IIM Calcutta Innovation Park in association with the TATA group and Bihar Entrepreneur Association hosted the Thinking Social Seminar at Chanakya National Law University on 22 July 2017. The primary objective of this event was to build awareness on social entrepreneurship, generate interest and inspire the young generation to come up with innovative solutions to social challenges. On 21st July 2017 we had organized a business plan pitching session for social entrepreneurs in Bihar. 80 startups had applied for this and only 20 startups were shortlisted to participate in this event.

The speakers of this seminar comprised of eminent and social entrepreneurs, investors and academicians who have already established their own outstanding ventures and have impacted the lives of thousands of people.

The seminar commenced with the welcome address by Mr Abhishek Singh, Secretary General – Bihar Entrepreneur Association who spoke about how BEA was formed and the kind of work they are doing in the state of Bihar. He mentioned, “ We are a regional coalition of entrepreneurs, business and community leaders, organizations and local government dedicated to provide start-ups of Bihar with access to nationwide tools and resources that will help them scale up.” He also spoke about the Bihar Startup Yatra’s which they have been organizing in partnership with the Department of Industries, Govt. of Bihar since 2011.

Capt. Amitabh, Head (Skill Development), CSR – Tata Steel, Spoke about the initiatives taken up by the Tata Group . He said, “Truly imbibing the ethos set by our founder JN Tata, as a responsible corporate citizen, we believe community to be the very purpose of our existence. Tata Steel’s commitment towards CSR dates back for more than 100 years and is known for it nationally and globally.”

Gaurav Kapoor, Head (INVENT) – IIM Calcutta Innovation Park spoke about who is a social entrepreneur and how to identify gaps and create a business opportunity out of it. He said, “India is a vast country with humongous challenges in almost every social sector. The government can make policies and provide the infrastructure, however, the actual change will be brought in by the people themselves. It is time that the youth takes on the baton and assumes responsibility to solve problems impacting the masses, especially the rural population, which is where the larger chunk of our population lives. He further said, “The startup ecosystem is evoking entrepreneurial talent and if the youth takes up entrepreneurship seriously, it wont be long before we see some amazing ideas come forward and create sustainable enterprises while solving some massive problems. Tata Social Enterprise Challenge is one such initiative.”

Mr. Vikram Duggal, Unitus Seed Fund spoke about the funding opportunities available to start-ups in the social entrepreneurship space.

Mr Kaushlendra, Co-founder Samriddhi and President Bihar Entrepreneur Association spoke about the scope of social entrepreneurship in Bihar & Jharkand. He also explained to the audience the importance of technical knowledge.

Mr Suman Mukhopadhyay, Director – Banglanatak.com spoke about the challenges and Innovation in Social Entrepreneurship. He further mentioned, “The diversity of ideas, background, age and gender of existing and potential entrepreneurs who participated in the pitching session was very impressive. Energy of the youth and their willingness to venture into unchartered territory with an intention to deliver common good is an indicator of evolving social Entrepreneurship in the State.”

The seminar ended with an interactive Q & A session and the names of the top 3 winners of the Business Plan Pitching Session held the previous day were declared.

The following teams were the winners:

TakGi: They are bridging the gap between the retailer and wholesaler for sourcing medicines, which is a major pain point, by assigning a dedicated staff who is required to source the medicines on a daily or weekly basis.

The Ganna Cafe: The Ganna cafe provides freshly prepared hygienic and healthy sugarcane juice through a vending cart. This is done through a motorized machine in a single crush process. The ganna juice which they provide is hygienic, healthy and cost effective i.e. at par with the current market rate.

R-Labs: They help engineering students to test their robotic programming on high end, state of art Robots which are located at various premium universities in Europe.

IIM Calcutta Innovation Park in association with the TATA group hosted the Thinking Social Seminar at Pacchunga University College on March 31st, 2017. The primary objective of this event was to build awareness on social entrepreneurship, generate interest and inspire the young generation to come up with innovative solutions to social challenges. The speakers of the seminar comprised of eminent and social entrepreneurs, investors and academicians who have already established their own outstanding ventures and have impacted the lives of thousands of people.

The seminar commenced with the welcome address by Dr. C. Vanlalramsanga, IES, Secretary Planning Department and Alternate Chairman of Mizoram State Entrepreneurship Development Monitoring Committee (MEDMOC) who spoke about the various initiatives which the Mizoram government has been taking up on Entrepreneurship Development. He also urged the students to take inspiration from these social entrepreneurs so that they can take up entrepreneurship as a career option.

Prof. C D Mitra, IIM Calcutta spoke about who is a social entrepreneur and how to identify gaps and create a business opportunity out of it. He said, “Being an entrepreneur is not only about starting your own venture, It is essentially finding a gap between what is and what should be. The moment you find a smart way to bridge that gap connected to a social problem and you create a business opportunity, you become a social entrepreneur.” He urged the students to innovatively solve some of the unsolved problems in the state.

Mr. Vikram Duggal, Unitus Seed Fund said, “There are so many unresolved problems, especially in the North-Eastern regions of India. Social Entrepreneurs have tremendous opportunity to create profitable businesses and impact lives of underserved masses at same time. He also added that at Unitus Seed fund they need to see traction, among other things, before investing in any startup. Ten of the portfolio companies have raised series A and two have raised series B funding.

Mr Debayan Biswas, Founder: Momo on Wheels said, “All north eastern states are filled with opportunities which contribute towards the development of nation’s economic growth. We just need to be aware of these opportunities in the state in order to solve some of the social challenges.”

Mr Gaurav Kapoor, Innokul, spoke about the various social issues plaguing our nation in the health, environment, education, population and employment sectors and how youth can take cognizance of these issues and come up with relevant indigenous solutions. He inspired the youth with videos of live examples of social enterprises that have solved some mammoth social challenges in their respective sectors. He also gave the audience a deep insight into the concept of social enterprises and how they function.

The seminar ended with an interactive Q & A session, where questions were posed by not only the students but faculty as well.

IIM Calcutta Innovation Park in association with the TATA group hosted the Thinking Social Seminar at Shiv Nadar University on April 8th, 2017. The primary objective of this event was to build awareness on social entrepreneurship, generate interest and inspire the young generation to come up with innovative solutions to social challenges. The speakers of the seminar comprised of eminent and social entrepreneurs, investors and academicians who have already established their own outstanding ventures and have impacted the lives of thousands of people.

The seminar commenced with the welcome address by Prof. Partha Roy, Professor at School of Management and Entrepreneurship (SME), Shiv Nadar University. He was very happy with this initiative which they have conducting for the last three years.

Prof. C D Mitra, IIM Calcutta spoke about who is a social entrepreneur and how to identify gaps and create a business opportunity out of it. He said, “The world is full of social problems which need to be solved. An entrepreneur who tries to solve these problems through his venture is a social entrepreneur.” He also conducted a small session with the students where he asked them to identify some problems in the country and think of a solution to overcome the problems. The students were very enthusiastic and came up with problems like – Pollution, Illiteracy, Mental Health, Poor conditions of the farmers, infant mortality etc.

Neha Arora, Founder – Plantet Abled spoke about her venture and how she is helping the community with people having disabilities. She gave an insight to the audience about the lives and challenges of people with disabilities and hoped that they would now be empathetic and observant about how simple things can be path breaking for someone.

Anuroop and Ashish Agarwal, Founder: Talento Consulting, shared with the audience about their startup journey. Their company Talento Consulting is a Skill Development Company providing end to end solutions to improve productivity for businesses and enhance employability. They concluded by saying, “A skilled India is the medium to reap the benefits of our demographic dividend and to become a developed country”

Kapil Mandawewala, Founder – Edible Routes, shared with the audience about how he started his venture after returning from the U.S as a consultant. Kapil had a keen interest in the agri-business sector which helped him to start Edible Routes. He mentioned that, “We don’t know where the food we eat is grown or what chemicals are used to grow it.” His organization – Edible Routes – conducts kitchen gardening workshops for adults and school children and they also set up kitchen gardens to help people grow their own vegetables and reconnect with nature.

Dr Avijit Chakrabarthi, Founder – Bindubot, started by giving a simple definition of a social enterprise. He said, “To combine a social objective with a business formula is a social enterprise.” He also mentioned that. “Unless there is passion in the entrepreneur, the venture will not work.” Dr Chakrabarthi also spoke about how Bollywood is the biggest social enterprise in our country as it highlights (though it’s movies) some of the most prevalent social issues like – Poverty, unemployment, homelessness and other social issues.

The seminar ended with an interactive Q & A session, where questions were posed by not only the students but faculty as well.

IIM Calcutta Innovation Park in association with the TATA group hosted the Thinking Social Seminar at XIM, Bhubaneswar in partnership with e-Kutir and PNV foundation as part of the GSIS (Glocal Social on February 18th, 2017. The primary objective of this event was to build awareness on social entrepreneurship, generate interest and inspire the young generation to come up with innovative solutions to social challenges. The speakers of the seminar comprised of eminent and social entrepreneurs, investors and academicians who have already established their own outstanding ventures and have impacted the lives of thousands of people.

The speakers consisted of an esteemed panel of entrepreneurs including Mr. K M Mishra, Founder, e-Kutir; Smita Agarwal – Head CSR, Tata Steel; Mr. Jaynarayan Pujapanda, Founder, Sahaya Foundation; Mr. Joe Madiath – Founder Gram Vikas, and Tanaya Patnaik, Executive Director Sambad Group.

The seminar commenced with the welcome address by Mr Satyabrata Rath, Co-founder PNV Foundation emphasized on what it really means to be social and he added that “Being social doesn’t just mean being on the social media but also being Social in the true sense of the word.”

Ms Smita Agarwal, Head CSR – Tata Steel, spoke about the activities of Tata Steel. She said, “In line with the spirit of Jamsetji Tata, we have picked up issues in the communities around us and tried to find solutions to them. In this way we have created projects to address multiple aspects of community life and better it.”

Mr. Jaynarayan Pujapanda, Founder, Sahaya Foundation shared with the audience his inspiring journey from a sales person to an entrepreneur. He mentioned that to become a social entrepreneur one needs to first become an entrepreneur and have the right kind of skills set. He also spoke about how Paris Bakery, his profit venture has helped him to establish Sahaya Foundation.

Mr K C Mishra, Founder – e-Kutir spoke about how social business is the need of the hour not only in extending marketing based principles but also a career opportunity for the youngsters.

Dr. Birupaskshya Dixit, Practical Action spoke about how his organization is supporting social enterprises in Orrisa. His organization finds out what people are doing and helps them to do it in a better way. Through technology they enable poor communities to build on their skills and knowledge to produce sustainable and practical solutions- transforming their lives forever and protecting the world around them.

Tanaya Patnaik, Executive Director Sambad Group interacted with the students and expressed her views on social entrepreneurship. She spoke about her ventures like – Sambad School of Media and Culture, Kanak News and Sambad newspapers and how these have contributed to social activities.

The post lunch session started with 10 pitches from various entrepreneurs to a panel of judges whose ideas were shortlisted by XIMB and PNV foundation. There were many ideas which were generated to address the problems in various sectors like: agriculture, e-commerce solutions, healthcare services, education and other social problems of society. Three best ideas were awarded by the jury members.

The seminar ended with an interactive Q & A session, where questions were posed by not only the students but faculty as well.

IIM Calcutta Innovation Park in association with the TATA group hosted the Thinking Social Seminar at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC), Lavale, Pune on January 30th, 2017. The primary objective of this event was to build awareness on social entrepreneurship, generate interest and inspire the young generation to come up with innovative solutions to social challenges. The speakers of the seminar comprised of eminent and social entrepreneurs, investors and academicians who have already established their own outstanding ventures and have impacted the lives of thousands of people.

The speakers consisted of an esteemed panel of entrepreneurs including Mr. Pradeep Lokhande, Founder and CEO – Rural Relations; Mr. Ramesh Menon, a veteran journalist, author, documentary film maker and a corporate trainer and a recipient of Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism; Mr. Shekhar Prabhakar, Co-founder – Hasiru Dala Innovations; Mr. Sushanth Kodela, Co-founder – Uncancer India, and Ms. Janhavi Joshi, Co-founder – Bleetech.

The seminar commenced with the welcome address by Dr. Ruchi Jaggi, Director of SIMC, who praised the initiative for bringing a social dimension to innovation and entrepreneurship.

Mr. Lokhande started off the technical sessions by recounting his journey from transforming a small idea to what is now known as Gyan Key, a rural library. The story of Mr.Lokhande is that of a humble entrepreneur, who’s passion drove the project which was a very strenuous process with no immediate returns on efforts put in. He urged aspiring innovators to create not for demand by for need.

Ramesh Menon addressed the students on the topic of why social thinking is absolutely necessary for India. “One thinks of money and more money as soon as you hear entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship seems like lost money, but that’s wrong,” Mr.Ramesh commended the youth for being full of ideas, and encouraged them to come up with interesting ideas in the social sector. “Our youth is not only looking at a better quality of life but also a better India.”

Hasiru Dala Innovations, an initiative by Mr. Shekhar Prabhakar, is his social enterprise that very cleverly changed the perception of a social group – transforming them from ‘waste-pickers’ to environmentalists. According to Mr. Prabhakar when one talks about social impact “There needs to be a quantum change in the scope of social change.”

The second half of the seminar introduced Sushant Kodela, who moved the audience with his touching and very personal story about how he overcame cancer and that experience led him to ideate platform that he hopes will change healthcare in India. “When you are facing death, your entire perspective about life changes, that’s what happened to me. I wanted to relish something and feel appreciated. Unfortunately I didn’t find anything. That bothered me. We don’t relish what we have access to. I was sure that I wasn’t going to die like this.” Being a cancer patient himself, he found that this group of individuals face many challenges in the way they have access to information or the decisions they make accordingly. “Our aim is to be along with the patient throughout the treatment. Today, we don’t do any marketing. Word of mouth worked for us. When they talk to other survivors then they get some hope.” Sushant urged the audience to start working with people who create social change to tackle social issues, “Entrepreneurs should have empathy, integrity.”

The last speaker of the day was Ms. Janhavi Joshi, who co-created an app that answered one simple problem: what if there was no music? Her innovation, Blee, allowed deaf dancers to hear music through vibrations. Although it was success, she spoke about the need for this type of technology to branch out to other aspects of life that could benefit their community. She expressed the need for technology like this, since there’s no innovation for the deaf community but there are technological advances for menial things in life. The duo’s main aim is the make affordable tech for a community that truly deserves it.

The seminar ended with an interactive Q & A session, where questions were posed by not only the students but faculty as well.

IIM Calcutta Innovation Park in association with the Tata group and Entrepreneurs Association of India (EAI), Jharkhand Open Coffee Club (JoCC) a group of Jharkhand-based entrepreneurs hosted the ‘Thinking Social Seminar’ at Institute of Management Studies, Ranchi University on January 6, 2017. The primary objective of this event was to build awareness on social entrepreneurship, generate interest and inspire the young generation to come up with innovative solutions to social challenges. The speakers of the seminar comprised of eminent and social entrepreneurs, investors and academicians, who have already established their own outstanding ventures and have impacted the lives of thousands of people.

The day-long seminar sought to introduce entrepreneurs from Jharkhand to the spirit of social entrepreneurship in a rapidly evolving global economy and addressed the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs in Jharkhand. The speakers for the day comprised eminent social entrepreneurs, from Bihar and Jharkhand who have been working extensively in the Indian social entrepreneurship space.

The Seminar was formally inaugurated by Dr. R. K. Pandey, Vice Chancellor, Ranchi University. In his opening address, Dr. Pandey emphasized on the need of social entrepreneurs for development of society not only in Jharkhand, but all across the world. This was followed by an inaugural address by Mr. Shailesh Verma – Chief Resident Executive, Tata Steel Limited, Ranchi, who explained the objectives of the seminar and the how Tata group has played an active role to foster entrepreneurship in the country.

Mr. Subhrangshu Sanyal, CEO – IIM Calcutta Innovation Park spoke about the need for social entrepreneurship in our country and why the youth should be involved in it. He also mentioned about the essential qualities which a social entrepreneur should possess in order to succeed.

Mr. Vikram Duggal, who represented US based Founder Institute and Unitus Seed Fund
in Kolkata, spoke about Unitus Seed Fund which is India’s leading venture fund investing in startups innovating for the masses. Mr. Duggal explained how Unitus Seed Fund, helps startups “prepare for growth” via seed funding, strategic and operating support, providing critical connections, and securing growth capital. The investment focus areas of Unitus are healthcare, education, and financial technology.

Ms. Malavika Sharma, Founder Avikaonline and also an ex-alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur explained how the Butterfly project would help create a network of women entrepreneurs. Ms. Sharma said that the project is aimed to inspire women with offbeat business ideas because we mostly see them venturing in the beauty parlour and handicraft businesses. Recently a workshop with a focus on how to start a business and how to raise funds – which are issues that plague every budding entrepreneur – has been held in association with the US Consulate for the entrepreneurs from Jharkhand. The Butterfly project has already tied up with 25 men and women who have passed out from renowned business schools and have been successful as entrepreneurs.

Mr. Roshan Sharma, Co- founder of Drinksbecho shared his journey as an entrepreneur and how his venture drinksbecho.com has now become an e-commerce portal for beverages industry, being run and powered by a company called VrTechsys Solutions Pvt. Ltd. with experience of industry in the field of new product development from Idea, Concept to making in the real world in product industries.

The post lunch session started with 12 pitches from various entrepreneurs to a panel of judges whose ideas and prototypes were shortlisted by Bihar Entrepreneurs Association (BEA). To inculcate the young minds BEA had organized the Pitch4Jharkahnd, a startup competition for which the entries were invited from Jharkhand for the best business ideas. There were many challenging business proposals from the participants to address the problems in various sectors like: agriculture, water and sanitation, clean energy, e-commerce solutions, healthcare services, and other social problems of society.

Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Secretary General, Bihar Entrepreneurs Association (BEA), spoke of the role of BEA to promote social entrepreneurship across the country. BEA was founded by young Entrepreneurs from the state in 2011, to provide a platform for new enterprise, startups and potential entrepreneurs from within the state to establish a successful business and with the holistic aim to make Bihar into “Enterprising Bihar” by creating an industry and entrepreneur friendly eco-system in the state and build a pool of entrepreneurs for the future. BEA offers an excellent platform for future entrepreneurs, where one prospective entrepreneur can get a single window service from advisory services to fund raising support.

The session ended with a vote of thanks from Director of Management Studies, Ranchi University to all the speakers and the participants. He accentuated that the objective of the seminar was to create and promote entrepreneurship at the grassroots level starting from village and district level and inculcate innovation and social change drivers in young minds. The Government of Jharkhand is taking firm and fundamental strides towards building a robust and friendly ecosystem which promotes innovation and nurtures entrepreneurship skills and the Government is committed to provide opportunities to every strata of society by empowering an equitable ecosystem for development of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the third seminar FY 2016-17, ‘Thinking Social’, at DNS Regional Institute of Cooperative Management, Patna in partnership with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and Bihar Entrepreneurs Association (BEA) on 17 December 2016. The day-long seminar sought to introduce entrepreneurs from Bihar to the spirit of social entrepreneurship in a rapidly evolving global economy and addressed the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs in Bihar. The speakers for the day comprised eminent social entrepreneurs, from Bihar and Bengal who have been working extensively in the Indian social entrepreneurship space.
The seminar was formally inaugurated by Mr. K.P. Ranjan, Director – DNS Regional Institute of Cooperative Management. In his opening address Mr. Ranjan emphasized on the need of social entrepreneurs for development of society not only in Patna but all across the world. This was followed by an inaugural address by Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Secretary General – Bihar Entrepreneurs Association (BEA) who welcomed all the eminent speakers and explained the objectives of the seminar and how BEA has played an active role to foster entrepreneurship in Bihar.
Bihar Entrepreneurs Association was founded by young entrepreneurs from the state in 2011 to provide a platform for new enterprises, start ups and potential entrepreneurs from the state to establish a successful business and with the holistic aim of re-making Bihar as “Enterprising Bihar” by creating an industry and entrepreneur friendly eco-system in the state and building a pool of entrepreneurs for the future. BEA offers an excellent platform for future entrepreneurs, where a prospective entrepreneur can get a single window service, from advisory services to fund raising support.
Mr. Subhrangshu Sanyal, CEO – IIM Calcutta Innovation Park spoke about the need for social entrepreneurship in our country and why the youth should be involved in it. He also mentioned the essential qualities which a social entrepreneur should have.
Mr. Anuj Kumar, Co-founder – Kaushalya Foundation shared with the audience the vision of his venture and spoke about the work which they are doing in Bihar. He mentioned that Kaushalya Foundation (KF), a non-government, non-profit organization works with rural and urban poor engaged in agriculture and the food sector in an environment-friendly and gender-sensitive manner. KF has impacted more than 10,000 smallholders and the poor, addressing the regressive issues pertaining to their livelihoods, education, gender-relations, health, nutrition and environmental-solidarity.
Mr. Gaurav Kapoor, Director – Innokul highlighted the societal challenges of India in the fields of Sanitation and Education. He also spoke about ‘Wello’, a social venture with a bold mission – to deliver clean water to the thirsty world. He also cited the examples of other social enterprises that are working with the village community to reduce the dropout rates of the girl child
Mr. Shashank Kumar, Co-founder – Farm n Farmers shared his experience of a being a successful social entrepreneur. He spoke about how Farm n Farmers (FnF) has minimized the uncertainty and mental trauma of the small and marginal farmers and helped maximize the farmer’s revenue by use of innovative ways of farming by providing support resources offered by the government. FnF has impacted 15,000 farmers over the last 5 years, through its local centers which are situated in villages, run by micro-entrepreneurs, trained and guided by FnF.
Mr. Suman Mukhopadhyay, Director – Banglanatak.com shared his journey as a social entrepreneur, the ways to overcome such challenges and how banglanatak.com works with a mission to foster pro-poor growth and safeguard our intangible cultural heritage, through the usage of culture-based approaches for community education and empowerment.
The post lunch session started with 10 pitches from various entrepreneurs to a panel of judges whose ideas and prototypes were shortlisted by BEA. To inculcate the young minds (BEA) had organized the Pitch4Bihar a startup competition for which the entries were invited from the country for the best business ideas. There were many challenging business proposals from the participants to address the problems in various sectors like: agriculture, e-commerce solutions, career counseling, healthcare services, education and other social problems of society
The session ended with a vote of thanks from Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Secretary General, to all the speakers and the participants. He accentuated that the objective of BEA is to create and promote entrepreneurship at the grassroots level starting from village and district level and inculcate innovation and social change drivers in young minds. The Government of Bihar has already launched the Start up policy and has also earmarked a Venture Capital fund of Rs 500 crore for startups. BEA and Information Technology Department have also agreed upon setting up a 50,000 sq.ft office space for startups in the State capital and is currently looking to partner with institutes/enterprises to hold Start up Yatras all across the country and Bihar to achieve the objective of “Making an Enterprising Bihar”.

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the third seminar FY 2016-17, ‘Thinking Social’, at DNS Regional Institute of Cooperative Management, Patna in partnership with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and Bihar Entrepreneurs Association (BEA) on 17 December 2016. The day-long seminar sought to introduce entrepreneurs from Bihar to the spirit of social entrepreneurship in a rapidly evolving global economy and addressed the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs in Bihar. The speakers for the day comprised eminent social entrepreneurs, from Bihar and Bengal who have been working extensively in the Indian social entrepreneurship space.

The seminar was formally inaugurated by Mr. K.P. Ranjan, Director – DNS Regional Institute of Cooperative Management. In his opening address Mr. Ranjan emphasized on the need of social entrepreneurs for development of society not only in Patna but all across the world. This was followed by an inaugural address by Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Secretary General – Bihar Entrepreneurs Association (BEA) who welcomed all the eminent speakers and explained the objectives of the seminar and how BEA has played an active role to foster entrepreneurship in Bihar.

Bihar Entrepreneurs Association was founded by young entrepreneurs from the state in 2011 to provide a platform for new enterprises, start ups and potential entrepreneurs from the state to establish a successful business and with the holistic aim of re-making Bihar as “Enterprising Bihar” by creating an industry and entrepreneur friendly eco-system in the state and building a pool of entrepreneurs for the future. BEA offers an excellent platform for future entrepreneurs, where a prospective entrepreneur can get a single window service, from advisory services to fund raising support.

Mr. Subhrangshu Sanyal, CEO – IIM Calcutta Innovation Park spoke about the need for social entrepreneurship in our country and why the youth should be involved in it. He also mentioned the essential qualities which a social entrepreneur should have.

Mr. Anuj Kumar, Co-founder – Kaushalya Foundation shared with the audience the vision of his venture and spoke about the work which they are doing in Bihar. He mentioned that Kaushalya Foundation (KF), a non-government, non-profit organization works with rural and urban poor engaged in agriculture and the food sector in an environment-friendly and gender-sensitive manner. KF has impacted more than 10,000 smallholders and the poor, addressing the regressive issues pertaining to their livelihoods, education, gender-relations, health, nutrition and environmental-solidarity.

Mr. Gaurav Kapoor, Director – Innokul highlighted the societal challenges of India in the fields of Sanitation and Education. He also spoke about ‘Wello’, a social venture with a bold mission – to deliver clean water to the thirsty world. He also cited the examples of other social enterprises that are working with the village community to reduce the dropout rates of the girl child

Mr. Shashank Kumar, Co-founder – Farm n Farmers shared his experience of a being a successful social entrepreneur. He spoke about how Farm n Farmers (FnF) has minimized the uncertainty and mental trauma of the small and marginal farmers and helped maximize the farmer’s revenue by use of innovative ways of farming by providing support resources offered by the government. FnF has impacted 15,000 farmers over the last 5 years, through its local centers which are situated in villages, run by micro-entrepreneurs, trained and guided by FnF.

Mr. Suman Mukhopadhyay, Director – Banglanatak.com shared his journey as a social entrepreneur, the ways to overcome such challenges and how banglanatak.com works with a mission to foster pro-poor growth and safeguard our intangible cultural heritage, through the usage of culture-based approaches for community education and empowerment.

The post lunch session started with 10 pitches from various entrepreneurs to a panel of judges whose ideas and prototypes were shortlisted by BEA. To inculcate the young minds (BEA) had organized the Pitch4Bihar a startup competition for which the entries were invited from the country for the best business ideas. There were many challenging business proposals from the participants to address the problems in various sectors like: agriculture, e-commerce solutions, career counseling, healthcare services, education and other social problems of society

The session ended with a vote of thanks from Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Secretary General, to all the speakers and the participants. He accentuated that the objective of BEA is to create and promote entrepreneurship at the grassroots level starting from village and district level and inculcate innovation and social change drivers in young minds. The Government of Bihar has already launched the Start up policy and has also earmarked a Venture Capital fund of Rs 500 crore for startups. BEA and Information Technology Department have also agreed upon setting up a 50,000 sq.ft office space for startups in the State capital and is currently looking to partner with institutes/enterprises to hold Start up Yatras all across the country and Bihar to achieve the objective of “Making an Enterprising Bihar”.

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the second seminar FY 2016-17, ‘Thinking Social’, at IIIT Hyderabad in partnership with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and iBHubs Hyderabad on 23 October 2016. The day-long seminar sought to introduce students from top professional colleges in India to the spirit of social entrepreneurship in a rapidly evolving global economy and addressed the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs belonging to reputed institutes in Hyderabad. The speakers for the day comprised eminent social entrepreneurs, academicians and senior corporate executives working extensively in the Indian social entrepreneurship space.

The Seminar was formally inaugurated by Prof. Krishna Madhavi Kolla – Head of New Initiatives, IIIT Hyderabad. In her opening address she mentioned that IIIT Hyderabad has been working on the incubation space and have been supporting a number of startups for the past several years, not only in Hyderabad but all across the world. They also have an incubation programme called “Avishkar” which helps to identify startups and support them in their entrepreneurial journey.

Subhrangshu Sanyal, CEO – IIM Calcutta Innovation Park spoke about the need for social entrepreneurship in our country and why the youth should be involved in it. He also mentioned about the essential qualities which a social entrepreneur should have.

Manjuvani Nayani, Managing Trustee – Tata Projects Community Development shared with the audience the vision of the Tata group and spoke about the work which they are doing in that region. She mentioned, “Tata group is playing an important role in social development for the past many years and presently their focus here is on Water, Skills and Education. In the water sector Tata Projects has taken up a programme in social entrepreneurship which is a bankable and replicable model. Through this programme they are developing entrepreneurs to provide safe drinking water to the rural community.”

Ramana Gogula, CEO & Founder – Earthen Glow spoke about his venture and how it is creating a social impact. Earthen Glow is a Clean Technology Start-Up that focuses on building robust & scalable OFFGRID Lighting Solutions to enable rural households to gradually decrease their dependency on kerosene. He motivated the students and encouraged them to become social entrepreneurs by saying, “A journey of a social entrepreneur is difficult but the experience is very rewarding.”

Prof. P. K. Reddy – IIIT Hyderabad and founder at eSagu gave a brief about his venture and how it is very useful to the farmers. eSagu is an IT-based personalized agro-advisory system which aims to improve farm productivity by delivering high quality personalized (farm-specific) agro-expert advice in a timely manner to each farm at the farmer’s door-steps. He concluded by saying that his greater objective is to scale his venture all over India and to other countries which are in a similar state as India.

Mukhti K Bosco, Founder – Healing Fields Foundation mentioned that India is still backward in a large number of areas – healthcare being one of the major areas of concern. She spoke about how her venture is creating an impact in the society. Healing Fields Foundation – a pioneer in the areas of health financing and community education – is dedicated to making healthcare affordable and accessible to all underprivileged and marginalized people across India. In her concluding remarks she urged the audience to take up social entrepreneurship as a career option and said that, “It takes passion which motivates one to work in underdeveloped geographical regions.”

Raj Janagam, Managing Partner – HelloBhayya Services, spoke about his entrepreneurship journey and gave an in-depth insight to the audience about how to take their idea to the next level. He urged the young students to take up their idea while they are studying so that by the time they finish college their prototype would be ready. He also mentioned about the funding options of startups in the social enterprise sector.

Satish Kumar Burra, Founder – Organic Thali, narrated his journey as a social entrepreneur and what motivated him to start his venture. He said, “I lost my elder brother to cancer and I discovered the main reason for this was the pesticides which are being used in the crops by farmers.” This motivated him to come up with a solution to this problem and he founded Organic Thali which provides pesticides/chemical free food. They currently serve to more than 1000 customer’s everyday in Hyderabad. Satish is helping farmers to improve their conditions and is also generating employment to the youth.

Rambabu Kondru from iBHubs Hyderabad spoke about how iBHubs – a Pan-India startups hub – provides end-to-end assistance to startups. He also mentioned that at iB Hubs, equal importance is given to Purpose Driven Social Enterprises and NGOs as well as Profit Driven Enterprises.

Concluding on a positive note, the seminar left the audience inspired by the various stories of change and impact shared enthusiastically by the speakers for the day. A sentiment that was a commonly shared among the participants and the speakers was the innate requirement for social entrepreneurs and the change that they can bring to society, and that such seminars are a vital platform in ushering in that change.

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the second seminar FY 2016-17, ‘Thinking Social’, at IIIT Hyderabad in partnership with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and iBHubs Hyderabad on 23 October 2016. The day-long seminar sought to introduce students from top professional colleges in India to the spirit of social entrepreneurship in a rapidly evolving global economy and addressed the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs belonging to reputed institutes in Hyderabad. The speakers for the day comprised eminent social entrepreneurs, academicians and senior corporate executives working extensively in the Indian social entrepreneurship space.

The Seminar was formally inaugurated by Prof. Krishna Madhavi Kolla – Head of New Initiatives, IIIT Hyderabad. In her opening address she mentioned that IIIT Hyderabad has been working on the incubation space and have been supporting a number of startups for the past several years, not only in Hyderabad but all across the world. They also have an incubation programme called “Avishkar” which helps to identify startups and support them in their entrepreneurial journey.

Subhrangshu Sanyal, CEO – IIM Calcutta Innovation Park spoke about the need for social entrepreneurship in our country and why the youth should be involved in it. He also mentioned about the essential qualities which a social entrepreneur should have.

Manjuvani Nayani, Managing Trustee – Tata Projects Community Development shared with the audience the vision of the Tata group and spoke about the work which they are doing in that region. She mentioned, “Tata group is playing an important role in social development for the past many years and presently their focus here is on Water, Skills and Education. In the water sector Tata Projects has taken up a programme in social entrepreneurship which is a bankable and replicable model. Through this programme they are developing entrepreneurs to provide safe drinking water to the rural community.”

Ramana Gogula, CEO & Founder – Earthen Glow spoke about his venture and how it is creating a social impact. Earthen Glow is a Clean Technology Start-Up that focuses on building robust & scalable OFFGRID Lighting Solutions to enable rural households to gradually decrease their dependency on kerosene. He motivated the students and encouraged them to become social entrepreneurs by saying, “A journey of a social entrepreneur is difficult but the experience is very rewarding.”

Prof. P. K. Reddy – IIIT Hyderabad and founder at eSagu gave a brief about his venture and how it is very useful to the farmers. eSagu is an IT-based personalized agro-advisory system which aims to improve farm productivity by delivering high quality personalized (farm-specific) agro-expert advice in a timely manner to each farm at the farmer’s door-steps. He concluded by saying that his greater objective is to scale his venture all over India and to other countries which are in a similar state as India.

Mukhti K Bosco, Founder – Healing Fields Foundation mentioned that India is still backward in a large number of areas – healthcare being one of the major areas of concern. She spoke about how her venture is creating an impact in the society. Healing Fields Foundation – a pioneer in the areas of health financing and community education – is dedicated to making healthcare affordable and accessible to all underprivileged and marginalized people across India. In her concluding remarks she urged the audience to take up social entrepreneurship as a career option and said that, “It takes passion which motivates one to work in underdeveloped geographical regions.”

Raj Janagam, Managing Partner – HelloBhayya Services, spoke about his entrepreneurship journey and gave an in-depth insight to the audience about how to take their idea to the next level. He urged the young students to take up their idea while they are studying so that by the time they finish college their prototype would be ready. He also mentioned about the funding options of startups in the social enterprise sector.

Satish Kumar Burra, Founder – Organic Thali, narrated his journey as a social entrepreneur and what motivated him to start his venture. He said, “I lost my elder brother to cancer and I discovered the main reason for this was the pesticides which are being used in the crops by farmers.” This motivated him to come up with a solution to this problem and he founded Organic Thali which provides pesticides/chemical free food. They currently serve to more than 1000 customer’s everyday in Hyderabad. Satish is helping farmers to improve their conditions and is also generating employment to the youth.

Rambabu Kondru from iBHubs Hyderabad spoke about how iBHubs – a Pan-India startups hub – provides end-to-end assistance to startups. He also mentioned that at iB Hubs, equal importance is given to Purpose Driven Social Enterprises and NGOs as well as Profit Driven Enterprises.

Concluding on a positive note, the seminar left the audience inspired by the various stories of change and impact shared enthusiastically by the speakers for the day. A sentiment that was a commonly shared among the participants and the speakers was the innate requirement for social entrepreneurs and the change that they can bring to society, and that such seminars are a vital platform in ushering in that change.

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the first seminar series FY 2016-17, ‘Thinking Social’, at Dibrugarh University, Assam on 26th September 2016. The day-long seminar sought to introduce students from top professional colleges in India to the spirit of social entrepreneurship in a rapidly evolving global economy and addressed the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs belonging to reputed institutes in Assam. The speakers for the day comprised eminent social entrepreneurs, academicians and senior corporate executives working extensively in the Indian social entrepreneurship space.

The Seminar was formally inaugurated by Prof. Alak Kumar Buragohain – Vice Challancelor, Dibrugarh University. In his opening address, he emphasized that students should seriously think of taking social entrepreneurship as a career option and they should synergize and orient their thought process to benefit the weaker sections of the society. He also mentioned that they will partner with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park to set up a Technology Business Incubator at Dibrugarh University.

Mr. Subhrangshu Sanyal from IIM Calcutta Innovation Park shared with the audience IIMCIP’s vision, key activities related to social entrepreneurship and the evolution of TSEC. He concluded by saying, “The youth need to come up with innovative solutions that would address the challenges faced by our society in different sectors like education, healthcare, sanitation and livelihood. ”

Mr Vivekanandan T, Tata Trusts shared with the audience the vision of the TATA Group and also spoke about the Assam State Initiative led by the Tata Trusts in the North East part of the country. He also mentioned about Tata Trusts’s initiatives in promoting and nurturing social enterprises.

Mr Gaurav Kapoor , Innokul highlighted the societal challenges of India in the field of healthcare, sanitation and Education. He also spoke about his venture ‘Kolkata Sasthya Sankalp” which is determined to work for the cause of the poor and marginalized in the field of dialysis and avoidable blindness and blood donation by providing a safe, hygienic, effective treatment at low cost.

Mr Durlov Baruah, Founder – Kuhipaat Communications spoke about the problems in the society which we are facing like brain drain to the metro cities, poverty, social inclusion and women trafficking. He also voiced his concerns about the Economic Polarization of resources which is leading to all resources being concentrated in the metro cities.

Mr Manash Chaliha, Founder – Organic Majuli shared with the audience the different aspects of starting an enterprise and formation of a legal entity. He also discussed about the importance of creating a brand for your company. In his concluding remarks, Manash asked the audience to focus on the strengths of Assam like agriculture and food processing and start a venture in these fields.

Jonali Saikia, Founder – Heeya spoke about the weaving culture of Assam and the entire North East. Jonali spoke about creating the 3 Ps – Paisa, Product and Pride with the Assamese weavers – which is the idea behind Heeya. She stressed on the importance of the fact that, “We need to stop migration of people from the North East by creating local employment, infrastructure and an effective ecosystem.”

Concluding on a positive note, the seminar left the audience inspired by the various stories of change and impact shared enthusiastically by the speakers for the day. A sentiment that was a commonly shared among the participants and the speakers was the innate requirement for social entrepreneurs and the change that they can bring to society, and that such seminars are a vital platform in ushering in that change.

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the fourth seminar series, ‘Thinking Social’, at Shiv Nadar University (SNU), Greater Noida on 27th February 2016. The day-long seminar sought to introduce students from top professional colleges in India to the spirit of social entrepreneurship in a rapidly evolving global economy and addressed the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs belonging to reputed institutes in Delhi NCR. The speakers for the day comprised eminent social entrepreneurs, academicians and senior corporate executives working extensively in the Indian social entrepreneurship space.
The Seminar was formally inaugurated by Dr. Subhro Sen – Director of School of Management and Entrepreneurship & School of Extended Education and Professional Development, Shiv Nadar University. In his opening address, Dr. Sen emphasized on the importance and significance of social entrepreneurship in the current times for the balanced upliftment of all sections of society. He thanked the participants for their presence at the event and encouraged them to imbibe the rich knowledge that comes through experience, which was to be shared by an interesting ensemble of practicing social entrepreneurs, academicians and industry thought-leaders.

Mr. Sujoy Sen from IIM Calcutta Innovation Park shared with the audience IIMC’s key contribution of promoting social entrepreneurs through their incubation cell, the vision that the organization has for the promotion of social entrepreneurship and the evolution of TSEC. He also stressed on the importance of serving the bottom of the pyramid and the significance of boosting these sections of society.

Ms. Kirti Poonia, Head – Okhai, Tata Chemicals gave the audience an overview of the Tata Chemicals Rural Entrepreneurship Development Programme and Tata Steel’s Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme. She spoke about the Okhai Model for Women Empowerment in rural India and the training imparted to tribal women in their historic crafts such appliqué, embroidery and stiching. She shared with the students the learnings she could draw from her experience with Okhai. Besides, “Working in a social enterprise is not a purely selfless job, for you will gain leadership qualities that you can apply in any business – including realizing the importance of empathy, on the ground experience and business efficiencies – and find your passion.” In her concluding remarks she motivated the students by telling them about Jamsetji’s ethos of nation building and giving back to society, while running perfectly efficient businesses, and to “think social” before making every business decision.

Prof. Devi Vijay of IIM Calcutta gave an overview about social entrepreneurship. She spoke about the Social Entrepreneurship Academic Programme being conducted at IIM Calcutta which gives the students an opportunity to understand and solve challenges in this space. Prof. Devi Vijay spoke about the Engagements between academics, students and social enterprises. She explained how the student groups work with different social organizations to solve live problems while applying concepts learnt during their tenure at IIMC

Ms. Sumita Ghose , Founder – Rangsutra which is a social enterprise connecting more than 2000 women artisans, emphasized the importance of persistent efforts in order to pursue the cause that you deeply and firmly believe in. Citing examples from the evolution of her company, she stressed the importance of helping women to find their self-confidence and financial independence. She also stressed the importance of involving the people at the base level in the decision making process, as this allows them to be in control in deciding the course of the business.

The next speaker was Mr. Rustam Sengupta, founder and CEO – Boond. In an electrifying speech, Mr Sengupta shared with the audience how he started his entrepreneurship journey after quitting his high-paying corporate job. The audience thoroughly enjoyed listening to his story of developing his “just a dream” into a sustainable high impact enterprise.

Two budding entrepreneurs, Prantik Sinha and Ashutosh Burnwal, whose enterprises – Agasthya Buoyant Pvt Ltd and Buddy4Study which are proposed for incubation at IIM Calcutta innovation Park demonstrated how an idea can be transformed into a viable business venture. Through the story of becoming entrepreneurs they demonstrated that it is the presence of sheer passion and commitment that will help achieve the impact on society that you wish to create.

The final session was handled by Ms. Manisha Gupta, Founder and CEO -StartUp! She cited social entrepreneurs as visionary individuals who identify a social interactive problem and figure out an innovative solution that enables a change to happen. Manisha emphasized the importance of value creation and the pursuit of happiness as fundamental building blocks for any social entrepreneur trying to make a difference.

Concluding the event, Prof. Partha Sarathi Roy of SNU thanked the speakers for sharing their inspiring stories with the students. A sentiment that was a commonly shared among the participants and the speakers was the innate requirement for social entrepreneurs and the change that they can bring to society, and that such seminars are a vital platform in ushering in that change.

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the third seminar series, ‘Thinking Social’, at Mizoram University, Aizwal on 22nd February 2016. The day-long seminar sought to introduce students from top professional colleges in India to the spirit of social entrepreneurship in a rapidly evolving global economy and addressed the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs belonging to reputed institutes in Aizwal. The speakers for the day comprised eminent social entrepreneurs, academicians and senior corporate executives working extensively in the Indian social entrepreneurship space.
The event kick-started with Prof. R Lalthanluana, Vice Chancellor of Mizoram University, delivering the inaugural address and welcoming all the dignitaries. Highlighting the institute’s keenness towards inculcating a spirit of social sensitivity and proactivity amongst its students, he spoke that they are in the process of setting up an incubator called the “Innovation Club” which would nurture startups from that region.

B Lalrinkima, Tata Trusts spoke about the work Tata Trusts have been doing in Mizoram. They are looking are supporting the livelihood sector in the state as that is where the enhancement of income can happen. Speaking about startups from Mizoram he said, “I think it’s the right time for Mizoram to start these initiatives because unlike other states in the North East, Mizoram is very peaceful. People here want to start their own ventures and I hope to see more startups from this region in the next 4-5 years.”

Suman Mukhopadhyay, Director – Banglanatak.com motivated the students to take social entrepreneurship as a career option. He explained how he left his successful corporate career and joined Banglanatak.com –a social enterprise HQed in Kolkata that works on culture-based development. He concluded by telling the students to, “Find a problem in the society, look for a solution and see if you can make money out of it.”

R Ramhmangaiha, Founder of Hnam Chhantu impressed the audience with his journey as a social entrepreneur and how he created his enterprise from scratch by sheer hard work and devotion. He has used the agricultural produce of bamboo in Mizoram and turned this into different forms of art and utility products, which is now been used by many people across the world.

Prof Margaret Ch Zama, Professor at Mizoram University and a patron of the Spastic Society of Mizoram, spoke about the efforts put in by the people to set up their society and how they are helping children with special needs, not only with their education, but also with making them self sufficient by utilizing their skills to manufacture paper cups, plates and glass made from paper.

Hasina Kharbhih, Founder of Impulse Social Enterprises, inspired the students with her motivational speech where she talked about the passion to do something different and change the world. When people have passion and when they believe in something, they can go to any extent and do what they believe in. She urged the audience to look into social issues and translate them into a business. Getting a job should not be an ultimate career choice, but the outlook should be to create jobs. She gave the example of her own area of work where she created jobs for many people in North East India thus preventing the migration of people from their homes.

Concluding on a positive note, the seminar left the audience of about 400 people, a great many of whom were students, inspired by the various stories of change and impact shared so enthusiastically by the speakers on that day. Many students said that this was the first time they learned something about social entrepreneurship, which till now was unknown to them, and that this could be a career option for them.

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata Group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the second seminar series, ‘Thinking Social’, at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (PG), Pune on 3rd October 2015. The day-long seminar sought to introduce students from top professional colleges in India to the spirit of social entrepreneurship in a rapidly evolving global economy and addressed the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs belonging to reputed B-Schools such as Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communications (SIMC), Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIMB) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). The speakers for the day comprised eminent social entrepreneurs, academicians and senior corporate executives working extensively in the Indian social entrepreneurship space.

The event kick-started with Prof. Chandan Chatterjee, Director, SIMC Pune, delivering the inaugural address and welcoming all the dignitaries. Highlighting the institute’s keenness towards inculcating a spirit of social sensitivity and proactivity amongst its students, he spoke of the student-initiated and driven Social Responsibility Cell called SIMCare, the acronym CARE standing for Compassion, Appreciation, Respect and Empathy.

Subhrangshu Sanyal, CEO – IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) shared with the audience IIMC’s journey on entrepreneurship, IIMCIP’s vision & activities and how TSEC emerged as one of the biggest platform for the social entrepreneurs in India. He stressed on the importance of involving fresh minds in solving some of the social challenges faced by India. He motivated the students by saying, “Young minds like you can provide innovative solutions to our current problems”.

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata Group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the second edition of the student seminars, ‘Thinking Social’, at IIT Guwahati on 29 August 2015.

The day-long seminar had about 90 participants and it sought to introduce students to the concept of social entrepreneurship and inspire them to start their own venture that solves some of the challenges faced by the society. The speakers for the day comprised eminent entrepreneurs, who have established their own outstanding ventures in the Indian social entrepreneurship space and sought to address the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs.

Mr Subhrangshu Sanyal, CEO IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, welcomed the participants for this event and explained the objective of the seminar on “Thinking Social.”

Mr Biswanath Sinha, Associate Director of Tata Trusts addressed the audience by presenting the core values of the TATA group. He gave an overview of the activities conducted by TATA trusts to support social enterprises that benefit the community and the country. Concluding his speech he said “I hope many young entrepreneurs will emerge from this region and make changes which are beneficial to the society.”

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the fourth in the series of student seminars on ‘Thinking Social’ seminar series, organized by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP), on March 21st 2015 at Tiruchirapalli, with the National Institute of Technology- Tiruchirapalli, as the host Institution. The day-long seminar was attended by around 100 strong audience representing the students, academia and NGOs/Institutions.

The speakers of the day comprised of Prof Satyajit Majumdar from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences; eminent social entrepreneur Sriram V Ayer, founder of Nalanda Way Foundation; local social entrepreneur Dr Ajay Kumar Tannirkulam, Founder of Magasool, Prof G. Kannabiran from NIT-Trichy and Prof Chandradeep Mitra from IIM Calcutta. Connecting the youth to social enterprise, the speakers shared their perspective on the key challenges, opportunities and learning’s in the social entrepreneurship space.

Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) – a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) held the third in the series of student seminars on ‘Thinking Social’ seminar series, organized by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP), on December 13 2014 at Noida, with the School of Management & Entrepreneurship, Shiv Nadar University, as the host Institution. Fulfilling the main objective of these TSEC “Thinking Social” seminars of connecting youth to social enterprise there was a strong student presence at the TSEC “Thinking Social” seminar in Noida, with many amongst them budding entrepreneurs.

The day-long seminar was attended by almost 100 students from across colleges in NCR. The speakers for the day comprised eminent social entrepreneurs like Ms. Kamini Prakash, Board Member, Pravah and Ms. Meenu Vadera, Director, Sakha Consulting Wings Pvt. Ltd. and Trustee, Azad Foundation who have established their own outstanding ventures in the Indian social entrepreneurship space. They shared their experience as social entrepreneurs with those present and addressed the issues and concerns of the young, budding entrepreneurs in the audience.

The second “Thinking Social” seminar series, organized by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP), was held on November 29th 2014 at Pune, with Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (Pune), a constituent institute under Symbiosis International University as the host Institution under the aegis of Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC). As the main objective of these TSEC “Thinking Social” seminars is to connect youth to social enterprise it was very heartening to see a strong student presence at the TSEC “Thinking Social” seminar in Pune.

The speakers for the day comprised eminent entrepreneurs, who have established their own outstanding ventures in the Indian social entrepreneurship space and sought to address the concerns of young, budding entrepreneurs. The speakers shared their immense knowledge on social entrepreneurship with around 200 strong audience representing the students, academia and NGOs/ institutions.

The first “Thinking Social” seminar series, organized by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP), was held on 1 November 2014 at IIT Guwahati as the host Institution under the aegis of Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC).The primary objective of the seminar was to create awareness about social enterprises among the students and showcase the pioneering efforts of the social entrepreneurs in North East.

The list of speakers included noted social entrepreneurs like Mr. Anshu Gupta, the founder of Goonj, Ms. Hasina Kharbhih, the founder of the Impulse NGO Network and Impulse Social Enterprises, Mr. Neichute Doulo, the Founder of Entrepreneurs Associates in Nagaland, and a team from Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research.