August, 2015: Students of two of India’s most prestigious institutions are collaborating, in what will be the first collaboration by an IIT and an IIM for an event of this magnitude, to bring to budding entrepreneurs and others interested in the start-up scene in India, a one of a kind entrepreneurial event by the name of “The i5-Summit”-“Ideate.Innovate.Inspire.Induce.Invest.Summit”
Also, NASSCOM is associating with The i5-Summit for the Silicon Valley challenge wherein the participants will be evaluated by esteemed jury members from the industry and investment community. Winner of this will be inducted into the INNOTREK batch of 2016. NASSCOM will also be a part of panel discussion on “Business Development with an Enterprise. What does it take to grab that first big customer?” And there will be a 5 minute spot on NASSSCOM’s ‘10,000 startups programme’ is during the main event.
The two-day event, on the August 22nd-23rd, promises to be one to watch out for, with the organisers promising stimulating panel discussions and some of the best keynote speakers the country has to offer like:
- Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder, INFOSYS,
- Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, CEO, Zensar,
- Ronnie Screwala, Entrepreneur,
- Raghunandan G, Founder, Taxi For Sure,
- Kunal Shah, Founder, Freecharge,
- Srikanth Sundararajan, Venture Partner with Helion Venture Partners,
- Pankhuri Shrivastava, Co-founder, Grabhouse.com,
- Anubhav Sonthalia, Co-founder and COO, Sokrati Inc
- Sameer Pitalwalla, Co-founder, Culture Machine,
- Rohit Chadda, Co-Founder, Foodpanda,
- Tanmay Bhat, All India Bakchod,
- Krishnan K, Amazon Web Services,
- Pankhuri Shrivastava, Co-Founder, Grabhouse,
- Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, Oyo Rooms.
- Sameer Pitalwalla, CEO, Culture Machine to name a few.
Soumyadeep Chakraborty, Overall Coordinator, i5 Summit (IIM Indore) said, “’The i5-Summit’, a one of its kind start up event an IIT and an IIM will bring together the budding entrepreneurs and others interested in the start-up scene in India on a common platform. The i5 Summit aims to support the entrepreneurs through funding, mentoring and visibility. Moreover there are skill based workshops on cloud computing, basics of fund raising, business model canvas; it helps early stage entrepreneurs to be equipped with contemporary skills. Moreover, it also brings the entire ecosystem together thus, it serves a huge networking platform.”
A special feature of the event is Venture-I, an angel funding competition, that is open to start-ups from all over the country. It’s a unique platform where one could raise 15 lac by selling a minority stake of their start-ups. The best angel investors will be present there to judge and to invest.
“Venture – I is a unique platform where the entrepreneurs can raise 15 lakh rupees (25000 $) of investment by selling a minority stake (i.e. 5%) of their start-up with a 10 minute pitch to the investors.” said Soumyadeep Chakraborty.
Prof. Rishikesha T. Krishnan , Director, Indian Institute of Management Indore says, “Venture-I is a major event in Central India. While start-up fever has gripped the country, this region has the potential but has not seen any major growth start-ups because it’s not on the funding map. Venture-I should change this. Similar events are needed to attract quality ideas and motivate young entrepreneurs. Without entrepreneurs, we can’t create the 1 million jobs per month that are required. So, such events and platforms are very important. IIM Indore has many plans including setting up an incubator, virtual mentoring for those who don’t need physical space, small business and start-up clinic to help entrepreneurs who get stuck, etc. All these services will be available to the participants and winners once they are created.”
With many more innovative and interesting events in the pipeline, all those interested to be a part of this unique celebration of start-ups in India need to mark their calendars and clear their schedules because it promises to be an event every business enthusiast will regret missing.
For more information about “The I5 Summit” visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/i5summit & website www.i5summit.com