It’s that time of the year again when we go to a lot of Indian cities and meet early stage startups and budding entrepreneurs. TLabs has now opened applications for 4th Batch (Fall 2013) and is calling all start-ups/entrepreneurs/founders/co-founders who have awesome ideas and are looking for support in nurturing their products into sound businesses.

We plan to travel across the country over the course of next few weeks to meet future game changers, so please come and meet TLabs family for a casual mixer in your town!

Mixer is an open forum that provides an opportunity to the budding start-ups to share their ideas, stories, concerns, challenges etc. from left, right and center with TLabs team, founders of portfolio companies and its mentors. There will be a few TLabs portfolio founders at each mixer to offer you some candid insights into how their acceleration experience helped them get to where they are today and what it takes to create successful ventures, manage challenges and raise money. We would love to answer any particular questions about TLabs and our Batch 4 application process.

Here is a schedule of our May and June mixers, kindly fill this form to let us know when you would like to attend.

TLabs is kicking off its 4th batch in Aug 2013 and is currently accepting applications for the same. Your deadline to apply is 30 Jun 2013. Here’s the schedule in more details. If you haven’t yet applied to TLabs, please do so here: Batch 4 Application. We are planning to schedule each mixer for about 2-3 hours and will get back to you to confirm your participation. We are trying to keep each mixer small and only up to 30 people so please grab your slot ASAP.

TLabs recently announced its Batch 3 with exciting line up of start-ups from variety of domains joining its fast expanding family of young techpreneurs. The program started late last month and is in full swing with all seven start-ups busy building their products, doing customer validation, refining strategies and preparing for launch. These start-ups will go through an intensive power packed schedule over the coming couple of months in order to achieve a single objective i.e. building foundations of a sustainable business.

Profiles of start-ups

Happay

Happay offers a mobile wallet, which enables people to pay anyone by just using their phone number in a few clicks. Happay makes all day-to-day payments simpler, faster and secure thus making and tracking payments a happy experience for users. What more – it allows users to recharge their phone on the go, pay bills on time, shop at Happay Store (in-app shop) for exclusive gifts, track their personal and group expenses, split and settle bills with friends, store loyalty cards at one place and even request payment from friends. (visit Happay)

GradeStack

GradeStack aims to become a comprehensive store of courses and deliver faster interactive learning on mobile devices. GradeStack is trying to fill the big void left in optimising learning crafted for mobile devices. It enables this by offering courses on native apps currently available for Android & iOS. For content GradeStack is doing partnerships with content experts and clubs it with its technology / solution to provide best in class learning experience. The courses delivered are interactive, adaptive and collaborative in nature thus making learning fun, crisp and lighter with touch. (visit GradeStack)

Langhar 

Langhar is a web/mobile app to discover delicious and nutritious dishes cooked by real people at their amazing homes. It’s more fun and economical. It’s AIRBNB for food. Langhar is a trusted community marketplace enabling common people (housewives, hobbyists, professional cooks) to convert their homes into unique restaurants to earn extra income, also it helps foodies to taste the flavors of a variety of cuisines from all over the world. Further they can experience different cultures by making new friends and having fun. (visit Langhar)

Offermandi

OfferMandi is all about See Offers >> Go Shopping >> Save Money. It is a 24*7 geography based marketing platform giving local retailers of a city a must online presence to advertise their business among the local internet users and the end consumer a single portal to check offers relevant to their needs and geography. Time has changed and in current scenario most of the netizens either purchase products online or atleast check the prices of the products online which they intend to purchase and in this scenario local retailers are missing out who also offer same products with same or even less price. Offermandi makes two business niches i.e. Offline and Online compete with each other thus making the product cheaper for the end consumer. (visit Offermandi)

Oogwave

Oogwave is all about helping business work faster, easier and better. It encourages a new way of working and a shift away from using email as the main channel of sharing, discussion and  collaboration within a company. Engineered for collaboration, Oogwave allows the whole company to move together in alignment with company’s vision and culture. It is a free to join, private cloud collaboration platform, accessible on computers, mobiles and tablets, providing hassle-free collaboration with integrated productivity and communication tools. (visit Oogwave)

PrepSquare

PrepSquare is a self-assessment tool for competitive exam test-takers. It is bringing analytics and great content to students who are focussed on last-minute revision. Starting with the JEE Market, PrepSquare brings independent teachers online and connect them directly with students, allowing teachers to monetize their skills directly without the umbrella of coaching institutes. For students it provides a no nonsense product geared to help them make the most of the last 30-60 days of their prep. Prep Square’s mission is to break the another-brick-in-the-wall type of education that students receive today, and provide students with personalized tools and content to make the most of their prep. (visit PrepSquare)

iExperience

iExperience is an online platform that sells unique and authentic things to do for your weekends and vacations. With a rise in disposable income and increase in awareness due to various mediums and travel abroad, people in metros are looking for more than just malls and movies for entertainment. Changing customer trends in turn have given birth to a lot of passionate experience providers and a highly fragmented market. iExperience aims to fill this gap by being a managed service with focus on curation of great experiences, awesome customer experience and strong vendor backend. (visit iExperience)

The TLabs team is extremely excited about this opportunity to work with such an amazing mix of start-ups and is looking forward to helping each start-up realise their full potential.

What is TLabs accelerated application round?

Accelerated application round provides a platform for the budding start-ups to showcase their ideas and teams to TLabs and participate in an opportunity to be part of the batch 3 program. We would also be delighted to answer any particular questions about TLabs and our program.

Who can attend? 

Entrepreneurs who are interested in joining our Batch 3 program and are looking to discuss their ideas or ask specific questions about the program. This event is not for those who have already applied to the program as their application is currently being reviewed by TLabs.

What is the format for the day?

Each participating start-up is required to present their ideas and introduce the team in 10 mins following which there will be a 15 mins Q&A session with TLabs team. 

How do you register?

Here is a schedule of our January meet ups, kindly fill this form to let us know when you would like to attend.

We are planning to schedule each meeting for about 30 min and will get back to you to confirm your slot. Please leave a comment in the form if you have a special request or a question to ask.

TLabs is calling all start-ups/entrepreneurs/founders/co-founders who have awesome ideas and are looking for support in nurturing their ideas into sound businesses. We plan to travel across the country over the course of next few weeks to meet start-ups, so please come and join us over a coffee for a one to one discussion.

What is TLabs mentoring meet up?

Mentoring meet up is an opportunity for the budding start-ups to share their ideas/challenges from left, right and center with TLabs team members who will act as a sounding board and aim to provide candid advice on a range of issues. We would also be delighted to answer any particular questions about TLabs and our Batch 3 application program.

Who can attend? 

Entrepreneurs who are interested in joining our Batch 3 program and are looking to discuss their ideas or ask specific questions about the program. In addition, we welcome any founders/co-founders who wish to bounce off their ideas and are seeking some constructive feedback on the same.

How do you register?

Here is a schedule of our December meet ups, kindly fill this form to let us know when you would like to attend

Date                 City                      Venue                                         TLabs team

17 Dec         Delhi/NCR        TLabs (Noida Film City)                        Arpit/Abhimanyu

19 Dec         Hyderabad      Barista (Jubilee Hills)                           Abhishek

20 Dec         Chandigarh     The Hatch (Sector 28 – A)                   Arpit/Abhimanyu

20/21 Dec    Mumbai           TES (Bombay Exhibition Centre)          Abhishek

22/23 Dec    Bangalore       Costa Coffee (Near Sony World)         Abhishek

We are planning to schedule each meeting for about 30 min and will get back to you to confirm your slot. Please leave a comment in the form if you have a special request or a question to ask.

TLabs is kicking off its third batch in Feb 2013 and is currently accepting applications for the same. Your deadline to apply is mid-Jan 2013. If you haven’t yet applied to TLabs, please do so here: http://www.f6s.com/tlabsspring2013/

The TLabs team is back after a much needed short break and is about to kick off its application program for Batch 3 starting on 04 Feb 2013. Watch out this space for more updates around this over the coming weeks.

What happens when you believe in something and have dreamt about it for very long? What do you do when you spot an opportunity to turn that dream into reality? How do you feel when you start the action and find the first signs exactly the way you imagined them?

One word to describe the feeling is UNREAL (at least that’s how I have felt over the last few weeks )

Having spent more than five years working as a business consultant in London, few weeks ago I woke up one fine morning and decided to explore my longstanding vision – to combine my commercial expertise and entrepreneurial spirit in making some meaningful contribution to the socio-economic development of my country. I am a firm believer in the potential of market based approach in transforming the lives of people and with an emerging start-up/entrepreneurial ecosystem in India with many challenges of its own, I just couldn’t resist the temptation of becoming a part of this lifetime opportunity – plus, what’s more interesting than providing hands on support to nurture the next big thing! So last month I decided to quit my job and relocate to India to learn, contribute and develop the ecosystem and see its journey to greatnessssssss

During this deliberation process I also got in touch with my college senior Abhishek (Leader TLabs) who not only offered useful suggestions on how to get started but also gave me an amazing opportunity to come and spend some time with his team at TLabs as an EiR (Entrepreneur in Residence). So here I am…after spending few weeks at TLabs, meeting various start-ups and organizing an investor demo day I have had ample opportunity to see the ecosystem live in action and so far I have not been let down in any way by my decision! The place is buzzing with cool innovation and endless energy among the start-ups. But like raw diamonds they also need to be polished and that’s exactly where T-Labs comes in and thanks to Abhishek and Co who are doing an excellent job in helping them.

After working closely with start-ups, I can also see couple of areas where some value could be added to their awesome ideas – 1) Effectiveness: clear fact based go-to-market value propositions and business models 2) Efficiency: prioritization of plans and actions to maintain a result oriented attitude. I hope to spend my time over the coming weeks (and many years) to work with the change agents (entrepreneurs) in overcoming such challenges and helping them build sound businesses.

Can’t wait to get back to the action…

PS: I was never too much into social media but with what I intend to do would inevitably lead me there, so watch out this space and follow me at  or for regular updates

We are bringing together the best of the companies from our portfolio and from the Economic Times’ Power of Ideas (ET-POI) contest on a single platform to pitch to early stage investors at The Westin Hotel, Gurgaon on 28th Nov 2012. This webcast will begin at 7:00 pm IST and will last for about 90 min. The agenda includes a short keynote by Times Internet CEO Satyan Gajwani followed by 4 min pitches by each of the 9 participating companies. To know more about the companies presenting, visit our blog.

If there was any way to capture the level of energy and excitement present in the Tlabs today we would perhaps be able to light up many villages (or at least few lamps)! All the sleepless nights, intensive mentoring sessions, one to one coaching with EiRs, extensive storyboarding will culminate into the Demo day tomorrow where nine start-ups ranging from entertainment to recruitment to education space will showcase their products to a prestigious group of angel investors, venture capitalists and mentors from all over the country.

On 28 Nov evening Tlabs will be hosting its first Demo Day Supported by ET- Power of ideas. The agenda for tomorrow is also jam packed with keynote addresses, pitch sessions by start-ups, and networking sessions over drinks and dinner, and lots of fun. What’s more, you can follow it sitting in your home on the webcast channel here!

TLabs, a Times Group initiative, aims at nurturing and supporting the ideas and projects of Internet and Mobile entrepreneurs. TLabs understands the problems faced by young entrepreneurs and aim to provide a platform to shape their ideas into world-class products with the mentorship and guidance provided by TLabs mentors and functional experts.

Comments from TLabs start-ups that highlight the level of energy ahead of tomorrow. As Viraliti’s Anikendra says:

KaraokeGarage:  KaraokeGarage is an online social singing game. In a world obsessed with music and singing, KaraokeGarage aims to provide online singing entertainment by blending music, user talent and technology. At KaraokeGarage users can sing to their favourite song with the help of lyrics and original pitch reference of the song. As the user sings along, his pitch is analyzed and matched against original song pitch. Score is calculated based on user performance which can be shared or challenged among their Facebook friends. Visit KaraokeGarage.com for a new singing high!

Viraliti: Viraliti is the adwords for Pinterest. It is the first and only pay per click ad network on Pinterest.Viraliti runs in a very innovative manner where influential Pinterest users endorse brands by pinning images to their personal boards from the available ad campaigns on Viraliti. Brands pay for only valid clicks that these sponsored pins generate. Viraliti also provides detailed analytics for advertisers and publishers about the campaign. Viraliti’s mission is to be the one-stop social media marketing solution and leader on Pinterest.

HuntShire: Huntshire enables companies perform virtual walk-ins. Companies come and create hunts which the candidates participate. These hunts being online attract candidates from all locations. As a part of the hunt, there is an online assessment that is designed based on our propriety hunt methodology which tests the candidates on the skills defined by the job description. The companies get skill profiled candidates at the end of the hunt. We save more than 70% time and cost for the companies and helps them reach a wider talent pool.

Musicfellas: Life, as we see it, is made of different experiences. It is about those small moments that make your day. And we think those moments are best experienced with friends. At Musicfellas, we want to help you discover new artists with friends. Musicfellas is a social, indie music discovery platform where you can have meaningful interactions around the music you love. We are here to help you discover new music, have conversations and support the artists. The artists get 70% of whatever you pay to buy their music. We hope that you enjoy Musicfellas as much as we enjoyed making it.

Bluegape: BlueGape is a complete E-Merchandising Solution Provider. We handle printing, logistics, payments, customer service and technology. Catering primarily to two kinds of client 1) Influencers, those who have huge fan following on twitter or facebook and don’t have any revenue model apart from advertising 2) Brands looking for promotion through merchandising. Brands can use their store to reward their repeat customers and facebook contest winners. Bluegape envisions to create a search engine for merchandising. Just tell us what you love and we will show you stores and products based on your Interest. Few big names like Faking News, Garbage Bin and iXiGO have already signed up.

Get2Galaxy: Get2Galaxy is an open API hiring platform with crowd sourced  experts & operators, candidates and necessary tools for a company to satisfy its hiring needs

SharpEdge Learning: In traditional education, learning is linear. SHArP Edge Learning aims to revolutionise the current teaching methodologies and increase the efficiency of learning through the innovative technological aids. Sharp Edge takes the student through the industry relevant and employability ready content and skills throughout his college life. It has the largest repository for multimedia content in Higher Education developed in collaboration with Subject Experts, Industry Professionals and Cognitive Learning Experts.

iLiftOff: iLiftOff is a recruitment testing engine where Job seekers take tests to prove skills and using test scores employers select employees faster. iLiftOFF has 120 tests based on skill areas like finance, technology and law and a database of 15,000 job seekers

Dataweave: Data and gaining insights in data are crucial for any business, be it in creating applications or making informed decisions. Though lots of valuable public data exists on the Web, this data is hard to use. Businesses often manually collate this data which is time consuming and costly. This data exists in various formats and is temporally changing, making it difficult to use and understand. DataWeave helps users discover, monitor and visualize public data on the Web in a uniform format: APIs, dashboards and visualizations. Data examples that businesses find useful are pricing data, social media data and open data.

With our second batch in the last stretch of 4 weeks, we are happy to announce that we are now ready to accept applications for the next batch which will start in the spring of 2013, more precisely on Feb 4, 2013 at Noida.

Over last two batches our ecosystem has grown further to include at least 15 accelerators in India, 4 of them launched in just last one month. This is both good news and a bad one. Good because now our startups have more options. There was a clear problem of seed-stage financing in India and this is a good solution to have. It is bad because suddenly there are a lot of new options to choose from and some of these may actually not be doing so much justice to the faith an entrepreneur puts in them.

We are sure that the better ones will soon start establishing themselves and will keep attracting best startups, while the others may simply be lost in oblivion. That’s the first rule of business and we are loving all the competition we have. If nothing else, it pushes us to stay in the lead!

So, we have opened applications to our next batch. This time we plan to move on completely to F6S, a global accelerator workflow system. It has some fantastic features like application sorting, mentoring management, internal communication and individual and startup profiles. Our next batch will start on Feb 4, 2013 and your deadline to apply is mid-Jan 2013. Use the button below to apply!