitch their groundbreaking ideas and provide them with technological solutions.
Commenting on the event announcement, Swati Mishra, Director and General Manager, Small Business, India at Dell Technologies, said, “Entrepreneurship is a part of Dell Technologies' DNA, and we are committed to helping small businesses showcase how technology can enable innovation and growth. To foster the holistic growth of entrepreneurs and startups in India, Dell Technologies enables them with scalable technology resources in the form of innovative products, technologies and services, both traditional infrastructure and multi-cloud technologies, and also offers skill development in the information technology space, to build a robust startup ecosystem.”
If you are an early-stage startup or have a compelling business idea or are a student entrepreneur, then Dell’s one-of-a-kind program will give you an opportunity to realise your business goal into a profitable one. The entries are live till December 30, 2022, and the event will conclude on February 3rd, 2023. The shortlisted top 10 participants will be announced on January 27th, 2023. After which, they will seek mentorship sessions from January 30th, 2023 to February 1st, 2023 to gain valuable experience and expertise from the industry players. The finale will be held on February 3rd, 2023.
"As one of the four finalists of the third edition of the Dell Startup Challenge helped our social startup to get validation at a national level. Being recognized by Dell for using technology to create social impact has further motivated us to use innovative ideas and technologies in solving different social issues.", commented Abhishek Saini, Founder of Lending Hands Foundation, winner of Dell Startup Challenge Season – 3
The shortlisted startups will get a chance to pitch their ideas and get market visibility. Three finalists in the general category will walk away with state-of-the-art Dell Technologies products worth Rs 30 lakh collectively. Additionally, all the winners will get featured in YourStory and the grand prize winner earns a special video feature. The winner will receive up to Rs 15 lakh worth of Dell technology. Similarly, the first runner-up will win up to 10 Lakhs worth of tech support from Dell and the second runner-up will win up to 5 Lakhs.
“Dell Startup Challenge is a great platform where early-stage startups get an opportunity to showcase their business and learn how other entrepreneurs are solving problems. Being a finalist among more than 500 gives us a sense of validation for our efforts and confidence that we are headed in the right direction,” said Bharat Gupta, Co-founder & COO, Bfore.
"Entrepreneurs have drive written in their DNA- but awards can give them that serotonin to power through the tough days, weeks, and months. When this award is timely and from someone cool- it can mean much! I’d strongly encourage all women running startups and changing the world- to give this a shot!", added Prerna Mukharya, Founder, Outline India, winner of Dell Startup Challenge under Women Category – Season 3
Dell has empowered startups to thrive through a variety of initiatives and underscored the importance of leveraging technology to scale their businesses. Likewise, the program will provide them with technology, resources, and knowledge to propel further growth. This edition will welcome a distinguished jury panel featuring leaders from the tech and startup ecosystem evaluating the participants.
“Startups are fragile, especially at the early stage, and they need resources, visibility, and recognition to get strength and grow. Here, at Dell Startup Challenge you get all the support you need” said Vivek Pratap Singh Rathore, Founder, Subhe eLearning, winner of Dell Startup Challenge Season - 3
“The possibilities of interacting and being guided on the tech and business development front by experienced teams at Dell had us very excited. The fact that we are one of the winners has given us a lot of confidence in what we are building,” shared Anirudh Injeti, Co-founder & COO, Eyedentify Systems.
Startups do not exist in a vacuum. They continuously work on expansion and creating innovative products and services that are driven by fast-evolving technology. Co-creation and experimentation are two ways in which they can fast-track their business development and become a part of the broader Indian growth ecosphere.
"It is an honour to be a winner of the Dell Startup Challenge. It comes with broad visibility and adds to our credibility. The state-of-the-art technologies that we received from Dell as part of the award have greatly enhanced our team's capabilities." - Dilip Ramesh, Co-founder and CTO - Thinkerbell Labs, winner of Dell startup Challenge Season -1
“Being an early-stage social startup that is using technology to create social impact, we applied for the Dell Startup Challenge with a belief that recognition at such a platform will help to validate our efforts. And, today this has come true. We feel proud to be one of the winners out of 545 entries,” says Abhishek, Co-founder, Those In Need. “In fact, I have been using a Dell Inspiron 3542 laptop since the time we started Those In Need. And, winning a startup challenge led by Dell makes it a complete circle,” he added.
All participants, irrespective of results, will also reclaim an abundance of experience, learning, and networking opportunities. They will gain insight into how to perfect their unique pitch and polish their strategies and plan.
Dell Technologies believes that startups that continuously innovate will become champions of the future. Since 2016, Dell Startup Challenge has backed businesses like Orowealth, Agroson, Project Mudra, Drinkwell Systems, and CodeJudge, among others. It has observed the active participation of 500+ startups after which they embarked on an impressive growth journey.
Brand Solutions is a marketing initiative for sponsored posts. No VCCircle journalist was involved in the creation of this content.
