Start-ups, entrepreneurship, and innovation are words that are on the minds of almost every student in this generation. The desire to start something of their own and be their own bosses raises a large number of questions which require very detailed and accurate answers. To solve this issue, the MUTBI Student Entrepreneurship Cell of Manipal along with the Alumni Relations wing of Manipal University and the Government of Karnataka Bio-Incubator held the third edition of the Manipal Entrepreneurship Summit at the Library Auditorium, MIT.

Manipal alumni who made it big in the field of entrepreneurship along with some other entrepreneurs were invited to help guide the students onto the right path. The summit started with a welcome speech by Dr MV Kini and was followed by various Manipal staff talking about the importance of entrepreneurship and how MAHE has been helping the students in this regard. Dr Sri Hari Upadhyaya, CEO of MUTBI, spoke about the incubator and the opportunities it provides. Representatives from the newly formed Government of Karnataka Bio-Incubator introduced the GoKBI, which focuses on helping medical and Biotechnology/Biomedical related start-ups.

After this, Mr Veerendra Shetty from Samsung Research Institute, Bangalore talked about his experiences, and the lessons he learned from them. He spoke about how our country is in dire need of entrepreneurs and also about the support that our government is providing to start-ups. The panel discussion followed suit and was moderated by Dr Kallaje. The panel consisted of four Manipal alumni and one external entrepreneur—Mr. Gajanan Nagarsekar, Managing Director at Kallows India, Venkat Vallabhaneni, General Partner at Parampara Capital, Ashish Modi, Managing Director at Gloster Cables Limited, Abhishek Bhaduri, Program Manager at Belong.co, and Deepak Shekhar, Group Engineering Manager at Samsung Electronics.

The moderator asked the panellists questions from a list which had been shortlisted from the questions asked by the students in the registration form. These questions revolved around funding, Intellectual Property Rights and other similar topics. The students raised questions regarding organic growth, first movers advantage, the right time to sell and more such questions in the doubt clearing session that came soon after.

The summit resumed after a break with the panel discussion. There was a small discussion on pharmaceutical companies as well following which Dr D Srikanth Rao, the director of MIT, gave an inspiring speech. The final round saw budding entrepreneurs pitch their ideas. The three start-ups that participated were Intelligent Creations, Ellora Stores and FE3D.

A small photo shoot marked the end of the Summit. Manipal receives thousands of students every year providing this small student town with an unlimited talent pool. The students need to be guided with regards to entrepreneurship, and this summit aimed at doing precisely that.

Image Credits: The Photography Club, Manipal