Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank has been passionately backing up and nurturing start-ups with their innovation lab “Thought Factory” and I been keenly following their pursuit for start-up excellence in the fin-tech space since the inception of the platform. To further boost the start-up ecosystem in India they have conceptualized and brought forward a new networking platform, Axis Startup Social, where start-up entrepreneurs could meet, network and share knowledge.
The first of the Axis Start-up Social networking event happened in Bangalore at the vibrant WeWorks, a co-working space which itself bustles with many start-ups and people incubating their ideas there. So naturally, it was a perfect place to host the very first Axis start-up social.
Speaking about the initiative, Sidharth Rath, Group Executive, Corporate & Transaction Banking, Axis Bank said, “We are excited to launch Axis Start-up Social, a platform through which we hope to provide the much required, ‘extra edge’ to the start-up community by hand holding them, sharing knowledge and providing the required financial solutions. Today, the Indian ecosystem is flooded with innovative ideas but what is missing is the presence of the right channel and guidance in terms of acceleration, scaling up and funding. Through Axis Start-up Social, we endeavor to create an ecosystem to encourage innovation and the next-level-of-growth opportunities to start-ups that are ready to take that leap.”
The evening buzzed with over 100 bright minds among the start-up community, who had gathered not just to network and get to know each other but also got an opportunity to listen and interact with Vivek Gupta, founder of Licious Foods who shared his start-up journey how he waded into uncharted challenges when he chose to enter a business of meat in a supposedly land of vegetarians and made a successful venture in a food space.
Also on stage was Amit Rohatgi, whose start-up Divrt, provides smart parking solutions for urban commuters who enthralled the audience with engaging conversation. The event concluded with a befitting corporate comedy by stand-up comedian, Vikram Poddar whose jokes would have resonated with many of the audience who would come across such experiences in their real life in their corporate and start-up life.
It’s yet another commendable initiative by Axis bank to bring in like-minded start-up minds and have an engaging evening. It should also be noted that recently the bank also launched its Axis Startup Banking product earlier this year, which is bundled with all key technology enabled products and caters comprehensively to banking needs of startups. With new initiatives and outreach programs, Axis bank is proving themselves to be the pioneers amongst the Indian banks to relentlessly back and support the startup ecosystem in India.]]>
