Indian Institute of Technology Madras’ Entrepreneurship Cell will be conducting the fourth edition of E-Summit 2019 from 8th to 10th March 2019. One of the biggest student run entrepreneurial conferences in the country, ‘E-summit 2019’ is a platform connecting start-ups, investors and students and will help take entrepreneurship in India to greater heights.

IITM – E-summit 2019

The summit will witness potential investment opportunities to the tune of Rs. 5 crore with events such as ‘Elevate’, which is co-sponsored by NetApp Excellerator.

The Highlights of E-Summit 2019 include:

• The Entrepreneurship Marketing Conclave: Being introduced this year to help start-ups enhance their marketing skills to help them withstand competition in the market

• E-21: Promoting 21^st Century skills such as creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship among school students. This ongoing initiative has helped raise awareness about entrepreneurship among 5,000+ school students across India. Four school teams from Chennai will be displaying their prototypes during E-Summit.

• Entrepreneurship Insider: A start-up magazine by students and for students, Entrepreneurship Insider is aimed at inspiring and motivating young entrepreneurs to pursue entrepreneurship. Through this magazine, E-Cell hopes to create awareness among the institute student fraternity regarding entrepreneurship

• Startup Bootcamp is a specially curated event for student startups with a basic aim towards fostering competition among startups and providing mentorship support that can help these startups navigate real world challenges.

Addressing the Press Conference, Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam, Faculty Advisor, E-Cell, said, “The E-summit has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years and now reaches out and inspires a large number of young budding entrepreneurs in colleges all over the country.”

Some of the other events include Inspirit, a speaker series that attempts to inspire young entrepreneurs through insights provided by experts in the field such as Mr. Mekin Maheshwari (Founder, Udhyam Learning Foundation), Mr. Amod Malviya (Co-founder, Udaan), Mr. Rajan Singh (Co-founder, ConceptOwl) and the Leadership Team of Byju's.

Speaking later, Mr. Srinivasan Viswanathan, Executive Director, IIT Madras Entrepreneurship forum, said, “The E-Summit initiative (started as ''e-week'' about a decade ago) at IITM, has been a hugely successful student-run initiative in the last several years. The participants of this conference gain inspiration, knowledge and connections that are sure to power their entrepreneurial journeys. The IITM Entrepreneurship forum, a voluntary group of IIT alumni, is proud to be part of the IITM Eco-system and support this E-Summit initiative.”

Mrs. Latha Venkitachalam, Executive Director, IIT Madras Alumni Association, said, “IIT Madras EcoSystem has been very encouraging for the students to explore entrepreneurship right from its inception. Right from the first batch Every batch has produced very successful entrepreneurs. The rate has been from 2% to 20% currently. The alumni play a very significant role in mentoring both students and fellow alumni. The ratio is 2:1, start up is to Alumni. The IIT Madras Alumni Association facilitates mentoring sessions. IITMAA is glad to be associated with E Awards as it is a great platform to connect the students with wonderful ideas to Alumni with enriching experience.”

The motto of the 2019 edition of E-summit is ‘Bold Moves’, felicitating and recognizing real change makers, who have stepped out their comfort zone and transcended their limits, bringing about a positive change in society.

Mr. Harshit Singh Students' Head, E-Cell IIT Madras, said, “We believe that E-Summit can imbibe an entrepreneurial mind-set among participants which can help them to stand out in this fast growing 21st century. Entrepreneurs aren't born, they are made!”

About IITM (www.iitm.ac.in)

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) was established in 1959 by the Government of India as an institute of national importance. The activities of the Institute in various fields of Technology and Science are carried out in 16 academic departments and several advanced interdisciplinary Research Academic Centres. The Institute offers undergraduate and post – graduate programmes leading to the B.Tech., M.Sc., M.B.A., M.Tech., M.S., and Ph.D., degrees in a variety of specialisations. IITM is a residential institute with more than 580 faculty and 9,500 students. Students from 18 countries are enrolled here. IITM fosters an active entrepreneurial culture with strong curricular support and through the IITM Incubation Cell (www.incubation.iitm.ac.in).

IITM has been ranked No.1 among Engineering Institutions in the India Rankings for three consecutive years – 2016, 2017 and 2018. The Institute was also ranked as the No. 2 in the category of Overall Institutions in 2017 and 2018 Rankings, released by the National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India – www.nirfindia.org.