BOSTON: TiE Boston, one of the region’s most influential business organizations supporting entrepreneurship, today announced the appointment of veteran international educator and nonprofit leader Chris Sauer as its new Executive Director.

With more than three decades of global experience in education, program development, and international partnership-building, Mr. Sauer brings a dynamic leadership perspective to the non-profit organization.

In his new role, Mr. Sauer will oversee TiE Boston’s day-to-day operations, lead the implementation of strategic initiatives, manage programming and partnerships, and support the organization’s mission to foster entrepreneurship through mentorship, education, networking, and funding. He will work closely with the TiE Boston Board, sponsors, and members to drive innovation and community engagement.

“We are thrilled to welcome Chris to the TiE Boston community,” said Purnanand Sarma, President of TiE Boston. “Chris brings a global mindset, deep leadership experience, and a passion for building strong, impactful organizations. The Board and I are excited to work alongside him to take TiE Boston’s programs and outreach to the next level.”

Sauer’s diverse background includes teaching and administrative roles across junior secondary schools, high schools, and universities in locations such as Botswana, the Navajo Nation, and across the U.S. and Asia. He has designed and led international pathway programs and higher education partnerships in Malaysia, India, China, Vietnam, the Caribbean, Central America, and the Middle East, with a strong focus on student access and success.

“Chris’s appointment marks an important moment for TiE Boston as we look to deepen our impact and grow our community,” said Joseph Falcao, Treasurer of TiE Boston. “His leadership experience in education and his global perspective will be a tremendous asset to our members and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

“I’m honored and excited to join such a dynamic and forward-thinking organization,” said Mr. Sauer. “TiE Boston has an incredible legacy of supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, and I look forward to working with our dedicated team and members to build on that foundation.”

Since its founding in 1997, TiE Boston has served as a vital hub for founders, investors, and business leaders in Massachusetts. Its robust network of serial entrepreneurs and seasoned executives provides mentorship, capital access, and strategic support to emerging entrepreneurs through a suite of signature programs.

The post Introducing Chris Sauer: The New Executive Director of TiE Boston appeared first on NRI News.

The conference witnessed participation from over 500 attendees, featuring keynote addresses and panel discussions by a power-packed line-up of speakers. TiE Bangalore also announced the winners of the prestigious Matrix 2024 Startup Awards. The Matrix Global Summit 2024 featured an extensive program with over 30 keynotes, panels, and workshops led by 80+ speakers. The rich discussions covered various deep tech areas, including Generative AI, new-age manufacturing, blockchain, industrial sustainability, agritech, and robotics. 

During a speech at the 9th TiE Bangalore Matrix Forum, Dr. Ajai Chowdhry Co-Founder of HCL and founder, of EPIC Foundation India highlighted that India stands at a pivotal moment in its technological journey, transforming from a service-based economy to a formidable product nation. Leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence, we can drive innovation and create and manufacture world-class products for global markets. Our government’s progressive policies are laying the foundation for this transformation. We must foster a robust ecosystem that encourages startups, supports research and development, and bridges the gap between academia and industry. As we harness AI’s potential, we are not just participants but leaders in the global tech arena. Let’s embrace this opportunity to position India as a beacon of innovation, shaping a future where our products define the world stage.

At the 9th Matrix Global Summit, Arvind Tiwary, Futurist and Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Matrix Forum took us on a journey on what the future holds. He stated, “Generating profit from GenAI applications may take a considerable amount of time. Large language models (LLMs) will exhibit imaginative tendencies, hallucinations, and stereotype biases akin to human behavior. Effective AI regulation demands a diverse range of specialties, contrasting with the flawed US model that relies solely on AI suppliers for safety oversight—comparable to asking cigarette manufacturers to regulate smoking. The future might lean towards analog technologies and synthetic biology, with innovations like Xenobots offering a glimpse into this potential direction”.

Winners of the Matrix Startup Awards:

The summit celebrated the achievements of emerging startups through the prestigious Matrix Startup Awards. The 2024 Winners are

Matrix Startup Awards Scale-up category:

• Winner – Suzhiyam Industrial Machines (Municipal solid waste to Industrial Process heat for hard-to-abate sectors like Cement and Steel)
• 1st runner up – Whrrl (Decentralized blockchain-based warehouse receipt financing for Agri produce)
• 2nd Runner up – Ayati Devices (Diabetic Neuropathy detection and monitoring device)

Matrix Startup Awards Innovation  category:

• Winner – Chara Technologies (Pioneer in rare-earth free motor and drive systems)
• 1st runner up – Next Big Innovation Labs (Customizable 3D Bio-Printing technology) 
• 2nd Runner up – Meukron Technologies (microfabrication of MEMS packaging and microfluidic devices in  semiconductor and biomedical industries)

Jury Special Impact Award: 

• Padcare Labs (Pioneering technology  in recycling of used sanitary pads)

Major Announcement at Global Matrix Summit:

• Clodura.AI Secures $2 Million Investment from Bharat Innovation Fund: Clodura.AI, the GenAI-powered “sales companion,” platform raises $2 million to transform sales prospecting to closure with its ability to find decision-makers, gather intelligence, automate outreach, and create a 10X sales pipeline.
• IIIT Bangalore partners with Matrix Forum to strengthen its Deeptech Startup Incubation Program ORBIT: This partnership will provide startups with tech expertise, GTM mentors, test beds, customer and partner connections, and investor connects, incubating 10-12 early-stage deeptech startups annually.
• Algorand Foundation announces the Faculty Development Programme on Next Gen Educators: The program aims to equip educators with blockchain fundamentals, decentralized application development, curriculum integration, and cutting-edge research, leading to a proficiency certificate.
• Next, Big Innovation Labs launches TRIVIMA PRO, Customizable 3D Bioprinting Technology: TRIVIMA PRO, a Made in India technology, enables the on-demand creation of human/living tissues, paving the way for innovative pharmaceutical testing and potential organ printing.

These significant announcements at the Matrix Global Summit underscore the transformative advancements in technology and education, driving innovation and growth in the industry.

Speaking at the event, TR Anand, Chair, Matrix Forum and Board Member of TiE Bangalore said “The 9th Matrix Global Summit has once again demonstrated the incredible potential of Deeptech and Generative AI to transform industries and improve lives. India is poised to become a global leader in these fields, and the announcements made today underscore our commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration. We are excited about the future and look forward to seeing the revolutionary advancements that will emerge from this summit.”

Madan Padaki, President, of TiE Bangaluru stated, “The energy and innovation showcased at the 9th Matrix Global Summit have been truly inspiring. The collaborations and breakthroughs presented here highlight India’s growing influence in the fields of Deeptech and Generative AI. We are eagerly anticipating the next chapter at the TiE Global Summit in December, where we will continue to drive forward with even more groundbreaking ideas and partnerships.”

At TiE Matrix Forum, we are thrilled to witness the impactful outcomes of the 9th Matrix Global Summit, which underscore India’s prowess in Deeptech and Generative AI. The collaborations and advancements showcased during the event highlight the spirit of innovation driving our tech community. We eagerly anticipate further exploration of transformative ideas and the cultivation of new partnerships globally that will continue to propel our ecosystem forward, said Rahul Mathur, Conference Chair, TiE Matrix Global Summit 2024.

Attendees had the opportunity to connect with industry leaders, visionaries, and professionals worldwide, creating valuable connections and opening doors to global business opportunities. The sessions provided deep insights into emerging areas such as AI, IoT, quantum computing, and other disruptive technologies reshaping industries. Led by renowned experts, these sessions offered practical and actionable knowledge to help organizations navigate the evolving tech landscape.

The post 9th Matrix Global Summit Showcases India’s Foray In Deeptech And Generative AI Innovations appeared first on NRI News.

TiE Pune continues to help foster entrepreneurship by building on the five pillars:  Inspiring, Teaching, Mentoring, Networking, and Funding. 

As one of the founders of TiE Nurture- an intense mentorship program that has been very successful and now being executed in Europe and America, Ajay feels that we need to help build good companies that are making profits and not just chase the topline.

“Yes, we are witnessing a funding winter, but those that are doing well are getting the money. Money chases profits, not just topline or downloads”, said Ajay.   In the past 11 years, TiE Nurture has helped over 300+ start-ups of which 150+ have ‘graduated’.  We have had several great success stories including Early Salary, Altizon, WalnutApp, FlytBase, and SunShot Technologies, to name a few, who scaled and were able to raise good funding.  However, we have been instrumental in helping many smaller ones survive and grow.  We consider that to be more important for the ecosystem. 

Besides the Nurture program, TiE Pune also targets the student community and encourages them to choose entrepreneurship as a career.  This is done by organizing the Biz QuoTiEnt program where students compete with their Business Plans. Last year, Cummins College student, Shalmali Kadu (Innergize) won the Best Women Student award under the TiE University Program.

TiE also has a program specially dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs. “Every year, we have a Global Contest for women entrepreneurs that affords them mentoring by global business leaders, enables worldwide networking, and offers the winner a cash prize. Among the women entrepreneurs who participated in this contest we have had Parul Ganju (Ahammune) and Anuya Nisal (Serigen Medical Products) who won the runner-up and India winner respectively“, said Ajay

While Ajay wears different hats of an entrepreneur and TiE President, he also has worked hard towards creating the MCCIA Electronic Cluster Foundation, a 70 Cr project with the help of the Central and State Governments.  “We have succeeded in creating a common testing facility of global standard there that all local companies can use with a cost advantage”, said Ajay

While manufacturing is gathering momentum, propelled by the Govt’s push to make-in-India, the tilt toward tech in the business community continues. We will have to wait and see how these companies perform. I know for a fact that it takes a long time for the manufacturing sector and the connected ecosystem to establish, grow, and dominate. 

Ajay’s presidency is ably supported by the Governing Council and the TiE Pune Office staff led by Rashmi Ghosh.  

The post Ajay Bhagwat is the new President of TiE Pune appeared first on NRI News.

PUNE: The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Pune Chapter has been awarded the Best Chapter Award in Category B at the TiE Global Charter Members program held in Rio de Janeiro. TiE Pune is a not-for-profit venture fostering entrepreneurship through mentoring, networking, education, funding, and incubation. The winners were selected from TiE chapters of 61 cities across 14 countries.

TiE Pune has 71 Charter Members and a vibrant ecosystem that is the work of charter members. The Pune chapter started in 2007 and has been fostering entrepreneurship through various programs designed to cater to almost every segment and line of business. Every year, TiE Pune through its various programs impacts nearly 5000 entrepreneurs.

Vineet Patni, President Pune chapter, said, “This award is a feather in the cap for all our Charter Members who have worked tirelessly over the years to give back and support entrepreneurs, it is just the beginning. We are committed to making Pune a city of choice for entrepreneurs and continue to position Pune as the innovation capital of India.“

Vivek Gupta, Chair of Public Relations and Charter Member at TiE Pune, said that TiE Pune has been carrying out multiple activities and initiatives to encourage young entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs from smaller towns, and collaborating with other chapters worldwide to help new entrepreneurs learn, grow and scale up. The recent award is a testimony to our commitment to contributing to the startup ecosystem in Pune and Maharashtra.

Pune has the potential to become the innovation capital of India. With a well-established startup ecosystem, talent pool, growing culture of innovation in educational institutes and companies, continuing infrastructure upgrades, world-class organizations and companies providing solutions to the world, Pune has the potential to become the innovation capital of India according to Mr. Vineet Patni, President TiE Pune.

TiE Pune has been running various programs for women entrepreneurs to enable them to build their own businesses and create more jobs. TiE women’s global pitch competition Pune round will be held in August to help showcase their innovative business ideas and gain valuable exposure to investors, industry experts, and mentors. Women in Entrepreneurship is not only gaining momentum, but they are also excelling in almost every domain and building business faster.

The post TiE Pune Wins Best Chapter Award in Global Ratings appeared first on NRI News.

BOSTON: At the Global Finals held in San Diego last week, TiE Boston’s Young Entrepreneurs (TYE) team, Aqua-Sol won the 1st Runner-Up Award. The team, which consists of Soham Kulkarni, Samarth Bedre, Jacob Slavsky, Anoop Rampure, and Karthik Pisupati, developed a technique that uses a water distribution system to enhance solar panel efficiency and extend the lifespan of solar panels. They were also awarded the Best Business Plan Award.

The TYE Global Pitch Competition brought together 21 teams from TiE Chapters around the world including Atlanta, New Delhi, Oregon, Tampa Bay, Kerala, and Vancouver, and was held on the campus of the University of San Diego. Before winning their impressive 1st Runner-Up Award, Aqua-Sol first advanced through the Boston regional round, where they edged out 13 other teams and progressed to the Global semi-final round, where there were four competing tracks of 5 teams each from around the world. In the Global final round, they presented their business idea to an esteemed panel of seven judges and also answered insightful questions.

On the occasion, TiE Boston President Yash Shah said, “We’re delighted that our team, Aqua-Sol, has secured the first runner-up place at the Global competition. The TYE program consistently delivers on its promise of building a community of high school students with an entrepreneurial mindset and skills that drive innovation. They are go-getters, self-starters, and comfortable navigating through the unknown. We are so proud of them and look forward to giving them all the support they will need as they grow through their entrepreneurship journey.”

TiE Young Entrepreneurs (TYE) Academy was conceptualized and executed by TiE Boston in 2005, and in the eighteen years since, has been offered at twenty-five TiE chapters around the world. More than 30,000 high school students have participated in the TYE Global program. Many have gone on to found their own companies. Instructors, mentors, and industry experts teach design thinking, customer validation, prototyping, and business models through hands-on workshops. Students develop essential life and STEM skills, a risk-taking mindset, teamwork, innovation, and leadership.

As Aqua-Sol CEO Karthik Pisupati explained, “TYE has helped me grow as a leader and an entrepreneur. It has helped me realize that if you work hard and focus on your goals, anything is possible. Connections are so important in this world, and TYE gave me a great opportunity to connect and meet new great people. I will forever be grateful for the experience that TYE has offered me, and to my team who gave me all these fond memories.”

Another team member, Aqua-Sol COO Soham Kulkarni concurred, “TYE Globals has taught me one important thing, which is perseverance. In the competition, every other team seems like they are going to win. But the best thing to do is just to keep going and presenting the best you can. This was one of the concepts that I believe led to our team’s success. The experience and skills that I learned from TYE Globals will help me become a more successful person in our current world.”

In Cambridge-Boston, the TYE program offers a 12-week school year program for high school students (1 day/alternate weeks on Saturdays) and a Summer Boot Camp for middle-school students (5 days/week full time). “Students learn from a network of industry leaders from top companies, to help them design, test, and build successful business ideas while learning critical life skills in the TYE Academy”, said Adam Carter, Associate Program Director, “We are currently accepting applications for both our programs”.

TiE Boston’s TYE program is supported by BNY Mellon, Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), State Street Bank, and Suffolk University.

The post TiE Boston’s Aqua-Sol wins First Runner-Up at the 2023 Global Finals of TiE Young Entrepreneurs appeared first on NRI News.

BOSTON: TiE Boston, the region’s largest organization supporting the Massachusetts entrepreneurial ecosystem and connecting entrepreneurs, executives, and venture capitalists, today announced the winners of its annual awards in various categories. All the winners will be honored at TiE Boston’s annual gala on Dec. 2 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, MA.

The winners are:

• Entrepreneur of the Year: Aman Narang, Co-President, Founder, COO, and Director, Toast, Inc.
• Award for Corporate Excellence: Rohit Prasad, SVP and Head Scientist, Amazon Alexa
• Venture Capitalist of the Year: Jamie Goldstein, Founder, and Partner, Pillar VC
• Rising Entrepreneur of the Year: Uroš Kuzmanović, CEO and Co-Founder, BioSens8
• TiE Boston President’s Award: Dr. Dinesh Patel, MD, Co-Founder, TiE Boston; Emeritus Chief of Arthroscopic Surgery at Mass General Hospital

“On behalf of TiE Boston, I had the honor of chairing a panel of a distinguished jury and it was not only inspiring but also demonstrated the strategic acumen of the entrepreneur community in Boston,” said TiE Boston President Yash Shah. “I would like to thank the winners, and also the jury for their hard work and good humor when the judging got tough! We’re looking forward to welcoming our guests at the annual gala on December 2 at the Sheraton Boston. It’s going to be a one-of-its-kind event and you don’t want to miss it.”

TiE Boston will also honor Boston Common Asset Management’s Founder and CEO Geeta Aiyer with its annual Lifetime Achievement Award for 2022.

Here are the brief bios of this year’s award winners:

Entrepreneur of the Year: Aman Narang
Aman Narang is the President, Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, and Director of Toast, Inc. Prior to Toast, he worked on innovation initiatives at Endeca (now Oracle). Narang spearheaded the development of Endeca’s business intelligence platform as well as their mobile commerce platform, each of which became a major business unit. He holds BS and MS degrees in Computer Science from MIT and currently leads innovation and business development initiatives at Toast.

Award for Corporate Excellence: Rohit Prasad
Rohit Prasad is senior vice president and head scientist for Amazon Alexa, leading a multidisciplinary team to make Alexa a trusted AI assistant, advisor, and companion for everyone, everywhere. His team’s product, engineering, and scientific advances have driven the adoption of Alexa by millions of customers worldwide.

In his previous roles at Amazon, Prasad directed areas such as far-field speech recognition, natural language understanding, and the underlying machine learning technologies that were instrumental in launching Amazon Echo’s new paradigm of hands-free interaction with ambient devices. Prasad and his team are now focused on advancing generalizable AI, combining the best of human-like intelligence with machine learning to accelerate the future of ambient intelligence – where the underlying AI seamlessly blends into your environment, connects heterogeneous services and devices, and adapts to your behalf to provide greater utility.

Prior to Amazon, Prasad was deputy manager and senior director of the Speech, Language, and Multimedia Business Unit at Raytheon BBN Technologies. In that role, he directed U.S. Government-sponsored research and development initiatives in speech-to-speech translation, psychological health analytics, document image translation, and STEM learning. Prasad is a named author of more than 100 scientific articles and holds several patents. He received his master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, India.

Venture Capitalist of the Year: Jamie Goldstein
Jamie Goldstein is a Partner at Pillar VC, a firm he co-founded with leaders of many of Boston’s most important companies, including DraftKings, Wayfair, Ginkgo Bioworks, and Circle. While at Pillar, he also co-founded Petri, a program supporting pre-seed biotech companies, and the melon, a crypto incubation studio. Goldstein previously spent 18 years at North Bridge Venture Partners. Prior to North Bridge, he was a Co-Founder of PureSpeech, a speech recognition company. Goldstein is a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School.

During his career, Goldstein has backed dozens of Boston-based startups, including many spinouts from MIT and Harvard. Goldstein invests in seed-stage companies at inception and was the first investor in Algorand, an MIT blockchain spinout that has grown to a $3B market cap. His seed investments at Pillar include Jellyfish, an engineering management tool, PathAI, a diagnostic tool powered by machine learning, Asimov, a genetic circuits company, and Desktop Metal. He also led later-stage investments in Circle and PillPack.

Rising Entrepreneur of the Year: Uroš Kuzmanović
Uroš Kuzmanović, the CEO and Co-Founder of BioSens8 and a Boston University BME Ph.D. candidate, engineers novel biosensors to provide continuous insight into our body’s state. He is the winner of the TiE Boston University Pitch competition in the summer of 2022 and later went on to be the TiE Global Champion. His interest in understanding the world around him led him to study molecular and cellular biology and chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In contrast to learning only from textbooks, he was excited by the idea of partaking in work that was completely novel, so he joined a chemical biology research lab early on. There, he worked to discover and characterize an organic molecule that alleviates symptoms of myotonic dystrophy.

However, it was his participation in iGEM, a yearlong undergraduate synthetic biology competition, which made him realize the power of engineering microbes and how to take an entrepreneurial perspective on science. It was a ‘lightbulb moment’ in a sense where he understood the immense impact which synthetic biology could make in a multitude of fields such as medicine, agriculture, climate change, and more. He pursued that passion and continued with applied research, joining Boston University to work with Prof. James Galagan for his MS and Ph.D.

Kuzmanović has been growing BioSens8 since the summer of 2020 and more formally for the past two years as the CEO. During that time, Kuzmanović has raised over $500,000 entirely in non-dilutive funding, in part thanks to the TiE Boston organization, interviewed over 70 customers, worked directly with lawyers on 4 patents (including 2 which have been granted), gathered support from Fortune 500 companies, amassed a large network of advisors and mentors, and moved the company into a premiere incubator space in Cambridge, MA.

TiE Boston President’s Award: Dr. Dinesh Patel, MD
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Dinesh Patel, MD is Emeritus Chief of Arthroscopic Surgery at Mass General Hospital and a co-founder of TiE Boston. He is also a founding member of the Arthroscopy Association of North America and the International Association of Arthroscopy. He has received many awards internationally for his pioneering work in Arthroscopic surgery and has been invited by numerous governments to assist in establishing orthopedic best practices and training in arthroscopy, including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, India, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, Indonesia, and Egypt.

As an entrepreneur, Dr. Patel had the opportunity to revolutionize the medical device industry with the launch of Acufex Microsurgical which has generated a billion dollars in revenue since its inception in the 1980s. In the 80s, he was selected to be the first minority Chairman of the Board of Registration in Medicine in Massachusetts and an elected member of the Federation of State Medical Boards. He was also the founding president of IMANE and a former President of IAFPE. Within Tie-Atlantic he founded the TiE Life Sciences section. He has received numerous awards from the Government of Gujarat, the State of Massachusetts, Rotary International, and the global medical community.

The post Jamie Goldstein, Uroš Kuzmanović, Aman Narang, Dinesh Patel, And Rohit Prasad Were Named Winners Of The TiE Boston 2022 Annual Awards appeared first on NRI News.