Ahmedabad: The GMDC Auditorium in Ahmedabad today hosted the curtain raiser for the upcoming Vibrant Gujarat Start-up & Technology summit. After a first edition held in 2016, Vibrant Startup is back again this year, organized as a forerunner to the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in January 2019.

It was announced today that the StartUp and Technology Summit is slated to be held over three days from 11-13 October 2018 at the Exhibition Centre, Helipad Ground.

The summit is organized by the Industries Commisionerate, iNDEXTb and GIDC from the Government of Gujarat with support from industry associations such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Gujarat Electronics & Software Industries Association (Gesia), Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) and iCreate among others. In the run up to the summit the organizers will travel across 30 cities including tier 2 and 3 cities in the country inviting participants with innovative ideas.

Shri M.K Das Principal Secretary Industries and Mines, Government of Gujarat, the chief guest at the curtain raiser for the event said,“The Government of Gujarat is committed to the startup ecosystem to drive Gujarat and the nation’s growth.The event will provide an excellent opportunity to both start-ups and stakeholders to connect with the best and brightest minds to explore how to fuel their business growth. This event in the run up to the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in 2019 will establish Gujarat as a hub for new technology based solution providers.”

The objective of the Summit is to showcase the forces driving India’s, and Gujarat’s start-up revolution and to strengthen the start-up ecosystem. The three-day program will include experiential learning and networking sessions for both start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs.

The organizers have put forward a Grand Challenge this year with a total prize money of Rs 3 crore. The aim of the Grand Challenge to find innovators who can solve far reaching problems facing our society today in the following sectors: AgriTech, FinTech, Smart & Shared Mobility, Women Centric Solutions, Manufacturing 4.0, Governance 2030, Maritime and Military Intelligence and Health Tech. The Challenge is open to all start-ups registered in India and participants can enter at the Idea, Blooming or Scale-Up stage depending on the development stage of the start-up.

Speaking about the Grand Challenge, Smt D.Thara Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of GIDC, said “The Grand Challenge is an initiative to bring together a community of changemakers, who can harness science, technology, and innovation, to come up with innovative and sustainable solutions to the various challenges faced by the society — nationally or globally, and we look forward to having some innovative solutions from our youth across the country. This is one of reasons why we have decided to keep a big amount of Rs 3 crore for the prize money because it is important to invest in solutions for the future and Gujarat has shown that it has a mature start-up ecosystem. Therefore it is important that every last person, particularly in Gujarat know of the Vibrant Gujarat StartUp Summit so that they can participate.”

Also present at the ceremony werethe iNDEXTb Managing Director ShriRajkumarBeniwal along with the Additional Commissioner, Industries SmtShwetaTeotia and Mr Rajiv Vastupal, Chairman FICCI Gujarat State Council.

For More Information please visit: http://www.vgstartup.com/

DeshGujarat