wanted: TECHNOLOGY ANGELS

Tehnopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP) of Government of India , managing India's biggest network for mentoring and funding independent innovators of India is looking for Technology Angels. Capable and committed technology experts , both working and retired, are invited to offer their services. See TePP advt `wanted 200 innovators........' .

Google invests in in Ventureast TeNet Fund II

Ventureast TeNet Fund is managed by Ventureast Fund Advisors India Ltd. The fund began with a corpus of $15 million with a mandate to finance start-ups in the telecom and IT industries. Ray Stata, Chairman and co-founder of Analog Devices of the US, had invested $10 million alone in Fund I. The TeNet group of IIT, Chennai, is the technology advisor, while Sarath Naru of APIDC is one of the co-founders of the fund. It typically will invest $2.5 million $10 million in an early stage venture.Now, Google acquired 30 per cent in Fund II for $3.75 million.
TeNet, Analog devices and Google make a formidable combination.
Source: VC Circle

Global Indus Technovators Award 2007

Indian Business Club @ MIT is hosting a yearly award ceremony - Global Indus technovators award, with the objective to felicitate young innovators (under the age of 40) of indus origin. The nominations for the same are open until 16 August 2007. Details can be found at

http://technovators.mit.edu.

Contact: 
Karthik Venkataraman,
Co-director,
Indian Business Club, MIT
vkarthik@MIT.EDU

Cosmos Ignite Innovations Pvt. Ltd

Cosmos Ignite Innovations Pvt. Ltd is an Indo-US Joint Venture . Building on the work of Stanford University, LUTW Foundation , Cosmos Ignite Innovations commenced as a collaboration between Cosmos Energy, India & Ignite Innovations Inc. USA. Amit Chugh, Co-Founder & CEO, is an MBA and Economics graduate with experience in Renewable Energy and Consumer Marketing. He returned to India to found and run an entrepreneurial venture in the energy space ranging from Hydro to Solar and founded Cosmos Ignite Innovations. He is based in New Delhi, India. Mighty lamp, their LED based solar operated lamp with solar panel costs about Rs 2,500/-

ASIAN INNOVATION AWARDS 2007

The Wall Street Journal Asia, announced that it was now accepting entries for the prestigious “Asian Innovation Awards 2007". The deadline for entries is September 5, 2007.

In 2006, the Asian Innovation Awards attracted more than 224 entries from 14 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region and short-listed 12 finalists. The winner of the Gold Award was Veredus Laboratories Pte. Ltd. of Singapore, for bird-flu diagnostic kits and tests that quickly identify different types of flu. The Silver Award went to the State Government of Gujarat, India, for Chiranjeevi Yojana, a maternity-care program that reduces maternal and infant deaths among its poorer communities. Dunwell Engineering Co., of Hong Kong won the Bronze Award for developing a lubricant-recycling process – called vibrating membrane technology – that saves energy and does not cause air pollution.

Applicants can either apply online at www.wsj-asia.com/aia or request application forms by emailing asianinnovation@dowjones.com

2007 International SmartGear Competition

WWF and its partners created the SmartGear Competition to inspire innovative, practical, cost-effective ideas that allow fishermen to "fish smarter" – to better target their intended catch while reducing bycatch. The competition awards cash prizes for the best idea to reduce bycatch, which is the leading threat to many marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds, and certain fish species. The 2007 International SmartGear Competition will award a $30,000 Grand Prize and two $10,000 Runner-Up Prizes.

Entry Deadline: July 31, 2007

The competition is open to all – fishermen, gear manufacturers, teachers, students, engineers, scientists, and backyard inventors. Visit www.smartgear.org for entry materials and to learn about the winning ideas from the first two competitions.

iPod charger

"ion", the company, was founded by Vikram V Chadaga, Niara Ahmed and Swaroop C H. It all started one fine day when Vikram wanted to charge his iPod but didn't want to keep the computer on overnight just for that (it's a waste of electricity, and there might be powercuts too). So he went looking for the official Apple iPod charger but found it to be rather expensive. The other chargers in the market at that time were not good enough, especially keeping in mind the safety of the expensive iPod, and many of them were unbranded which made them even more risky to use. Being an electronics geek, he took one of the circuits which he had made previously to power some instruments in his home (the circuit was in live use in his home for nearly 5 years) and then use it to create a charger with a USB port. He put in a regulator to make sure his iPod is safe from power surges.He got excited and showed it to his friends and mentioned a crazy idea of producing more of these and selling them. Fortunately or unfortunately, Niara took him seriously and over a period of many months, encouraged him to really follow that idea. Together, they turned the idea to execution (investment and costing, sourcing of raw materials, finding an assembler, etc), and then Swaroop joined them to help them out with the marketing, the design and the website. The rest, as they say, is history.

Open Access to Electronic thesis and dessertations

Information accessible to researchers is often not available to innovators. The current trend to provide open access shows promise. For those interested in state of affairs in India on this subject my read this article by Das, Dutta and Sen.

The TiE – ISB Connect 07

The TiE – ISB Connect 07, is scheduled at the ISB during November 14, 15, 16 2007. There will be discussion tracks on diverse sectors including The Mobile Convergence, Life sciences and Health Care , Security and Biometrics, Retail Industry ,Real Estate and Infrastructure & New Media and Entertainment. Each track will have a keynote address by a successful entrepreneur, a review of global trends in the sector by an analyst, and a panel discussion by venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs on sector opportunities. Entrepreneurs seeking opportunities in these sectors may attend the event as delegates. The entrepreneur community can also benefit from two specific opportunities:

· Investor Pitch – Presenting your project to potential investors.

· Jumpstart your venture – Workshop preparing the aspiring entrepreneur for an exciting journey

Entrepreneurs intending to participate in the investor pitch may please send in a five page summary of business plan (Executive Summary), to

TiE-ISBConnect07@isb.edu before July 31, 2007. Please visit www.tie-isbconnect.com for further details of the event.