IT major IBM is sharpening the focus of its SmartCamp outreach programme for the start-up ecosystem — from an across-the-board approach to one that makes it industry specific.
“From this year, we started adding an industry focus... will continue looking at industry segments as the start-up space is ever evolving,” said Seema Kumar, country manager-ecosystem development, IBM India and South Asia.
Beginning with the SmartCamp in Mumbai this August for start-ups in the Fintech space, the process gained momentum with one for HealthTech enterprises. Speaking to The Hindu at the T-Hub here that played host to the grand finale involving eight health start-ups, Ms. Kumar said by December two more SmartCamps would be held. One would be on Smarter Cities in Delhi and the other on Deep Tech in Bengaluru.
With an industry flavour, the client connect is focused and the programme become more relevant, she said, adding healthcare professionals and doctors formed part of the audience. The SmartCamp, being held for a couple of years, is primarily for early stage B2B tech start-ups, though it also involves a host of others in the eco-system.
“This is a very good platform for start-ups to present their ideas and solutions and get them vetted by the industry. The panel of judges consists investors, VCs, industry leaders, CIOs, and some IBM executives as well,” Ms. Kumar said.
“Next year, we hope to do a few more programmes,” she added, without specifying the number or the focus industries. The winning start-ups, post event, get access to IBM technology such as the Bluemix platform, besides technical mentoring.
