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When US President Barack Obama set up a task force to promote equal pay for women in corporate America earlier this year, the White House turned to an Indian startup for technology support to roll out the programme.
The firm, InterviewStreet, cofounded by engineers Vivek Ravisankar and Harishankaran K, was hired by the US government in early March to develop a technology platform on which to build the tools that would promote an important goal for President Obama.
In less than a week, the startup was ready with a product that programmers could use to build the best mobile or software applications for a national contest on the equal pay initiative. "We did not compete with anybody to get this project; a lot of programmers in the US use our technology platform, so we were contacted," said Harishankaran.
Last year, InterviewStreet became the first Indian startup to be chosen by iconic Silicon Valley incubator YCombinator for a coveted mentoring and seed funding programme.
Industry experts say the Internet has created a level playing field for Indian startups, which can now showcase their prowess without being constrained by geographic location.
"There is democratisation of the whole process. If a startup is a specialist in a particular area, it will be in demand no matter which country it belongs to," said Rishikesha T Krishnan, professor of corporate strategy and policy at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore.
Kolkata-based FusionCharts was the first Indian startup to gain the attention of the Obama administration. The company, which helps create animated and interactive digital charts, was picked to build digital dashboards for the federal administration.
"Such projects provide a huge confidence boost and validation. If the US government is using the product, then others also start adopting it," said Pallav Nadhani, co-founder of FusionCharts, which now clocks revenues of up to $7 million, or Rs 39 crore.
This growing potential has attracted a flurry of funding and expert advice. Apart from the YCombinator grant of $18,000, venture capital investor Vinod Khosla this year invested "a few million dollars" in the startup, said Harishankaran. The firm will use the money to hire talent, scale up technology and reach more customers.
The firm, InterviewStreet, cofounded by engineers Vivek Ravisankar and Harishankaran K, was hired by the US government in early March to develop a technology platform on which to build the tools that would promote an important goal for President Obama.
In less than a week, the startup was ready with a product that programmers could use to build the best mobile or software applications for a national contest on the equal pay initiative. "We did not compete with anybody to get this project; a lot of programmers in the US use our technology platform, so we were contacted," said Harishankaran.
Last year, InterviewStreet became the first Indian startup to be chosen by iconic Silicon Valley incubator YCombinator for a coveted mentoring and seed funding programme.
Industry experts say the Internet has created a level playing field for Indian startups, which can now showcase their prowess without being constrained by geographic location.
"There is democratisation of the whole process. If a startup is a specialist in a particular area, it will be in demand no matter which country it belongs to," said Rishikesha T Krishnan, professor of corporate strategy and policy at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore.
Kolkata-based FusionCharts was the first Indian startup to gain the attention of the Obama administration. The company, which helps create animated and interactive digital charts, was picked to build digital dashboards for the federal administration.
"Such projects provide a huge confidence boost and validation. If the US government is using the product, then others also start adopting it," said Pallav Nadhani, co-founder of FusionCharts, which now clocks revenues of up to $7 million, or Rs 39 crore.
This growing potential has attracted a flurry of funding and expert advice. Apart from the YCombinator grant of $18,000, venture capital investor Vinod Khosla this year invested "a few million dollars" in the startup, said Harishankaran. The firm will use the money to hire talent, scale up technology and reach more customers.
