Lufthansa Runway to Success has been giving wings to start-up dreams and the grand finale of the fifth season is proof!

In a country where the entrepreneurial landscape is bustling with activity, it is only natural that a lot of us are nurturing start-up dreams. After all, what can inspire us more to turn our passion into reality than stories of young entrepreneurs who make it big with their innovative ventures? But in this disruptive business set up, every start-up requires a tremendous degree of focus, hard-work, and innovation to stand out. Many times good ideas also fail to scale the success ladder because of the lack of a platform to showcase the work. This is why Lufthansa, in association with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) embarked on a journey to create Lufthansa Runway to Success, a platform and TV show designed to help entrepreneurs in India give wings to their ‘Big Idea’. This power-packed TV series has been providing innovative startups an opportunity to compete with the best and take off on the flight to success. Over 1.5 L young entrepreneurs have benefited from this venture in the last four years.Best innovators L-R: Deep Bajaj from PeeBuddy & Yogesh Mittal from EliteString ApparelThe fifth season of Lufthansa Runway to Success, which has been one of the most competitive seasons so far, raised the bar of this entrepreneurship platform by many degrees. Deep Bajaj, Co-founder of PeeBuddy, emerged as the ultimate winner after beating 21 other innovative contestants. This young entrepreneur walked away with the winning prize which includes a sponsorship to a business programme at Cambridge University, a business class ticket to Europe, a coveted mentorship by TiE, and a grand trophy. Yogesh Mittal, Founder of EliteString Apparels, won the Viewer’s Choice Award and a Lufthansa flight ticket to Europe. Meticulous mentorship Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Board Member, TiE, Delhi-NCR & Vice Chairman at Info EdgeThe grand finale had Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Board Member, TiE, Delhi-NCR and Vice Chairman at Info Edge, the parent company of Naukri.com and Shaadi.com, as the chief guest. The jury included some of the biggest names in the start-up ecosystem that included Girish Shivani, Executive Director and Co-Founder, YourNest Venture Capital, Alok Mittal, Board member TiE Delhi-NCR, Saurabh Srivastava, Chairman Emeritus, TiE Delhi-NCR, and Alexander Schlaubitz, Global Vice President of Marketing at Lufthansa. The event was made more engaging by the presence of special guest Wolfgang Will, Director, South Asia at Lufthansa Group. They went ahead with the decision of choosing four entrepreneurs for the finale instead of the usual top three given the immense calibre of the contestants. The judges based their verdict on four rounds that were designed to evaluate the teams, customers, revenue model, market size, and originality of the idea. The winner speaks Deep Bajaj, Co-founder of PeeBuddyDeep Bajaj, who won the season on the dint of his business acumen, passion and an immense belief on his venture said, “Lufthansa Runway to Success has been an enriching experience and will continue to inspire me on the journey of my entrepreneurial dream. I would like to thank Lufthansa for providing me an opportunity to share my vision, business ideologies with noteworthy business icons who have guided and inspired me on my entrepreneurial journey. I would also like to express my gratitude to the jury members for having chosen me as one of the most promising entrepreneur of the year.” His venture PeeBuddy is a portable female urination device that makes urinating at public places easier for girls. As a start-up, this venture aims to identify the various problems that women face in the public hygiene space and thereby solve these with the various products they develop. Deep believes that winning Lufthansa Runway to Success will enable his venture to win audiences across the country. Wolfgang Will, Senior Director, South Asia Lufthansa GroupIn a highly competitive start-up ecosystem, passionate entrepreneurs have to put forward their ideas strategically through proper groundwork and absolute innovation. This season of Lufthansa Runway to Success is giving these innovators the quantum leap that they had long been waiting for. The fifth season of the show has been a defining landmark in the start-up map of India and has continued with its legacy of finding and polishing the best ventures that need to reach out to the world. On the immense success of this year’s season, Wolfgang Will, Senior Director, South Asia Lufthansa Group said, “This year has been the best year of Lufthansa Runway to Success. We are very proud to contribute to this initiative to the success of Indian business while nurturing young entrepreneurs who will become the leaders of tomorrow.” Alexander Schlaubitz, Global VP, Marketing with Lufthansa extended Wolfgang’s thought saying, “Lufthansa Runway to Success is so much more than a business platform. It is a spring board or a platform for young Indian entrepreneurs to seek out new heights to pursue their dreams and to reach the best of their potential.” This season has seen over 65,000 applicants, while the show has garnered immense following on social media, including a commendable television viewership. The campaign currently has around 22.3 K subscribers on YouTube, a reach of around 1 million on Twitter and a whopping 2.5 million followers on Facebook. It is laudable to see how Lufthansa has been work-horsing to enhance accessibility in India’s entrepreneurial landscape. By bringing together business experts, mentors, corporates, support agencies, industry associations, and potential customers under one roof, it is redefining and re-mapping the start-up journey of Indian entrepreneurs. It provides you with an unprecedented opportunity to not only showcase your business model and gain the much-needed exposure but also to explore partnership opportunities and enable interaction with the right people. If you have been betting big on your start-up dream, the grand success of Lufthansa Runway to Success Season 5 will inspire you to pursue them! Disclaimer: This is a sponsored brand story by Lufthansa and the liability of the same rests with them.