DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

Entrepreneur India 2011, a national level conference on entrepreneurship was held on July 15th and 16th at Hotel Claridges, New Delhi. The event was organized by Franchise India and UTV Bloomberg with Entrepreneur India Advisors and NASSCOM Emerge forum as the knowledge partners, Gitanjali group as presenting partner and DARE as media partner. The event was an attempt to address issues and discuss how to unleash the creative potential in individuals, companies and regions. The focus was on new entrepreneurs and growth in business opportunities across a wide range of domains. EI 2011attracted close to 230 delegates on both days.

Panel discussion on ‘Invest-Capital raising for your fast growth company’ being held at Entrepreneur India 2011

This year the conference was built across the seven I’s of entrepreneurship - Inspire, Ideate, Individual, Incubate, Innovate, Invest and Internationalize. The conference comprised interactive sessions, leadership round-tables and career workshops where vital topics like From Idea to Launch; From Corporate Intra-Preneurship to Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneur; Challenges in Family business; M&A’s & JV’s, etc were promptly discussed.

Union Minister of Micro Small & Medium Enterprises, Mr. Virbhadra Singh, addressing the audience at Entrepreneur India 2011	Union Minister of MSMEs Mr. Virbhadra Singh (right) receiving a momento at Entrepreneur India 2011 from Mr. Gaurav Marya (left), President, Franchise India

Guest of Honour Mr. D.K. Jain, Chairman Luxor group kickstarted Day One with his insights on Inspiration: The decade that was and the decade that will be. Other eminent speakers on this day included Sam Chopra, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director, Remax; O.P. Manchanda, CEO, Dr Lal Path Labs; Mukund Mohan, CEO, Jivity; Gaurav Saraf, Director, Epiphany Ventures; Shailesh Singh, Seed Fund; Ashwin Raghuraman, VP, India Innovation Fund; Himanshu Gupta, Chief Operating Officer (COO), IndiaPlus Fund; Vikas Gutgutia, MD, Ferns N Petals; Sankar Chakraborti, Head-Bank Loan Ratings, CRISIL; Seema Jhingan, Senior Partner, Lex Council; R. Sriram, Co-Founder, Next Practice Retail & Charter Member, TiE Mumbai; Yogesh Bansal, Founder and CEO, ApnaCircle.com; and Ameera Shah, CMD, Metropolis Healthcare LtD.

Day Two of the conference was equally interesting and insightful. The Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India, Shri Virbhadra Singh addressed the innaugral session and highlighted various initiatives that the government has taken to support and expedite the growth of the MSME sector. The rest of the day explored subjects explaining  various schemes by the government, opportunities available overseas, brand building, achieving the next level of success and social entrepreneurship. Speakers on day two included Mr. Subhasish Chakraborty, Founding Chairman & Managing Director, DTDC; S Venkat, Director, Wealthtree; Harish Bijoor, brand expert and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc; Aloke Bajpai, Founder Ixigo.com; Rahul Sahgal, Founder & CEO, Annik Systems; Sunil Goyal, CEO, Sopra; and Pradeep Chopra, CEO, Digital Vidya.

As Mr. Amrik Singh Khokhar, MD, Home Like Hotels, a delegate, put it, the conference also gave a valuable chance to understand various practical issues through case studies and a chance to network with the right people.

The occasion also witnessed the prestigious Entrepreneur India Awards 2011 which felicitated achievers, innovators and suppliers who have contributed significantly towards the development of entrepreneurship in India. In all, there were 17 award categories spanning across different business sectors. The event also hosted an exhibition where entrepreneurs showcased their brand to the world of business.

Luxor Group’s Chairman Mr. D. K. Jain (extreme left) receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at Entrepreneur India Awards 2011	Ms. Shahnaz Husain with Mr. Gaurav Marya (President, Franchise India) & singer Shibani Kashyap at Entrepreneur India Awards 2011

The conference was a mega success as it covered everything a 21st century entrepreneur needs to know and work on.  As Mr. Gaurav Marya, President Franchise India said, "This is the century of entrepreneurship in a way the history of the world has never before seen. All the forces, including a global economy, advancements in technology and 24x7 communications, are aligned for a massive explosion of entrepreneurship. I can think of thousands of projects across various industry verticals which will go on to become global businesses. Thus we have launched Entrepreneur India 2011 as a platform which draws on entrepreneurial leadership across multiple disciplines to deepen the understanding the innovation in entrepreneurship."

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed