i2I 2008 at IIM
Calcutta Promises Unique INR 1 Crore Opportunity to Budding Entrepreneurstext
i2I 2008, IIM Calcutta's
annual entrepreneurship festival promises to provide a sustainable platform for
budding entrepreneurs with access to Rs. 1 Crore worth equity apart from
getting in touch with the people and ideas that matter. The event which too
off on November 24th, 2007, comprised 3 stages starting with the submission of a
business summary, followed by a 'Pitch' to a panel of investors / judges in
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore. The top 9 teams from all over the nation,
who have been mentored by experts, will participate in the grand finale at The
Oberoi Grand, Kolkata on February 1st, 2008, before a panel of seed investors
looking to make deals. text
i2I 2008 is being held in
partnership with the Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), National
Entrepreneurship network (NEN), and Seedfund, taking the original
competition to a different league of its own in terms of scale, scope and
seriousness. In its new avatar, i2I has divested off its potentially
'academic character' by moving away from traditional 'business-plan
competitions' which end up reducing to essay competitions with the rush for the
cash prizes and no inclination to really start-up. text
Seedfund, the investing partner,
has funded Redbus, Printo and Carwale among others.
According to Anand Lunia of Seedfund, even start-up plans that are right
now only on paper stand a chance to get funded, so people in jobs thinking of
leaving to start-up as well as students seriously looking at starting up right
after education can take this as a serious opportunity. text
The National Entrepreneurship
Network, with its prominent presence across 282 member institutes across the
nation and relationships with corporate leaders, has contributed significantly
in generating wide awareness of this non-pareil event as well as providing
access to jury, mentors and other experts for the contest. According to Laura
Parkin, the Executive Director at NEN / Wadhwani Foundation, "NEN is
delighted to partner with IIM Calcutta for i2I, one of the leading business plan
competitions in India. This year, there is a new level of excitement to i2I. By
offering winners the chance to receive investment funds, IIM Calcutta has taken
business plan competitions out of the classroom and into the real world, thereby
creating a valuable platform for new entrepreneurs. NEN is delighted to be
supporting this unique initiative alongside TiE and Seedfund."text
The finale is part of a 2-day
entrepreneurial conference and TiEger Awards ceremony held by the TiE
Kolkata. The TiEger Cub awards seek to recognize young aspiring entrepreneurs
from the Bengal region towards improving the entrepreneurial culture in Bengal.
In another unique dimension to the event, E-cell is working with an online
television, thebig.tv to run an online contest. Alankar Jain, the
person behind Business Baazigar, now running theBig.tv plans to create an
online reality show where participants can upload self-made videos about their
business concepts and, if selected, they would pitch directly to investors at
the second round of i2I '08.text
The event will see several
luminaries attending such as: -text
Mr. Shashi Tharoor, former
Under Secretary General - United Nations text
Mr. Arjun Malhotra,
Co-founder - HCL & CEO - Headstrong text
Mr. K. V. Kamath, Managing
Director & CEO - ICICI Bank text
Ms. Laura Parkin,
Executive Director - NEN & Wadhwani Foundation text
Mr. R. Ramraj, Advisor -
Sequoia Capital text
Mr. Bikram Dasgupta,
Chairman & CEO - Globsyn Group text
Mr. Rajeev Karwal, Founder
& CEO - Milagrow Business & Knowledge Solutions and Mr. Raj Gollamudi,
Co founder - Bluestream Ventures text
Mr. Rajesh Jog, CEO -
vJive Networks text
Mr. Vinayak Chaterjee,
Chairman - Feedback Ventures text
Mr. Sanjeev Bhikchandani,
CEO - Naukri.com text
Ms. Vandana Luthra,
VLCC text
i2I strives to promote plans
backed by serious and dedicated teams, which hold the potential to catapult
themselves with financial and intellectual support provided by IIMC. text
Contact
Detailstext
For more details, about the
competition, log on to: -
URL:
http://www.iimcal.ac.in/i2i/home.htm
Or drop in a mail to: -
E-mail:
[email protected]
Or contact: -
Ankur Gattani @ +91-9830519811 text
