170 entrepreneurs and many aspirants got together to learn from each other.
This year, Chennai witnessed parallel Pongal celebration where 170 entrepreneurs and many aspirants got together to learn from each other.
The celebrations was a break away from formal meetings of startups and included a series of traditional activities like Kabaddi, group dances and a community Pongal preparation, which was a perfect ice breaker for veterans and aspirants to bond and exchange notes.
One of the organizers, Dharaneetharan G D, the co-founder of Teleport360 said, "The Pongal celebrations created a perfect informal atmosphere for members to get to know each other and their startup companies."
Archana Stalin who is the Founder of startup called myHarvest, a company that helps people set up kitchen gardens at their houses, also provides gardening sessions to children at schools said, "This brought together entrepreneurs to celebrate Pongal, also gave networking opportunities to talk to 150 other fellow entrepreneurs, investors and media".
The gathering had many young entrepreneurs; some of them had given up their corporate jobs to launch new startups. Mayilvahanan Vaganan and Kritika, owners of a company named Lunch Box also did the same. Their new company provides nutritious food to kids at school and the elderly people. During an interview they said "It was a great ambience. As entrepreneurs, we somehow overcome every challenge and it was a great platform to share and learn. Some of us mentored many aspirants. The fun activities made everything a lot easier".
The meet also drew an 16-year-old budding entrepreneur and author Sagarikka Sivakumar, who has launched a digital marketing venture. She had taken a year-long break after class 10 and gained experience in finance, stocks among others and translated her experience into a book titled "My Unschooled Years". She says, "Startup Pongal gave me a good experience. I made lots of contacts and even sold 20 copies of my book".