TiE Silicon Valley

TiE Silicon Valley (TiE SV) is the largest and founding chapter of the TiE brand, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship.^[1] The chapter provides technology entrepreneurs with mentoring services, networking opportunities, startup-related education, funding, and incubating.^[2]

History

TiE SV was founded in 1992 by a group of entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with roots in the South Asian or Indus region. It was named TiE for "The Indus Entrepreneurs." By 2011 it had moved away from that focus to be open and inclusive.^[3][4]

In 2023, TiE signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian government, specifically its Software Technology Parks of India, to create interaction between Silicon Valley investors and Indian startups.^[5]

At the start of 2025, Murali Bukkapatnam was elected chair of the TiE Global Board of Trustees. Anita Manwani was named vice chair. At the time, TiE claimed 10,000 members in 15 countries.^[6] In 2025, TiEcon's president and chair was Anita Manwani. The organization stated it had "impacted" over 25,000 startups, and that it had "helped create more than two million jobs."^[7]

Organization

TiE SV is a network of general members, Charter Members, and sponsors.^[8] Charter members are veteran entrepreneurs who assist younger entrepreneurs with time, knowledge, and resources.^[9] This membership level is by invitation only.^[10]

Programs

TiEcon

TiEcon is TiE SV's flagship annual conference. Since 2008, around 4,000 people attend the conference from over 40 countries,^[11] and in 2014 it was widely considered the world's largest conference for entrepreneurs.^[12] The conference features two days of networking and programming.^[13] Also, at each TiEcon, the world's 50 most promising technology startups are honored as the "TiE50," selected from 1,600 companies screened worldwide. At TiEcon 2011, Cloudera was announced as a TiE50 winner in the software/cloud computing category. As of 2011, 94% of TiE50 companies had been funded, attracting $20 billion in funding.^[14] TiEcon was listed by Worth Magazine in their September 2011 issue to be among the 10 Best Conferences for Ideas and Entrepreneurship.^[15]

The Santa Cruz TiECon event had 4,000 attendees in 2016.^[16] Tim Draper delivered the keynote speech at the 25th anniversary of TiE Silicon Valley at TiEcon 2017 in Santa Clara. According to the American Bazaar, conference passes at that time cost between $300 and $550 USD.^[17]

In 2024, TiECON Chandigarh showcased 70 startups at the Hyatt Regency in Chandigarh, India.^[18] The tenth edition of TiECON Chandigarh^[19] was held in March 2025.^[20]

The April to May 2025 flagship TiEcon conference, at Santa Clara Convention Center, was scheduled for 3,000 attendees, 150 speakers, and 50 sponsors, with an AI theme. Among keynote speakers were Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, and other CEOs such as Shantanu Narayen, Lip-Bu Tan, and Vivek Ranadive.^[7] At TiEcon 2025, TiE Silicon Valley gave Nadella a Lifetime Achievement Award.^[21]

TiE Angels

TiE Angels is an early stage Angel investment group formed in 2010 by Charter Members of TiE SV.^[22] There are about 100 investors that invest through TiE Angels.^[23] There is no TiE SV fund and individuals invest in their personal capacity.^[24] TiE Angels was ranked by CB Insights as one of the Top 20 Angel groups in the nation in August 2014.^[25]

Most of TiE Angels investments are under $1 million. In its first year of existence, TiE Angels invested in 11 companies with a total of about $4.5 million.^[26] CloudVolumes, which was purchased by VMware in August 2014, was backed by TiE Angels and several individual Angel investors.^[27] TiE Angels also backed CRISI Medical which was acquired by BD Medical in March 2015.^[28][29]

TiE LaunchPad

TiE LaunchPad is TiE SV's accelerator program for early stage startups. LaunchPad accepts eight companies per batch, and startups are seeded with $50,000 in convertible notes and offered optional working space, infrastructure, and additional support services for a five month duration. Companies also get assistance in fundraising by presenting to TiE's network of investors at a Demo Day at the end of the program. More than 50 charter members serve as mentors to LaunchPad companies.^[30][31][32]

Billion Dollar Babies

The Billion Dollar Babies Program is an initiative through TiE SV to mentor product companies out of India who are achieving significant domestic traction and wish to scale their products globally.^[33] It is managed by BV Jagadeesh, Raju Reddy (founder of Sierra Atlantic), and TiE SV President Venktesh Shukla.^[34] The pilot round of this program began January 2015.^[35]