India Diary: India-Australia Day

Day one of boot camp. Not sure if it was planned or just a coincidence but January the 26th is Australia and India Day – so it seemed a fitting day to start our journey. The Wagga Three (myself, Mackenzie and Jake) flew to Sydney and made our way to the Sydney School of Entrepreneurship (SSE). The focus of the day was a workshop led by Anuraj Gambhi. Raj has had a really interesting career so far and he shared a lot of his knowledge covering more than just India but the tech landscape, the culture and what we could expect from our journey. My head was pretty full after the session.

But what we were really there to do was meet the rest of the group. We kicked off with some interesting ice breakers and 20 second intros. There’s a huge variety of startups here. If I was to hazard a couple of loose groupings I’d suggest that most fit into education, health, sports, food, agriculture and sustainable technology. There’s a few that don’t quite fit those groups but the diversity is really great. It’s a testament to the talent in the state and the ability to engage across disciplines and industries.

After doing the pre-reading I was a little bit daunted by what lay ahead but the workshop put my mind at ease. A few of the teams have experience with India, having been there before. It’s nice to know that within the group that on-the-ground knowledge exists.

One of the great things from the group is the fact that there are a number of teams from across the state. A number of them were booked into accommodation close to the airport. After we were all finished it was great to have a few beers together and then grab a meal that was a real carnivores delight of Argentinian BBQ and red wine. It was great to see how quickly the group started to gel and get along. It was Australia and India Day today, which bodes well for our trip.

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This post is part of a series logging the whole trip:

• India-Australia Day
• Transit Day
• Bootcamp Begins
• Mumbai Incubators
• Social Enterprises and Business in India
• Venture Debt and the Mobile Future
• The Weekend
• A Trip to Pune
• The Last Leg

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