TechSangam
Why you should attend Sankalp Forum 2013

Why you should attend Sankalp Forum 2013

April 15, 20133 mins

By now they should have changed the venue of Sankalp Forum from Mumbai to Bangalore. I attended the third edition of Sankalp in 2011. The only reason I missed it last year (and will sadly be missing…

Simpa Networks Closes $2 million Series B round

Simpa Networks Closes $2 million Series B round

April 05, 20132 mins

[Update (Apr 8, 2013): Simpa’s CEO Paul Needham wrote back with a few details. ADB joins other investors such as Schneider Electric, DOEN Foundation, Invested Development, Hilti Foundation, Village…

Poor leap-frogging the rich?

Poor leap-frogging the rich?

April 04, 20132 mins

The 1600 INR Pollinate lamp (Pic courtesy theatlanticcities.com) Just read an intriguing Mother Jones article on the adoption of solar power in India’s slums. The two solar startups profiled in the…

Will Poole, on the 10 commandments of pitching BOP startups

Will Poole, on the 10 commandments of pitching BOP startups

April 02, 20133 mins

Pic courtesy usf.vc [Editor’s Note: A few weeks ago, I had an engaging coffee chat with Unitus Seed Fund‘s (USF) Srikrishna Ramamoorthy and Eleanor Horowitz. The bulk of our discussion was on early…

House of Dignity: Mighty Madiath's Life Mission

House of Dignity: Mighty Madiath's Life Mission

March 25, 20132 mins

Pic courtesy meerasanyal.wordpress.com Gram Vikas (GV) is my favorite Orissa organization. Heck, if I ever curated a Top 5 pan-India list, it would probably be in it. When I asked Bangalore’s…

Building India through Enterprise – Meera Sanyal's Jagriti Yatra Story

Building India through Enterprise – Meera Sanyal's Jagriti Yatra Story

March 24, 20134 mins

Pic courtesy meerasanyal.wordpress.com A year ago I had a brief encounter with a young SELCO employee (Nikhil Nair – NN) following a scintillating chat with Harish Hande. Outside in the parking lot…

Meet Ashok Khemka – the incorruptible Indian babu

Meet Ashok Khemka – the incorruptible Indian babu

March 20, 20133 mins

Pic courtesy indianexpress.com Newton’s Law of Corruption: an Indian babu’s likelihood of being corrupt is inversely proportional to the number of times he’s transferred. Higher the transfers, lower…

The Ugly Indian Chronicles Volume 13: Close Encounter of the Babu Kind

The Ugly Indian Chronicles Volume 13: Close Encounter of the Babu Kind

February 25, 20131 mins

Last evening, I visited the The Ugly Indian Facebook page after a long time. While I was sleeping, they’ve apparently continued doing what they do best, you know, beautifying Bangalore and changing…

Mentor or advisor? What do you need for your enterprise?

Mentor or advisor? What do you need for your enterprise?

February 22, 20134 mins

Pic courtesy cartoonstock.com [Editor’s Note: Ennovent, an early stage social investor fund which morphed into an accelerator of innovations for sustainability in low-income markets, recently hosted a…