NeedGrub.com, an online restaurant guide, from Bangalore has been nominated for the coveted TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards.

About NeedGrub.com

Needgrub.com is an online dining guide for various cities in India. NeedGrub provides an extremely interactive and useful guide for users to find their dining options online. With the growing demand for information on local dining options, NeedGrub.com strives to provide just that to our users. Needgrub's focus on restaurants is a critical difference and the focus is translated into valid and useful information provided to its users.

On the flipside, NeedGrub also acts as a powerful, high-reach, marketing platform for Restaurant owners. Restaurants that do not have the opportunity to create its own online presence, can now use NeedGrub's great marketing tools to reach to the online customer base. Restaurants can receive that online presence they need in the growing internet community in India and abroad.

TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards

The First ever ‘Public Choice’ awards to recognize India’s new wave of growth, the TATA NEN Hottest Startups is an online contest where people can nominate companies & vote for them both on internet & through SMS.

The Awards are a unique collaboration between the Tata Group, India’s most respected business conglomerate and National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), the largest representatives of new & future entrepreneurs in India. The Awards aim to showcase and recognize high potential young companies in India, with the goal to attract visibility for over 800 entrepreneurs & their ventures in India, and engage over 5,00,000 people.

The TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards are designed to engage the public in the selection process. People can nominate and check out the nominations online. Voting can be done online or via sms. Comments can be shared online about the Nominees – people can campaign for their favorite startup, get their friends to vote and participate in Hottest Startup events! People can also enter Lucky Draws to win Hottest Stuff! More information and company profile at www.hotteststartups.in

The structure of the competition ensures both engagement and credibility. After the first round a shortlist of 30 companies will be selected based on the most number of public votes, combined with the highest expert ratings. Finally top 5 winners will be chosen from these 30 companies. The expert judges will be a pool of over 100 people including investors, entrepreneurs, academicians, professionals and representatives across industries.

There are three requirements for participating startups. The company must be: 5 or fewer years old; headquartered in India; and a stand-alone – not a subsidiary or division of a larger company. In addition, the company should be highly innovative, growing rapidly, and have the potential of changing their industry.

Winners of TATA NEN Hottest Startups will receive a potent combination of publicity and business support, designed to spur their growth to the next level.

Prizes in the TATA NEN Startup Awards include:

· Business training, mentoring and incubation support of upto Rs. 50 lakhs by IIM-A and CIIE

· Incubation opportunity to a befitting venture by IIM-B and NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL)

· Admission to Microsoft’s StartUp Accelerator Program for at least one winner

· All Shortlisted startups will get admission to TiE Mumbai’s nurturing program

The Awards has the outcome of directly helping the 30 shortlisted companies, and providing even greater support and visibility to the Top 5 Winners.

The 2008 Tata-NEN Startups Awards will showcase a wide range of high potential startups from multiple sectors, ranging from healthcare, retail, mobile technologies, biotech, hospitality, lifestyle, IT and service providers.

Lending support in the cause are Helion Ventures, Seedfund and Wadhwani Foundation. In addition, all the established entrepreneurial, academic and corporate communities including, Microsoft, IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Ahmedabad, Open Coffee Club chapters, Mumbai Angels, Indian Angel Network, Venture Woods, Proto.in, Kickstart and TiE are partnering in the initiative.

Voting for the TATA NEN Startups Awards opened on August 27, 2008. Last date for sending nominations is October 22, 2008. In phase I, public votes and expert reviews will decide the 30 shortlisted companies, which will be announced on November 6. Phase II will comprise on-ground and online campaigning by the 30 shortlisted startups and culminate into a major voting drive where the public will vote for the Top 5 Winners who will be declared on December 23, 2008.

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