Swagene conquers start-up contest Conquest 2015, Gamezop comes in as second

After a grueling contest among budding start-ups, healthcare venture Swagene pipped over 1,350 other entries to win the 11th edition of Conquest at the BITS Pilani’s International Startup Conclave in New Delhi. In order to improve health of individuals, Swagene helps discover hidden genetic secrets as 0.1 percent makes all the difference despite many people having 99.9 percent identical genes. Another start-up Gamezop had to content itself with the runners-up trophy while Truck Suvidha won The Pioneer in Marketing award in the grand finale at the ITC Sheraton, New Delhi on Sunday.[caption id=“attachment_2430114” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Winning moment at Conquest 2015. [/caption] Gamezop is a social network for casual games which chooses the best games allowing players to play new games each week without downloading them. “We feel proud and reinvented with the ideas at Conquest while also providing the start-ups with a perfect launchpad. We are very happy to see the culmination of a year’s hard work end on such a high note in the presence of this huge gathering of investors, entrepreneurs and students joining in from across the country,” said Conquest 2015, chief executive officer, Srikanth Garimella. Mentors from various firms like CupoNation, Practo, Investopad, OYO Rooms were present to help these start-ups, the top 50 of which were selected among 1,400 registrations. These 50 attended later networking sessions in New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. “In additament to the incubation, mentoring and IP filing support, the mentors also advised them on fundraising, revenue modeling, hiring, branding & marketing, up-scaling and technology. The top 10 finalists were then selected by the jury members to be a part of the finale,” said a release from the organisers. Chief mentor at Mentor on Road Initiative to promote Make In India Campaign among rural enterprises, start-ups and MSME’s in India and across 20 countries, Jagat Shah attended the event as chief guest. Commenting on Conquest 2015, BITS Pilani, director, Ashoke Kumar Sarkar, said, “As part of the Institute’s Vision 2020, it is our imperative to promote entrepreneurship among students who are the future of the country. Conquest, which was started by a group of enterprising students, has become a launch pad for young entrepreneurs.”