Rajasthan DigiFest is a 2-day mega-event organized for startups by the Department of IT&C, Government of Rajasthan, attracting thousands of emerging entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, and aspiring student entrepreneurs.In addition to high-quality panel discussions, a showcase of curated tech innovations, workshops and mentoring clinics, DigiFest in Udaipur had  major highlights:

• Investor Connect: Showcase of 6 Qrated startups to investor partners of the GoR’s iStart program

The 6 startups that presented were selected from the 1st batch of the Government of Rajasthan’s Qrate program for startups.

Managed by Applyifi, Qrate is a unique program that assists startups to sharpen their business plans and investor pitch decks and then connects them to potential investors and customers. Under the program, startups are first assessed on various parameters of business and provided with the Applyifi scorecard and assessment report on their strengths and weaknesses. Based on the scorecard, startups undergo a comprehensive 1-month skill-building program with customized mentoring and expert advice. Once the startups are ready, they are presented to relevant investors and/or customers.

Participating startups get the iStart and QRate cards, which provide them access to several benefits and offers from the Department of IT&C, Government of Rajasthan and partners. All startups start with the basis iStart card but will move up the ladder – bronze, silver, gold and signature card – as their scores improve. Depending on their QRate score, Startups will be eligible for a tiered structure of online and offline benefits, including via partners.

From over 200 applications received since the recent launch of the Qrate program, startups are being shortlisted for the first batch of the skill building program starting on the 22nd of Dec, 2017. The 6 startups that were invited to pitch to investors at the Rajasthan DigiFest are from those shortlisted for the 1st batch of the Qrate skill-building program.

The presenting startups went through a comprehensive workshop to sharpen their pitch decks and rehearse their presentations to investors.

Investors were genuinely impressed with the startups, and the quality of their presentations. Anil Joshi remarked “I was pleasantly surprised. We typically don’t see such high-quality pitches at startup events.”.

While the presenting startups have yet to go through the skill-building program, 4 out of the 6 startups are now engaged with the investors for further evaluation.

Vasundhara Raje, the Honourable Chief Minister of Rajasthan is an ardent supporter of entrepreneurship and innovation and has made time to attend all the previous editions of the hackathon, DigiFest and other major startup events organized by the Government of Rajasthan. At the Udaipur DigiFest, she gave the first set of Qrate cards to select startups.

Startups that presented to investors during Rajasthan DigiFest – Udaipur 2nd-3rd Dec, 2017

‘BluPrints provides innovative mobility solutions for the governments and businesses.’

Their range of 20 highly software and design-intensive intelligent hardware products currently serve over 400 customers across 7 market verticals including BFSI, retail, logistics, healthcare, and parking.

Unlike off-the-shelf products, Blueprint products are custom-created for Indian conditions and requirements. For example, their e-challan reader for Government traffic departments has the ability to read the driver license, accept payments as well as print challans. And they were able to offer those at 1/3rd the price of competing brands.

BluPrints is led by Kavita Aggarwal, an electronics graduate from Delhi University. She also has an MBA from University of Leeds (UK) and has experienced in core R&D in embedded systems.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/meet-6-qrated-startups-presented-2nd-edition-rajasthan-prajakt-raut/