Bhubaneswar: “Startup Samvaad”, an initiative by a-IDEA, the Technology Business Incubator of ICAR – NAARM in partnership with Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, was held on the 3rd March 2018 by X-SEED- the Entrepreneurship Cell of XIMB-XUB. This event was organized in collaboration with the “a-idea (Association for Innovation Development of Entrepreneurship in Agriculture)” which is a Technology Business Incubator (TBI) hosted by ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad (ICAR-NAARM) & Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India (DST, GOI). “Startup Samvaad” facilitated the congregation of scholars and practitioners, experts in their domain, to deliberate and contributed towards the importance of entrepreneurship.
In the morning session, 4 Agri-Tech entrepreneurs pitched their ideas in front of the esteemed judges. These entrepreneurs were shortlisted from 10 entrepreneurial ideas from throughout India. The judges for the pitching event were Dr. Kamal Kishore Sharma (Co-Founder, Mentor at Startups), Mr. Vijay Nadiminti (COO, a-IDEA, NAARM) and Professor Biswa Swarup Mishra, Professor in Economics, XIMB. The ideas of the entrepreneurs were closely analyzed and they were provided with useful suggestions and recommendations.
In the afternoon session, Dr. Kamal Kishore Sharma (Co-Founder, Mentor at Startups) delivered a keynote session on the theme “Indian Startup Ecosystem: Drivers & Challenges”, followed by Mr. Sunil Ku. Gupta (Executive VP & Team Lead East-Corporate Agribusiness Product Sales, YES Bank) who spoke on “Impact of Financial Literacy in Indian Agriculture”. The final keynote session was by Mr. Rajen Padhi (Director General, The Utkal Chamber of Commerce & Industry Ltd.) on the theme, “Can India leverage Agri-Export for doubling farmers’ income”.
The event concluded with a panel discussion on the theme, “Converging impacts of Agri-startups on farmers’ status in India”. The panelists included Lt. Col. Ashit Mahapatra (MD & CEO, Agri Link), Mr. Barada Prasad Panigrahy (Entrepreneurship Development, Wadhwani Foundation) and Mr. Vijay Nadiminti(COO, a-IDEA, NAARM). The session was moderated by Professor Biswa Swarup Mishra, Professor in Economics, XIMB.
The participants for these events were not only students of XIMB but also from various colleges across India. This event was successful in sharing of research and experience on burning and prevalent issues on Agri-Entrepreneurship. The program helped to sensitize the entrepreneurs, students, Agri-enthusiasts by focusing on the importance of entrepreneurship. It was a great learning opportunity for the students as it enabled entrepreneurial interaction, Networking, and Interaction with the eminent personalities. This event provided valuable insights to the participants on Agri-Tech entrepreneurship and is expected to boost the agriculture startup ecosystem in Odisha.
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