Headstart HS.X 2022 concluded successfully on 15th October’22 at the IIIT Bangalore campus. The journey started in 2007, by getting all stakeholders of the startup ecosystem together, to initiate Startup conferences. Since then Headstart have expanded to 23 cities across India. They have created over 20 different initiatives to add value to early stage startups in the country.
The massive event, Headstart HS.X 2022, was a true spirit of entrepreneurial celebration. An extremely well-curated event, that enabled networking with the who’s who from India’s top startups, VCs & angels, Corporate CXO and Government Decision Makers.
This year, the event saw a total footfall of 1500+ (including participants, visitors, investors, govt. officials, incubators, and AICs). 51% of the footfall numbers were by founders.
Headstart.HSX 2022 had something unique this year “Start-up Showers”. This was inspired by Elon Musk’s mention”Instead of baby showers, let’s host business showers”. The startup community came together as one and showed amazing love and support for the products (an entrepreneurs’ baby) of 11 startup founders.
Bharat Pitchathon at the event saw a total of 16 startup pitch sessions, which were mentored and trained to be pitch ready by various experts arranged by Headstart. There were about 30+ Investors who had attended the pitch (representing various VCs and angel syndicates).
Enabler Awards 2022, an initiative of the Headstart Network Foundation powered by DBS Bank brought out the best enablers such as Incubators, Accelerators, Corporates, Investors, Government bodies, and other organizations working towards enabling the Startup Ecosystem and community in the nation to recognize them and motivate them to continue to make India grow and evolve day by day towards the next startup nation of the world.
List of the Enabler Award 2022 winners:
| Name of Org | Category of the Award |
| AIC-Nalanda Institute of Technology Foundation | Best Incubator – Corporate Engagement |
| IIT Madras Bioincubator | Best Incubator – MedTech |
| AIC-RNTU Foundation | Best Incubator – Startup Program |
| Afthonia Lab Pvt Ltd | Best Incubator – Fintech |
| DERBI Foundation | Best Incubator – Social Impact |
| Jain University Incubation Centre | Best Incubator – Investor Relations |
| Atal Incubation Centre – CCMB | Best Incubator – Government Relations |
| Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences “Deemed to be University” | Best Upcoming Incubator |
| Crescent Innovation and Incubation Council | Best Incubator – Innovation |
| Atal Incubation Center ALEAP WE Hub | Best Incubator – Women Program |
Amit Singh, Founder & Director, of Headstart, said, “What started as a simple catch-up to bring struggling & aspiring founders together to meet and learn from the experienced ones, has turned into a massive movement that’s hosted over 2500+ Startup events, where 1 in every 4 startups that were incorporated in India in the last decade would have been a part of a Headstart program”.
“15 years of Volunteering & Paying it forward at Headstart has been synonymous with the growth of the Indian startup ecosystem. Headstart is now replicating its volunteer model across multiple geographies starting with UAE and Europe. The org shall focus more on People, Programs, and Playbooks in the upcoming year, building focused programs for startups and enabling other startup ecosystem enablers to amplify their impact”, says Gautham Sivaramakrishnan, Director at Headstart.
Small Enterprise India, had caught up with a few of the Startups at headstart HSX. 2022 event and had an insight into their successful journey.