What we’re about
Headstart Network Foundation is a Sec 25 company, established in the year 2008 with the vision to‘Change the World through Entrepreneurship’. It has been among the first few, to have driven informaland formal meets of aspiring and inspiring entrepreneurs in India ‐ as early as 2005‐06.
Today, Headstart Network Foundation is the largest network of early stage startups in India. It facilitatesentrepreneurial learning, hiring, marketing insights and peer mentoring amongst the startups throughinitiatives such as Startup Saturdays, Headstart Higher, Headstart Club and through its online channels.
Headstart is also committed towards strengthening the tech community of India through HeadstartHackerspaces (comprising of Hackathons, Tech talks and Labathons) a platform for building a communityof world class technologists in India.
Headstart Network Foundation works with a strong network of stakeholders: startups, government,investors, and industry and tech community.
Headstart Network Foundation presently, has its network spread across Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai,Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi, Trivandrum and Kolkata.
Initiatives:
1. Headstart Startup Saturdays: Startups Saturday is a monthly meet held on second Saturday ofevery month across 15 cities. It is a sharing and discussion platform and facilitates networking. Itis attended by aspiring entrepreneurs, early stage startups and entrepreneurial community of aparticular city. Thus, the attendees get an opportunity to demo/launch their services /productsand also learn from successful and seasoned startups. The Startup Saturday has witnessedmany participants transition into entrepreneurs and has facilitated cofounders and investors formany startups. Startup Saturdays reaches to over 1,000 people every month.
2. Headstart Higher: A startup is defined by its early employees and hence these are very crucial.Headstart Higher gets together the Startups looking at expanding their team and theprofessionals looking at a career with Startups.
3. Headstart Cofounder Search Program: facilitates Startups who are looking for a partner/cofounder to compliment his or her skill sets and bring the same passion and commitment indriving the venture into a successful enterprise.
4. Headstart Hackerspace: The Hackerspace initiative is to catalyze the emergence of innovativeproduct development companies out of India. Within Hackerspace initiative, we have HeadstartHackathon (is contest between accomplished technologists to create new apps/technology),Headstart Labathon (is for hands‐on code sprints to train people) and Tech Talks (new productsand new tech).
5. Headstart Mentor: has evolved out of the need for a close knit informal session of entrepreneursfrom across the sectors to share insights on strengthening each other’s venture. A small set ofentrepreneurs meet to discuss their own challenges and to offer their knowledge and resourcesto others. Such meetings allow entrepreneurs to learn through the experience of others.
