Envision, the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Industrial Relations, IIM Bodh Gaya organised the third edition of its flagship event – Youth Entrepreneurship Summit (YES) 2022- A sustainable way, on 5th and 6th March 2022. This venture sought to provide a platform for early-age startups and young entrepreneurs to enrich and prove their mettle even in uncertain times. The event was held under the guidance of Dr. Vinita S Sahay, Director, IIM Bodh Gaya; Dr. Srividya Raghavan, Chairperson, Envision Cell and Dr. Amresh Kumar, BoD, IIMBG INSPIRE. YES’22 was inaugurated by the esteemed chief guest Dr. G R Chintala, Chairman, NABARD India along with other NABARD delegates which included Dr. Sunil Kumar, CGM, NABARD Bihar; Dr. Gopakumaran Nair, CGM, NABARD Jharkhand; Shri Mrinal Ranjan, DGM, NABARD Bihar; Shri Uday Kumar, DDM, NABARD Gaya. After the brief welcoming session followed by a virtual campus tour, the chief guest, Dr. G R Chintala, officially launched the website of INSPIRE. IIMBG INSPIRE, the recently established Section 8 company, aims to be a centre of excellence that engenders entrepreneurs and enterprises which generate values for its shareholders, stakeholders, and society by being successful, sustainable, and socially responsible.
The event commenced with a welcome address by Dr. Sahay. She talked about the culture of startups in India and how YES 2020 alongside INSPIRE was an initial step towards the various entrepreneurship ventures that have been planned to be laid out by the institute. The keynote speech delivered by Dr. G R Chintala addressed how the curiosity and the innovativeness of the current generation of Agri-tech startups and their movement towards changing the agricultural scenarios through their innovativeness are exemplary. He also said, “The manner in which resources are being utilised by startups that rose from very humble beginnings is remarkable and will surely drive the required change in Agri-Industry.” He also spoke about the significance of NABARD’s contribution towards making India self-sufficient and how, from its baby steps, it grew into what it is today, greatly rewarding the citizens as well as our country. This was followed by a panel discussion which hosted an esteemed panel of 4 including Mr. Amit Kumar Agarwal, Founder & CEO, NoBroker.com; Mikhil Innani, MD & CEO, Apollo Finvest; Rahul Abraham Mamman, Founder, Haeal; Anil Joshi, Founder & Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures and moderated by Ms. Haritha Menon, Co-founder, Finish Factory.
The evening session on the inaugural day saw the finalists of Pitch Perfect, a business plan competition held in connection with YES 2022, battle it out with each other. The presentations were judged by Mr. Arun Antony, Founder, YE Stack, and MD, Transform Group; and Ms. Sarit Prajna Sahu, Founder of Adihuman and Co-Founder and Director of Marketing and Communications UUO Innovation Private Limited.
The second day of the event was kicked off with a keynote session by Mr. Deepak Pareek, CEO, AgriWatch & Technology Pioneer, World Economic Forum. He addressed the difficulties faced by the Indian agricultural sector during the pandemic. He also talked about the issues caused by migration and climate change in the agri business. The latter half of the morning session hosted Mr. Vikram Kaleeswaran, Director- Sales & Marketing, DACE, BCube Ventures LLP Group. This was followed by the final round of Business War, a case study competition held as a part of YES’22. It was judged by a panel of 3 including Mr. Kaleeswaran; Mr. Balasubramaniam, Director-Technical, DACE, BCube Ventures LLP Group and Dr. Amresh Kumar. After a brief talk session, Shri Mrinal Ranjan, DGM, NABARD Bihar gave away the prizes to the winners of Pitch Perfect and Business War.
Dr. Srividya Raghavan extended a heartfelt vote of thanks to the guests and participants as well as the team for their efforts and hardwork. The 2 day event was concluded successfully on 6th March 2022.
