Promised to bring Elon Musk, Sunder Pichai, Gautam Adani, and some of India's top ministers and global investors under one roof, the 'World Startup Convention' in Greater Noida was touted to be 'the world's biggest investment festival'. However, when the budding entrepreneurs reached the venue after buying tickets worth Rs 8,000 on the day of the event, it turned out to be what's being called a scam.
The festival was organised by investors Luke Talwar and Arjun Chaudhary and was scheduled to begin on March 24. The event promised to provide a platform for budding entrepreneurs to connect with big names in the industry and seek funding.
The homepage of the official website of the World Startup Convention featured top Indian officials including Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister of India's northern state of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami.
The organisers also used pictures of union minister Nitin Gadkari. Author Chetan Bhagat allegedly promoted the event on his social media account and is now receiving backlash due to his association with the World Startup Convention. Not just Mr Bhagat, but other top influencers including Ankur Warikoo, MBA Chaiwala and Raj Shamani were singing praises for the event.
For the event, the tickets were priced at Rs 8,000 and budding entrepreneurs from different parts of the country participated.
