Startups to represent India at finals of GITR contest

Startups HyperVerge and Doctors' Circle qualified to represent India at the Asia finals of 'Get in The Ring' (GITR), a unique startup contest organised as part of Nasscom Product Conclave here.

GITR is a startup pitching models mimicking a boxing match which assesses the potential of a startup in quick five 30-second back to back duels between two competitors standing in a ring.

They are assessed on team (description of the startup founders), achievements, business model and market, financials, proposition and freestyle (anything more about the startup) followed by a two-minute question and answer session.

"Startup pitching generally takes three to four minutes which we want to change," said Joachem Cuppen, co-founder, GITR.

"Competitors have to slug it out orally with their persuasive skills, without any powerpoint presentation but with sheer convincing power," said Rajat Tandon, vice president, Nasscom 10,000 startups.

GITR was founded by Erwin Koenraads, Hendrik Halbe, Martin Luxemburg and Joachem Cuppen in Netherlands in 2012.

GITR, supported by a Kauffman foundation initiative, organises startup pitching battles in over 100 countries every year.

"Efishery from Indonesia, Iverify from USA and Risparmio Super from Italy are the past winners of GITR which promotes startups that provide globally relevant solutions," added Cuppen.

A total of 32 startups participated in GITR on Thursday which were evaluated by Dave Mclure, 500 Startups, Steven Lurie, Team Builder Ventures, Chairman Nasscom Product Council Ravi Gururaj and others.

"Initiative like GITR will not only support current startups in India by facilitating them in scaling up their operations, but will also encourage more people to join the league," said Tandon.

HyperVerge and Doctors' Circle will compete in the Asia finals in South Korea later this year.