DELHI, INDIA — (Marketwired) — 12/17/14 — TiE Silicon Valley (), the Silicon Valley chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs, today announced its Billion Dollar Babies initiative, a new program for Indian startups with global aspirations. The program aims to help select Indian product startups reach $1 billion in global enterprise value through this ambitious initiative that promises to leverage the reach and resources of TiE Silicon Valley.
Billion Dollar Babies, which launches with its first class in January 2015, will bring selected startups to Silicon Valley for this program. A new ecosystem that bridges the worlds of India and the US to help entrepreneurs go global, companies connect with mentors, potential customers and venture capitalists. The companies will be able to participate in the TiE CIO Forum and other educational events, and receive help with legal, accounting, HR/benefits, hiring, marketing, and other company-building tasks.
“The Billion Dollar Babies program represents a unique opportunity for young Indian companies aspiring to break through into a competitive global market,” said Venktesh Shukla, president of TiE Silicon Valley. “Companies selected for the program will get access to TiE Silicon Valley–s rich ecosystem of successful entrepreneurs, top executives and venture capitalists, as well as potential customers. Such access, combined with mentoring and advice from role models, will accelerate the global success of the promising companies selected for this program.”
“India is witnessing an upsurge in the number of innovative software product companies focused on Indian and global markets. The “Billion Dollar Babies” initiative has been specifically carved out to nurture these deserving Indian startups and turn them into global technology companies with India being the anchor market and product technology hub,” said Saurabh Srivastava, one of India–s leading IT entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, who cofounded the Indian Angel Network, TiE Delhi-NCR and NASSCOM and will also be the India co-chair of Billion Dollar Babies.
“Venture capitalists are taking notice of the growing number of companies in the US-India space,” said BV Jagadeesh, managing partner at KAAJ Ventures and co-chair of Billion Dollar Babies. “India provides a large domestic market where these companies can validate and refine their products before entering global playing field.
“We are seeing companies with enormous global potential starting in India, and we believe with the proper resources they can become billion dollar companies,” said Raju Reddy, Advisor to Hitachi ITSC Global, global entrepreneur and co-chair of Billion Dollar Babies. “Billion Dollar Babies facilitates guidance between entrepreneurs and business leaders who have successfully entered the global market to set participating companies on the same path to success.”
Other members of the Billion Dollar Babies program include:
Nishith is the founder of Nishith Desai Associates, a research-based Indian law firm with offices around the world.
Ravi is chairman and co-founder of Frictionless Ventures, as well as chair of the the NASSCOM Product Council.
Ashish is a managing director at Helion Advisors, an India-focused venture capital fund.
Dinesh is a successful serial entrepreneur and partner at Accel Partners, where he focuses on early stage cross-border (US/India) investments.
Ash is a managing partner at Saama Capital, an India-focused venture capital firm that is sector and stage agnostic.
Manu is a director at Inventus Capital Partners, an India-US venture capital firm, and former product development executive.
Applicants to the program must be product companies based in India with global aspirations. The companies must have already raised venture/angel funding and have demonstrated traction both in India and overseas. One of the company–s co-founders also must be willing to relocate to Silicon Valley for the duration of the program.
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TiE Silicon Valley is a nonprofit association dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship in the Bay Area and beyond. TiE strives to inspire entrepreneurs through mentoring, networking, education, incubating, and funding programs and activities. With nearly 50 events held each year, including TiECon, TiE brings together the entrepreneurial community to learn from local leaders as well as each other. TiE Silicon Valley is part of the TiE network, which includes over 11,000 successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporate executives, and aspiring entrepreneurs in 18 countries. For more information on TiE Silicon Valley, visit
Jessica Hasson
PulpPR
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