~ Luvena Rangel (The Curvy Yogi)

Kanara Entrepreneurs (KE) members gathered on Friday, 16th February 2024 at The Grand Magrath, Bangalore, not only for their Members Meet, but also to witness the Finalists’ pitch their business idea at the KE Launchpad 3.0

The packed ballroom commenced the schedule promptly with the KE prayer led by Stan D’Souza. Claudius Pereira, President-KE in trademark style, set the evening rolling with the quintessential idea that your future – and your success, or not – depends entirely on yourself and how you present it. His message highlighted the entrepreneurial quality of foresight, vision and appropriate execution.

Launchpad 3.0, KE’s initiative in association with ICYM, showcased five professional ideas from event management, sustainable foods, composting, university selection, and music. Judges Nisha Dhanuka, Adrian D’souza, Edward D’souza, & Dr. John Tharakan voted for winners after deliberating over their answers to some very interesting – and sometimes light-hearted – business specific questions.

KE Director Membership, James Coelho, then proceeded to officiate the solemn New Members’s Induction ceremony – bringing in 14 new entrepreneurs to the KE fold.

Our Chief guest for the evening, Laxmikanth V, Managing Partner, Pavestone Capital, delivered a crisp and enlightening talk on Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs). He focused on the industry changes, underlying social trends and how AIFs were being leveraged. His presentation zoomed in on principles of hyperpersonalization and the feedback loop and the application to various industries, including the VC space.

Nisha Dhanuka’s insights into investor selection led to Launchpad 3.0 winners being announced, with Naturya winning first prize, followed by Chef Robinhood, Snow Zoe Technologies, Filter University, and Intender.

After a quick set of announcements by KE Director Mentoring, Anoop Sequeira, members were led into a short but very effective round of table networking by our energetic emcees for the evening – Elton D’souza & Bryan Menezes before delivering the Vote of Thanks.

The evening progressed into vibrant social networking and conversations over dinner. Many thanks to our sponsors for their generosity as well as the KE Board of Directors, Mentors, Lead Members and Members for the active contribution of their time and effort.

Claudius Pereira Clarence Pereira Anoop Sequeira Sunil D’sa Pramod DSouza Naveen R D’Souza James Coelho Luvena Rangel (She/Her)

entrepreneurs # networking #mentoring #Launchpad #Launchpad 3.0