The Indus Entreprenneurs (TiE) Silicon Valley chapter today announced the winners of the TiE50 Awards, which will be presented at TiEcon 2011, May 13 – 14th, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. TiE 50, the 3rd annual awards program to recognize the “Top 50 Startup Companies”, will be a prominent part of TiEcon.
The 50 award winners selected from 291 finalists and over 1,600 nominations, represent the most enterprising startups of 2011 in five sectors that are driving today’s economy: Internet/Social Networking, Software/Cloud Computing, Life Sciences, Wireless/Mobile and Energy/Cleantech. The TiE 50 judging process was designed with meticulous planning, screening and judging by over forty prominent entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporate executives and other domain experts.
“The TiE50 represent the best in entrepreneurship – risk-taking yet pragmatic, visionary but market-aware, and a passion to be the best,” according to Vish Mishra, President of TiE Silicon Valley. “We hold up these companies as role models for any enterprise, big or small, established or being incubated, which aspires to success in a dynamic and demanding marketplace.”
The TiE50 2011 Winners in the three categories of interest to Viodi View readers are:
Wireless/Mobile —
Avnera Corporation, Bump Technologies, Cinemacraft Pte Ltd, E-Senza Technologies GmbH, Luna Ergonomics Pvt Ltd, mFoundry, Inc, Roamware, Inc., SmrtGuard Security, Stoke, Inc., Zenprise
Software/Cloud Computing —
Acquia, Inc., Apptio, Claritics, Cloudera, Inc., Glassbeam, Inc., Gluster, OrangeScape Technologies Limited, Silver Peak Systems, Inc., Socialtext, Inc., SugarSync, Inc.
Internet/Social Networking —
FireEye, Inc., Kabam, Inc., Mobifusion, Inc., oDesk Corporation, Plastic Jungle, Sococo, Sokikom, SteelHouse, Wildfire Interactive, Zuberance
We expect many of these award winners to be rising stars in their respective fields. Previous award winners have done quite well. The complete list of 2011 winners is at: http://www.tie50.net/TiE50Awards/2011Winners_List.asp
About TiE50 Awards
TiE50 is TiE Silicon Valley’s premier annual awards program keenly contested by technology startups worldwide. TiE50 track record since inception in May 2009 shows that 94% of the winners and finalists have been funded, attracting over $20 Billion in investments! 42 companies have been acquired, merged or went public.
TiEcon 2011- “Innovation Reigns” will take place at the Santa Clara Convention Center, May 13-14. The conference always brings together a diverse and dynamic group of leaders from business, technology, venture capital, and media for two days of education, inspiration, and networking. This years event will feature session tracks and keynote speeches focused on several key market segments: Cloud, Mobile, Social, Energy and Life Sciences. Fifteen panel sessions will cover the hottest issues for industry participants, customers, and investors in these high profile industry sectors. Six Keynotes and Breakthrough Thinkers, representing the top of their industries, will share presentations and unique views on critical topics.
One of the keynote talks that caught our eye is from David Ferrucci, the lead researcher behind IBM’s Watson, a breakthrough in computers understanding natural language. Dr. Ferrucci’s work on Watson began in 2007, when he and a team of IBM Research scientists explored the possibility of a computer system that could rival the ability of Jeopardy champions to answer questions with speed, accuracy and confidence. Responding to Jeopardy questions represents natural language processing, which was previously a shortcoming of artificial intelligence computer systems. The research of Dr. Ferrucci and the IBM team at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center, called the DeepQA Project, or “Watson Technology”, has led to a system that not only outperforms Jeopardy’s greatest champions, but lends itself to numerous possibilities for future technologies.
What makes the Watson system unique is its ability to rapidly process unstructured information and respond with precision. It has the capability to help businesses make decisions in many industries, such as healthcare, finance and telecom. Dr. Ferrucci will discuss these implications in his TiECon keynote talk.
“We are very excited to have Dr. Ferrucci speak at our annual conference, TiEcon. In February of this year, 14.5 million viewers watched as Watson beat human opponents on Jeopardy! The IBM Challenge. Now 3,000 entrepreneurs will watch as IBM shares how Watson technology will change the way the world works with our audience,” said Vish Mishra, President of TiE Silicon Valley.
A session that seems of particular interest to Viodi View readers is The Next BIG Mobile Trends and Opportunities. It will be led by a Rajeev Chand, Managing Director, Rutberg & Company. Speakers will explore the opportunities and challenges that are of most interest to wireless carriers, software platform companies, and investors.
The panel will try to answer key questions like:
- How are mobile operators adapting to the new value chain?
- Where are venture firms placing bets? What are the key technology choices going forward?
- How will mobile ecosystem participants will adapt their strategies as mobile networks evolve to 4G with many more connected smart devices?
- What are the opportunities created by these ecosystem changes?
Session attendees will gain insight on what to expect as mobility becomes ever more mainstream. Expect to gain a better perspective on how the wireless industry will evolve and cope with the expected deluge of mobile data traffic that’s already upon us. Is mobile video (finally) the killer app?
Note: Mobile Spectrum Re-Allocation has been the hottest topic in the last five years on the IEEE ComSocSCV Discussion list reflector (open to all IEEE members). It will be explored in depth by VPs of Broadcom and Qualcomm at our May 11th meeting. More info + RSVP at: www.comsocscv.org
Another attraction for this year includes an expanded TiEcon Innovation Expo which will bring startups, universities, and research labs of large companies to show their innovative products and technologies to TiEcon attendees. We’ve just been informed that the Innovation Expo is oversold! There will be over 120 booths in the various technologoy verticals. Plenty to see and learn about!
At this year’s conference, TiE is introducing a new program called MentorConnect where seasoned entrepreneurs from TiE’s base of Charter Members will provide small group mentoring to TiECon attendees.
To learn more about TiECon:
You can find more information about TiECon and register at www.tiecon.org. The kynotes, panel sessions, and other events are all listed there under the agenda along with speakers/moderators.
TiECon contact: Amanda Day, [email protected], 408-567-0700
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