TiECon 2025: Chandigarh an IT hub, fuelling startup surge, says governor

“The Chandigarh city has come up as a congenial platform for all IT enabled service industries which has also led to creation of jobs for related sectors as well,” Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria said on Thursday, during the inaugural flagship event of the Chandigarh chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)—‘TiECon’.

The two-day TiECon event kicked off on Thursday, and the event brought together prominent industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors from across the country.

Kataria, while lauding TiECon’s role in promoting and sustaining the startup culture in Punjab and Chandigarh, said, “TiECON Chandigarh is the brainchild of leading entrepreneurs and thinkers to provide a thriving ecosystem to budding and aspiring entrepreneurs through mentoring, networking, education, incubation and funding. The central government projects envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including Startup India, Make In India, Atmanirbhar Bharat have laid the strong launchpad for realisation of bigger goals in these sectors.”

“Women are equal partners in the nation’s growth story and their greater participation in the workforce is imperative for equal growth and prosperity. I always feel great pride when as Punjab Governor during all convocation ceremonies when girl students bag the top ranks in their examinations,” said Kataria.

The governor also gave away Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) awards to deserving entrepreneurs who have done exceedingly well in their fields.

TIE Chandigarh president Satish Kumar Arora said entrepreneurship is not only a career option now and it has catapulted into a movement to make the lives of our citizens better through service.

TIE Chandigarh vice-president Puneet Verma said their organisation is committed to contribute their best towards nation building by mentoring entrepreneurs to create wealth and opportunities.

10 startups pitched to grab ₹5-cr investments

For the first time, TIECON organised ‘Pitchathon: Startup-Shark Soiree’, a live funding event for startups. The event had pitches, negotiations, deal signings, all in real time.

As many as 10 startups pitched live on Thursday, as over 40 investors are ready to fund a whopping ₹5 crore in total. The results of the funding will be announced on Friday.

Arora further informed that the announcement of ₹5 crore instant funding during TiECON has received an overwhelming response, making this 10th edition of the event remarkable.

Eye-catching startups at TIECON 2025

Girish Sapra, co-founder, Green Brigade

They have been serving over 2,000 houses and collecting as well as managing their waste, which Sapra who is from Jalandhar claims his firm is the first in Punjab to do. They aim to make zero waste units with their machines. Their projected revenue in 2024-25 is ₹1.8 crore. He claimed his firm was recently awarded for their work in Hoshiarpur. They work in providing products and services to segregate solid waste and generate value out of it using their machine G-Sortex Municipal Solid Waste Segregation Machine which segregates fresh mixed waste from black spots into wet and dry waste components leading to effective recoverability from mixed solid waste. Speaking about the region, he said that the area under GMADA in Mohali can benefit from this. Sapra has obtained a PhD from National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar.

Pallavi Modi, founder, Go Kids

Pallavi Modi who hails from Zirakpur initially started with a toy store. However, she felt she was not utilising her full potential and started Go Kids. Go Kids is a research and product development firm dedicated to understanding children’s behavior and development. They are building an Al-powered ed tech platform and conversational app that provides guidance, answers, and counselling to parents and children on career, health, behaviour, and academics. Currently, they are testing the market with our products and gathering data to develop the Al app. They have started with a pilot batch of five kids and will also start behavioural workshops and counselling. Currently their revenue is around ₹25 lakh.

Samriti Kamboj, co-founder, Smilekey Honey

This startup started around one and a half years ago in Yamunanagar in Haryana but are now using the internet to sell six types of honey. Kamboj explains that they have kept their bees in specific fields to impart flavour to the honey. Using bees near mustard plants, ajwain or even tulsi they are able to get the benefits of the plants in the honey. They have also recently started selling bee pollen which they claim is a superfood and is a natural multivitamin which is wholly absorbed by the body. Their sales are around ₹50,000 per month as they look to expand further.