Noida startup convention scams entrepreneurs using Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk to lure them

From approaching venture capitalists to pitching business ideas on a reality TV show, entrepreneurs are taking all available routes to script their startup success story. One would expect top investors looking for the next Zomato, Ola or Flipkart at a startup convention, but an empty hall would be a shocker.

That same disappointment greeted aspiring entrepreneurs, who had been scammed into paying Rs 8,000 for an audience with the likes of Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla's Elon Musk.

Lineup with big names among tall claims

• Apart from the top names in tech, SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son and the representatives of Sequoia and Tiger Global were also slated to be at the convention.

• At a time when financing for Indian startups has dropped by 77 per cent, the World Startup Convention in Noida was promoted as the biggest funding festival globally.

• Scheduled for January 2023, the event was pushed to March, but it turned out to be a sham.

Shoddy reality behind the grand convention

• Police arrived at the location as 2,000 aspiring startup founders were scammed into paying Rs 8,000 per pass.

• Although there was a convention, none of the big guests on the lineup arrived, and the programs turned out to be duds.

• Apart from the top CEOs, Nitin Gadkari, Chetan Bhagat and influencer Ankur Warikoo's images had also been used by the organisers to mislead attendees.

• People who traveled to Noida, from as far as Nashik, Surat and Chennai, were cheated as they also had to pay for flights and hotels.