IIM Shillong in association with ONGC hosted sixth edition of its flagship Entrepreneurship summit, ‘Emerge 2K17’
Shillong: i-Cube, the Entrepreneurship cell of IIM Shillong in association with ONGC hosted the sixth edition of its flagship Entrepreneurship summit, ‘Emerge 2K17’, from 21-22 October 2017. The two-day summit comprised Business Plan and Case Study competitions organized in partnership with India Virtual Hospital (IVH) and CIPET Haldia in addition to numerous expert talks, panel discussions, and workshops. The summit centered around celebrating the Entrepreneurial spirit of the North East and exploring ways to fully exploit it potential.
The two-day event featured an Investor Panel discussion where eminent personalities like Mr. Amanjot Malhotra, VP, Delhi Angels, Mr. Shurjo Ghosh, Chairman, TotalStart, Mr. Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, CEO & Founder, Gozoop, Mr. Avelo Roy, MD, Kolkata Ventures, Mr. Prashant Chourasia, VP, Chatur Ideas discussed the challenges and opportunities in the start-up ecosystem. “Ideas alone cannot fetch money, entrepreneurs need traction to succeed,” said Avelo Roy.
Talking about new ideas, Mr. Vijay Nayar, Founder, OML said, “Business is people plus opportunity. Everything else is just hustle.” The extravaganza organized in association with ONGC, CIPET Haldia, IVH, Mithala Hyundai, Actiwate, Zoomcar, 98.3 BIG FM, NH7 Weekender and Chatur Ideas also witnessed a workshop on ‘Design thinking’ by Aditi Gupta, Managing Partner, Design thinkers group, an expert talk by Mr. Amit Chaudhary, COO and Co-Founder, Lenskart and a delightfully entertaining and inspiring session by Mr. Biswapati Sarkar, Creative Director, TVF.
The ‘Table to Farm’ discussion saw entrepreneurs like Mr. Phanindra Sama, Co-Founder, RedBus, Mr. Manash Chaliha, Founder, Organic Majuli, Ms. Nidhi Pant, Founder, DesiVDesi, Mr. Prashant Patil, Founder, Mera Kisaan, Mr. Rajesh Prasad, Founder, Zopar Exports, Mr. Bhawesh Niroula, Founder, Darjeeling Black, discussing the scope and opportunity in the agriculture and allied sectors, focusing on the challenges in the north-east. “Technology once built can be used repeatedly. India’s population can be leveraged by tech startups for profit”, said Mr. Phanindra Sama.
The past five editions of EmergE have seen participation of experts from Google, Samsung, PayTm, RBI, SBI, and Dabbawalas, and have hosted marquee speakers like Piyush Mishra and Arunachalam Muruganantham amongst many others. Continuing its legacy, Emerge 2K17 brought together problem solvers from various fields on one stage and discussed solutions to problems that have impeded the progress of the north-eastern India thus far.
All the insights generated from the two-day summit will be used to formulate a white-paper on the problems facing the Entrepreneurial space in the NE and ways on how to tackle them. This shall be presented to major stakeholders and policy makers to be a part of tangible change in this space.