IIT (BHU) Varanasi Is Organizing Its Annual Entrepreneurship Festival – E-Summit’22

IIT (BHU) Varanasi is organizing its annual entrepreneurship festival- E-Summit’22 from 5th to 13th April 2022. The summit will conduct a wide variety of entrepreneurship-oriented events, catering to audiences across the board including investors, new-age entrepreneurs, industry leaders, enthusiasts, and the academic community (students). It is being organized by the students of Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell), IIT (BHU) Varanasi under the guidance of Prof. Pramod Kumar Jain, Hon’ble Director, Prof. Vikash Kumar Dubey, Dean (R&D),  Prof. Rajnesh Tyagi, Prof Incharge Entrepreneurship Cell, and Prof. R.K. Singh, Coordinator I-DAPT Hub Foundation. 

E-Cell is an institute body run by students of IIT(BHU) Varanasi which is devoted in acting as a symbiotic link between the existing or aspiring entrepreneurs and the current start-up ecosystem to enhance the overall culture of entrepreneurship across India. E-Summit is an annual event of IIT(BHU) Varanasi that is being organized in an online mode. The theme of this year’s summit is  “Ventures of Veracity”, an inspiration for the adventurous souls to strive on untrodden paths in the pursuit of excellence and distinction. These paths, risks, hurdles, and adventures are what etches these coal-like budding stars into visionary diamond entrepreneurs! 

This summit’s events have been structured in such a way that they cover all the verticals of entrepreneurship – from seasoned entrepreneurs as well as new budding learners. With shows like Shark Tank India bringing startup conversations One such prestigious flagbearer event is “Shark Tank IIT BHU”- a fundraising event providing 16 early-stage startups with a platform to pitch in front of esteemed Venture Capitalists & Angel Investors and seek seed funding up to 10 Crores.

This extravaganza will also feature an amazing line-up of renowned unicorn founders and eminent VCs as part of the Founder Talks, Highlight Sessions, and Creators Matrix, making this an excellent opportunity for the participants to experience something unique while altogether honing their skills.

“WestBridge Capital” as the title sponsor for the festival and the two incubators at IIT (BHU) Varanasi i.e. NCL IIT (BHU) Incubation Centre and I-DAPT Hub Foundation which are co-presenting sponsors of the entire summit. E-Summit’22 features more than 18+ events including pitching demo days, B-Plan competitions, several upskilling workshops, case studies, mock trading, debates, quizzes, fun activities, and many more refreshing events that come along with the possibility of assisting and incubating the participants, which truly aids to revamp the entrepreneurship culture in the nation.

On the occasion of the first National Start-up Day i.e. 16^th January 2022, our Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly termed the start-ups as the “backbone” of new India and the engine that will power the nation’s economic growth in the run-up to the 100^th year of Independence.

Prof. Pramod Kumar Jain, Hon’ble Director, IIT(BHU) Varanasi is of the view that during this pandemic period Indian entrepreneurship ecosystem has witnessed a major boom as more than 50000+ startups are being recognized by the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) by 2021 and 90+ startups are now in the unicorn club. 

Mr. Jay Chaudhry, CEO, and Founder of cloud-based information security firm Zscaler, USA is a distinguished alumnus (ECE ‘80) of IIT(BHU) Varanasi has donated $1 million to the IIT (BHU) Foundation to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Prof. Vikash Kumar Dubey, Dean (R&D), IIT (BHU) Varanasi is of the view that entrepreneurship and start-ups are the future building blocks of the Indian Economy, and the Institute is supportive to the students in promoting any activities and festivals supporting the cause.

Prof. Rajnesh Tyagi, Dean, Faculty Affairs, IIT(BHU) Varanasi and Coordinator of Technology Innovation and Incubation Center (TIIC)- IIT (BHU) Varanasi emphasizes entrepreneurial culture with several incubators – RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubator, NCL IIT (BHU) Incubation Center, and Cisco ThingQbator all working under one umbrella body i.e. TIIC. It provides a collaborative and synergistic environment to nurture startups right from idea to IPO. 

Dr. Rajeev Kumar Singh of I-DAPT Hub Foundation and Senior Member of IEEE is closely involved in implementing the Data Analytics and Predictive Technologies at IIT(BHU) Varanasi. I-DAPT Hub has been actively encouraging as well as incubating such innovations and supporting them through DAPT-oriented competitions included in E-Summit. 

E-Cell is also collaborating with major firms like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft for Startups Zoho for Startups, and Freshworks for Startups providing startup support credits worth more than INR 60 LACS+  to eligible startups, and VCs like 100X.VC, Inflection Point Ventures, Kae Capital, and Huddle attending the fundraising event. E-Summit is all set to provide a stage to young aspiring entrepreneurs, network with esteemed mentors, VCs, and angel investors, and also get a chance to raise their first seed round!