Description:Dim Dim Inc. offers free online Web conferencing solutions based on open source software. Its founders, scattered across the globe, came up with the idea while trying to communicate with each other. Shortlisted for DEMO, the Silicon Valley-based product showcase, and the TiE-ISB business plan showcase, Dim Dim is up against larger players such as Cisco Systems Inc., which owns Web conferencing company WebEX Communications, and Microsoft Corp.
3. Ziva Software Pvt. Ltd
Founder(s):and Ajay SethiSameer Shishodia
Space: Mobile search
Funding:$1.7 million by Nadathur Holdings and Investments Pvt. Ltd
Description: The Bangalore-based start-up, which offers mobile search services under the brand Zook, has recently launched a service to answer any question posed by users, using a combination of database and mobile social communities. Incubated at the NS Raghavan Cell for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) on the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore campus, Ziva Software Pvt. Ltd was shortlisted for the second edition of Proto.
4. Novatium Solutions (P) Ltd
Founder(s):Rajesh Jain, Ray Stata and Ashok Jhunjhunwala
Space: PC hardware
Funding:Undisclosed investment by NEA and NEA IndoUS Ventures
Description:Novatium Solutions (P) Ltd, which was shortlisted for Proto, makes thin client personal computers. Its founders come from impressive backgrounds—Stata is chairman of Analog Devices Inc.; Jain is a serial entrepreneur best known for his Internet company Indiaworld.com, which was acquired bySify Ltd for $115 million in 1999; Jhunjhunwala established the TeNeT (Telecommunications and computer Networking) Group at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai. Novatium recently tied up with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to offer low cost, Internet-enabled PC’s in Delhi.
5. iXiGO.com (Le Travenues Technology Pvt. Ltd)
Founder(s): Aloke Bajpai, Rajnish Kumar and Jens Schutter
Space: Online travel
Funding: Closing pre-series A funding
Description: iXiGO.com, a late entrant in the online travel space, says its differentiated business model helps reduce cost of operations, which allows it to scale faster. Instead of booking tickets on its site, it re-directs customers to airlines’ home pages, for which it collects a fee from the airlines. Its founders worked for several years at European travel site Amadeus.net before moving to India in 2006. The company was shortlisted for Proto and Nasscom’s 100 IT Innovators 2007.
6. MobME Wireless Solutions Pvt. Ltd
Founder(s): Sanjay Vijayakumar, Sony Joy and Kenney Jacob
Space: Mobile content sharing
Funding: Undisclosed angel investment
Description:MobME Wireless Solutions Pvt. Ltd’s platform allows users to post and share photos from their mobile phones. The company, launched as a subsidiary of Thiruvananthapuram-based mobile advertising start-upTorque Technology Solutions, recently tied up with Café Coffee Day to launch a bluetooth-enabled service that allows a user to broadcast his photo on TV screens across 30-odd outlets. MobME’s founders are among the youngest on this list—the company was born as a student project that turned into a full-time venture in 2005. It was listed among Nasscom’s 100 IT Innovators 2007.
7. Anantara Solutions Pvt. Ltd
Founder(s):G.B. Prabhat
Space: IT enabled services
Funding: $6.5 million by Helion Venture Partners, Walden International and SVB Financial Group.