Chandigarh
19 March 2021
DIVYA AZAD
TiECON 2021 Chandigarh, the largest entrepreneurial event in the region, entered its second glorious day after a successful and productive day 1.
Day began with STPI awards ceremony where Dr. Omkar Rai, Director General STPI was the chief guest and Rajneesh Agrawal, Director, STPI Noida , Ajay Srivastava Director & Center Head , STPI Mohali , Hirdesh Madan President TiECON , were the guests of honor. While Harit Mohan Co Chair TiECON and Founder & CEO Signicent Information Solutions LLP proposed a vote of thanks. Omkar Rai in his address praised the efforts of STPI and TiE Chandigarh in creating dynamic synergies and providing a conducive environment for the success of Startups in the region.
The conference was immediately followed by a very informative session by Mr. Vivek Sunder, COO Swiggy –on VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) termed as “Being Agile in Vuca Environment” Key takeaway of his address was that how Swiggy helped spread its footprints in the country by adding more and more cities and towns by optimizing its operational capacities and how company coped up with the challenge of COVID 19 wherein the restaurants were closed and from being a food delivery solution the company moved into delivery of many other utilities like grocery , stationary, medicines thereby opening up new verticals . The key was to focus on its people and drawing out various strategies to be completely customer centric.
Next hour saw Mr. Mahavir Pratap Sharma, Chair, Tie Angels India, in Conversation with Mr. JB Singh, Managing Director, and Access Infotech Pvt. Ltd.on “Leveraging Tie Network for Fundraising”.
“Invent the Future Together” was the topic which Eishvinder Ratra, MD Accenture, Japan who is a PEC Chandigarh Graduate, discussed in conversation with Partap K Aggarwal, MD/CEO, Ids Infotech Ltd.
Alok Shekhar, IAS Principal Secretary, Investment Promotion, Industry & IT Government of Punjab in his key note discussed “Punjab as Next Glocal Destination” It’s important here to highlight the major initiatives being taken by Government of Punjab to support startups and help create an entrepreneurial mindset in the state’s youth, Rajat Aggarwal, CEO Invest Punjab which he laid out in the inaugural session yesterday spelling out measures like Punjab Startup Fund of ₹100 Cr which is being set up in collaboration with I.K. Gujral Punjab Technical University – PTU. The first 100 startups provisionally registered with Startup Punjab every year will be reimbursed the State Component paid at the time of registration of a company in Punjab with the Registrar of Companies, MCA, GOI. With the goal of extending a helping hand to early-stage startups, in unprecedented times like the Covid19 pandemic, Chandigarh Angels Network(CAN) in collaboration with Startup Punjab had launched the 6 week iCAN Accelerator Program in June 2020. The State Govt will be launching more such programs in the next few months.
The event saw an enriching panel discussion wherein well informed and prominent guests like Dr. Madhu Chitkara, Pro Chancellor Chitkara University, Rajneesh Agrawal, Director, STPI Noida and Chaman Lal Dhanda, Director, MSME Innovation Project, GIZ India. The same was moderated by Alok Ramsisaria, CEO, Grazitti Interactive
In her address Dr Madhu Chitkara thanked the Government of Punjab for the various initiatives to build a robust eco-system for start-up and entrepreneurs in the region. She further added that Chitkara University has always been on the forefront of creating a conducive environment for young entrepreneurs. Programs like CURIN (Chitkara University Research and Innovation Network) and CEED, an entrepreneurship development endeavor of Chitkara University are some definite steps towards the same direction.
Director, STPI Noida, Rajneesh Agrawal highlighted the role of Mohali in emerging as the IT hub of the region. The very fact that IT exports from the region today touch 5000 crores and is providing employment to approx 4000 IT professionals . 400 acres Mohali IT park has already attracted many companies to set up their base here. The cluster of academic institutes around the city also gives it a definite edge.
The day followed with hugely informative sessions by Mr. Himanshu Wardhan, Managing Director, India Etsy- Online Retail- on “A Much More Democratic Way to Build a Business, especially for Small Sellers’
Dr. Wayne Brockbank, Clinical Professor of Business of The Strategic Human Resource Planning Program, University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business on “Agility Through Information Advantage” and Mr. Rajendra Srivastava, Dean, Indian School of Business –on “Quest for Sustainable Business Models”
