Santa Clara – March 29, 2017 – StartupWind Inc, the premier social networking and equity crowd funding platforms for entrepreneurs, investors and advisors from premier schools, unveiled the business plan competition - "The Startup Storm" today.

The Startup Storm is a global competition for students and alumni from premier schools, inviting them to create a business plan and a funding ready pitch. Participants will get a chance to showcase their plans in front of a global network of 2,500 investors, mentors and entrepreneurs. The competition celebrates the creative potential of young innovators. It is a platform to nurture them for future challenges and to get them ready for funding.

"The Startup Storm is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to get plugged into a global ecosystem of 2,500 investors, entrepreneurs and advisors, get exposure to hundreds of accredited investors and get feedback from some of the brightest startup minds.", said Mahesh Rajasekharan, Managing Partner, Globe Equity Partners and a judge for the competition.

"Getting seed funding is hard but getting ready for funding is harder. The Startup Storm enables entrepreneurs to leverage the expertise of the network and feedback from the judges to get ready for funding.",said Narendra Patil, Founder, StartupWind.

StartupWind enables entrepreneurs to tap into a rich network of startup-minded people who want to help entrepreneurs and actually have the skills to do so.",said Ido Sarig, VP of Corporate Development at WindRiver Systems, former VC and a judge for the competition.

Competition highlights:

• Business plans will get exposure to 100+ investors on StartupWind
• Entrepreneurs will get feedback from a panel of judges that includes private equity partner, former venture capitalist, angel investors, entrepreneurship professor and Silicon Valley executives
• Social feedback from 2,500+ investors and mentors to get ready for seed funding
• Opportunity to secure seed funding from 100+ accredited investors
• Ability to connect with influential startup minds pivotal for your success

Prizes:

Prizes worth $10,000 are up for grabs. The first prize is worth $4,000 for one winner followed by two prizes each for second and third position worth $2,000 and $1,000 respectively.

Additionally, all top 10 finalists will receive $500 credit towards StartupWind subscription.

Timeline:

Saturday, 30th March 2017 – Registration opens

Sunday, 30thApril 2017 – Registration closes at 11.59 pm PT

About StartupWind:

StartupWind™ is the Social Network and equity crowd-funding platform for entrepreneurs, investors and advisors from premier schools. It helps entrepreneurs from ideas to funding and beyond by connecting them to like-minded co-founders, advisors and investors.

StartupWind’s Social Network and Social Ideation platform are used in premier schools in the US and India – Northwestern University, University of California Berkeley, Washington University St. Louis, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay among others.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, StartupWind unveils a new way to connect, ideate and fund startups.

Please visit www.startupwind.com for more information