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WAVEX 2025, the flagship startup initiative under the World Audio-Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) being held in Mumbai, is a promising intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment.
Ashutosh Mohle, Joint Director at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), set the tone with a succinct overview of WAVEX, underscoring its vision of nurturing startups in the media and entertainment space and providing a national platform to scale up their ideas. Sandeep Jhingran, Chief Growth Officer, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI), expressed satisfaction with the initiative's promising response. "We received over a thousand applications. Thirty of them pitched directly to investors and over half of them are already in active conversations," he revealed, emphasising that such efforts are essential to give focused attention to media and entertainment startups. Investor voices added further perspective to the transformative potential of the initiative. Rajesh Joshi, Venue Partner from Warmup Ventures, reflected on his personal journey from being a startup founder to becoming an investor. "Life has come a full circle...We're now speaking with 11 startups," he added. Mustafa Harnesswala, founder of CABIL, highlighted the traditional reluctance to fund this space. "Many shy away from investing in media and entertainment. WAVES is shifting that mindset. We're now working on creating a dedicated angel network for M&E, and even exploring global linkages through collaborations with international governments." The panel also fielded questions from the media, offering insight into the evolving startup landscape. When asked how investors differentiate meaningful content, Rajesh cited the example of "Giggle," a startup app creating a platform that helps avoid cyberbullying and sexual content, calling it a benchmark for responsible innovation. On gender representation, Sandeep acknowledged the limited participation of women entrepreneurs. "We're committed to doing better. In the future editions, we hope to see more women entrepreneurs coming in," he added. Expanding on the event's format, Sandeep Jhingran shared that 30 startups were given one-on-one pitching opportunities in two days; Mustafa Harnesswala emphasised the need for monetisation strategies for content creators, stating that initiatives like WAVES help bridge that gap. (ANI)
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