A session was under way at TiEcon Kerala, and it looked like a normal one except that every now and then some among the audience held up coloured square boards akin to the ones held aloft by cricket fans every time a boundary or a six was hit.
Only, the boards had 5000, 2500, and 1000 inscribed on them unlike 4 and 6 on the ones found in a cricket stadium. Soon, it emerged that budding start-ups were pitching for crowdfunding, which the organisers claimed to be the first instance of offline crowdfunding to be held in the State.
Largely unheard of in Kerala
While at any given time, crowdfunding for some product or cause is under way online, the same cannot be said of offline crowdfunding, which, at least, is largely unheard of in Kerala. “Those colourful cards serve as virtual currency, and start-ups are challenged to raise up to ₹30,000 through crowdfunding.
The session saw 28 companies pitching their products or services before the crowd, and the top three companies were given funds to the tune of ₹30,000 each,” said Andrine Mendez, founding trustee of The Kitchen, a not-for-profit organisation, which organised the session at TiEcon Kerala. Of the 28 companies, which participated in the crowdfunding session, the selected 15 will be given opportunities to pitch their products or services before a network of angel investors and venture capitalists on Saturday.
Besides, start-up companies were also given an opportunity to showcase their products at the start-up lab.
