BNI Gurgaon organises city’s largest business exhibition and networking event

Gurugram, September 23, 2019: In order to boost the startups and help them connect with the right people, BNI Gurgaon organised a day-long exhibition that was preceded by a panel discussion by the startups and angel-funded companies. More than 1000 entrepreneurs attended the event that included a special session of women entrepreneurs to discuss the issues and challenges faced by them in the business environment. The venue of the exhibition was The Orana hotel in Gurugram. A highly captivating panel discussion on “What Problem of society is Your Business Solving?” held in the first-half was a very thought-provoking session for the visitors. Rahul Singh, Founder & CEO, The Beer Café; Rohan Mahajan, Founder, LawRato.com; Bharti Singla, Head of Operation & Strategy, Chakr Innovation; and Deep Bajaj, Founder of PeeBuddy & Sirona have shared their valuable insights on the said topic. Deep Bajaj, Founder, PeeBuddy, was one of the innovative entrepreneurs present at the panel discussion. He threw light on the importance of unconventional products that can help solve basic needs or problems faced by common people. His product PeeBuddy is one such example as it is a portable female urination device that makes urinating at public places easier for girls. Another innovative start up was Chakr Innovation that was started by IIT Delhi alumnus who were concerned about the environment. They developed a device that transforms soot coming out from generators into ink and paint. In Delhi alone 14,000 mobile towers are run on diesel engines that emit soot, which you inhale it then it won't be filtered by lung and go directly into blood stream causing cancer, strokes, asthma, etc. The team estimates that their patented technology can reduce particulate matter emission from diesel generator by diesel generator. Other prominent and eminent speakers at the event are Mr. Nirmal Minda, MD & Chairman, Uno Minda Group, Padma Shri Saurabh Srivastava, Chairman at Indian Angel Network & Co-founder at NASSCOM, Ashoka University, Indian Venture Capital, Raman Roy, Chairman NASSCOM, Chairman & MD, Quatrro and Vikram Chandra, Founder Editorji and Past CEO NDTV group, who contributed with their expert viewpoints on scaling businesses and nurturing entrepreneurship. The year 2018 saw a total funding amount of $12.7 billion across 864 deals and this year has been encouraging so far as startups raised a record $3.9 billion from venture capitalists in the first six months of 2019. And, Gurugram has become the most preferred city for startups in north India after receiving USD 1.02 billion funding across 134 startups deals in 2016. Also, around 30 per cent of total funding that Indian tech startups raise every year, is received by startups based in Gurugram. "As the current economy is going through tough times, multinationals are doing layoffs and asking the government to support. However, unique startups with innovative ideas are self-dependent and are growing even now. The year has been turning out good for the startups, and it shows that even in the tough times, the faith of investors in innovative startups is high. The capital flowing for the startups will help them grow profitably, and in the process, generate employment leading up to good economic growth of the country," said Ms. Arti Kochhar, Executive Director, BNI Gurgaon. This year has also witnessed the emergence of Tier II and III cities and B2B models. "Both of these were underinvested, and the current scenario shows that investors are on the look-out of ideas that can change the business scenario. The rising investment in start-ups is also an indication that people from smaller cities are confident of becoming entrepreneurs and as their ideas are viable, it is helping the investors to bet on these ideas," said Arti Kochhar. The exhibition saw over 70 stalls showcasing businesses products, and services to potential clients and future vendors. All the participants at the exhibition were BNI Gurgaon members coming from across NCRA book “1000 Stories of Change” Volume 1 was also launched at the event which was about 100 inspiring stories of change by a diverse group of entrepreneurs and discusses how people meet and impact each other’s lives. BNI Gurgaon also launched 'The Amazing 4M App' that will help the participants get all the information about the exhibition such as event schedule, speakers information, etc., on their smartphones.