Yesterday, I attended eChai Ventures startup demo day at IIMA Ventures and was truly impressed. 🚀 From innovative student ideas to seasoned founders' implementations and exits, there was much to learn. 🎓 The host, Yash Shah, was fantastic, keeping the session engaging and highlighting crucial factors from his journey. 🌟
A key takeaway was identifying the target audience. 🎯 Whether in product or service, not everyone can be your audience. 🎯 Specificity is crucial in selecting your market. 🎯
Starting with identifying urgent problems is essential, as is the focus on saving time and money while generating revenue. ⏳💰
The startup ecosystem revolves around the team, founder, product, sales, and funding. 🔄 Encouraging the team leads to better performance, which drives sales and attracts funding, further fueling business growth. 💼💡
Interns play a vital role, bringing enthusiasm and quick learning to the team. 🎓 Their presence enhances teaching and training skills, contributing to overall team development. 👩💼👨💼
Importantly, while a good product is necessary, it's not sufficient for success. 🏆 Much more goes into building a thriving startup. 🌱
Last but not the least, pitches from various startups were indeed engaging the audience. Personally, I liked the product presentations from Heatmaphero about giving website page insights and informative dashboard and SarvDhan about identifying customer centric rural finance needs and bridging the gap between unorganised sector and #Banks 🏦/ #nbfcs🪙.
I'm grateful to eChai Ventures, Yash Shah (Host) and Jatin Chaudhary for conducting such a wonderful event and providing an interactive platform for learning and networking. 🙏
A key takeaway was identifying the target audience. 🎯 Whether in product or service, not everyone can be your audience. 🎯 Specificity is crucial in selecting your market. 🎯
Starting with identifying urgent problems is essential, as is the focus on saving time and money while generating revenue. ⏳💰
The startup ecosystem revolves around the team, founder, product, sales, and funding. 🔄 Encouraging the team leads to better performance, which drives sales and attracts funding, further fueling business growth. 💼💡
Interns play a vital role, bringing enthusiasm and quick learning to the team. 🎓 Their presence enhances teaching and training skills, contributing to overall team development. 👩💼👨💼
Importantly, while a good product is necessary, it's not sufficient for success. 🏆 Much more goes into building a thriving startup. 🌱
Last but not the least, pitches from various startups were indeed engaging the audience. Personally, I liked the product presentations from Heatmaphero about giving website page insights and informative dashboard and SarvDhan about identifying customer centric rural finance needs and bridging the gap between unorganised sector and #Banks 🏦/ #nbfcs🪙.
I'm grateful to eChai Ventures, Yash Shah (Host) and Jatin Chaudhary for conducting such a wonderful event and providing an interactive platform for learning and networking. 🙏
The eChai Effect - In Their Words
"eChai has been a game changer in my journey. It connected me with real people, real support and real opportunities. From building HMMBiz to launching Mindalcove, eChai has played a key role at every step. Grateful to be part of a community that truly believes in growing together."
Hardik Manwani
CTO, Mind Alcove
"After moving back from the USA, eChai became my go-to space to learn how the Indian startup ecosystem works. It offered direct exposure to startup thinking and a community that openly shares business insights. What stood out was how easy it was to connect, learn, and grow through real conversations. As we built our IT hardware rentals business, eChai helped us find our niche and refine our path. Proud and grateful to be part of this amazing community."
Heet Sheth
Growth and Tech, Sheth Info
"eChai has played a truly pivotal role in HummingBird’s journey — even before Day Zero. From ideation to establishment and into growth, it’s been a constant source of support. It connected me with incredible people who’ve become more than just friends. One of the biggest reasons I chose to stay in Ahmedabad is because of the eChai community. It has shaped my growth — both personally and professionally — in ways that are hard to articulate. Honestly, words fall short when I try to express what eChai means to me. I’m deeply thankful and forever grateful to eChai for being such an integral part of my journey."
Harsha Bhurani
Founder, HummingBird Consulting Group
eChai Partner Brands
eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner - working together to explore new ideas, open doors, and build momentum across the startup ecosystem.
