The Grand Finale of Zone Startups India’s PitchRight S02 brings the curtain down on the unique online exercise involving evaluation of startups. The Grand Finale episode of the reality show had select guests present numbering around a 100 and were largely investors and corporates apart from the media. This curated episode had the announcement of the winners of the programme as well.
The startup entrepreneur is taken through a short 45-second elevator pitch in this PitchRight programme, after which there is a one-on-one feedback session.
Angel investor Sanjay Mehta, who counts startups like Oyo Rooms, Box8, Zippr, LogiNext, PrettySecrets, Unbxd and FabAlley among the 100 odd ventures he has invested in, was the sole judge through all the episodes. Of the 240 applications received, 13 were shortlisted and 13 episodes shot. Of this 13, only 9 were selected for the Grand Finale.
The jury for the Grand Finale included Anoop Mathur (President - CORE Media), Anuj Munot (Angel Investor), Jitendra Gupta (Founder - PayU) and Nirav Choksi (Founder - Credable) with Sanjay Mehta as the host.
Dhaval Udani, Founder of danamojo, and Ranjeet Deshmukh, Founder of RoadBounce, were announced as the two winners of PitchRight S02, they would receive a seed fund investment of Rs 5 lakh each.
On-spot funding was also granted by several key investors. Two startups managed to get spot funding of Rs 75 lakh.
A People’s Choice Award winner was also announced, which went to Prasad Kajarekar, Co-founder of GameBlitz. He received a grant of Rs 50,000 from Zone Startups India.
“PitchRight is a format that we conceptualized mainly for curating content around how to get your elevator pitch right. We have had some really good viewership of the content - which is good validation of the format. However, what has been more encouraging this year, is the turnout of investors at the Grand Finale, and participating in a round of live, on-spot funding - a truly enriching experience for all involved. We look forward to taking the format to greater heights with some strong partnerships lined up for the upcoming seasons,” Ajay Ramasubramaniam, Director India, Zone Startups said.