Entrepreneurship Cell of NIT Trichy

The Entrepreneurship Cell of NIT Tiruchirappalli is an independent student-run body which came into existence in the year 2005. With the spirit of enterprise being its motto, it’s been an eventful 4 years since its infancy, and it has been actively playing a part in the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem associated with the youth and student community globally. With a variety of events and activities under its belt, it provides ample opportunities for both the members and the non-members of the cell to develop their potentials to the fullest.

Activities

  • Organising guest lectures, workshops, panel discussions with eminent personalities.
  • Expose the youth to the latest innovations and entrepreneurial success stories.
  • Establish linkages with the Industry and encourage student industry interaction.
  • Network with angel investors, VC’s and provide incubation opportunities for viable projects.

Ventura

The international business plan competition, is the flagship event of E-Cell of NIT Trichy, reaching out to more than 2 million students all over India and around the globe.

Started out as an intra NIT-Trichy business plan competition in the year 2005, Ventura has clinched the title of being one of the largest Business Plan Competitions in India in terms of participation and prize money. Ventura has the distinction of having established a plan into a self-supported business in its very first year through the incubation support provided by the sponsors, TREC - STEP and Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. In addition to the preliminary round of Ventura, the Mentor Network provides necessary guidance to streamline and refine the business plans of shortlisted teams. The panel consists of distinguished luminaries like established entrepreneurs, educationists and venture capitalists. The initial round of Ventura begins in September. Participants who are shortlisted from the submitted abstract summary would go through extensive mentoring, before presenting their complete plan to the judges. Its support system, TREC-STEP has played a major role in our unprecedented growth, and offer incubation for selected plans with finances close to INR 10 Million, and also provides soft landing schemes for international participants. Ventura '09 was one of the largest student led business plans competitions in India in terms of reach, participation, awards and the number of companies incubated. The winning team 'CardioCure' of Ventura 09 from Georgia Tech, USA will set up at the ICICI Knowledge Park, Hyderabad in this October as the largest soft landing venture in India ever.

Ideas Challenge

Ideas challenge, a joint initiative between TREC-STEP and the E-Cell focussed primarily at the NIT Trichy student community with the sole purpose to promote the growth of innovation coming out of the campus. The first edition held in April 2009 provided a phenomenal launchpad for dormant entrepreneurs with ideas relevant for the future.

The winners were felicitated during Genesis '09. Ms. Gita Chengappa, Incubation Manager at TREC-STEP spoke on the occasion and also gave away the prizes.

The winners are in the process of applying for the TEPP grant from the DST, Govt. of India to convert their ideas in to prototypes to be ready in tie for Ventura 10 in February next year.

Genesis

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Started as an annual guest lecture series, it has grown over the years to take its current form of an Innovation Entrepreneurship Meet held in the month of August each year. It has had the likes of Mr. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh (Founder and CEO of Bandhan Microfinance), Mr. Satya Prabhakar (Founder of sulekha.com), Mr. R. Sriram (Founder of Crosswords bookstores) and Mr. Srini Rajam (founder of ITTIAM Systems) among others, interacting with the college community on a range of burning issues over a number of panel discussions, lectures workshops and innovation booths.

Genesis '09 was held successfully this year on 5 and 6 September 2009 at the NIT Trichy campus. More than 350 students and faculty members of the college took part in the discussions and interacted with the esteemed guests who had come down for the event.

Genesis ’09, the E-Cell took a step forward with list of guests constituting names like Mr. Sidin Vadukut, former managing editor of livemint.com and one of the top bloggers in India; Mr. Srikanth Reddy, founder of FourSoft Global,also an alumnus of the college; Mr. Sunil Malhotra, founder of Ideafarms and Mr. Sarath Babu, founder of FoodKing.

Genesis '08 panel discussion featured issues such as “Entrepreneurship not that developed in India as in the US”, “Should the dreams and aspirations of a student be limited to his/her parental income” and “Does the Great American dream hold true in today’s world”.For Genesis '09,the discussion was on the issue of “Promoting and Nurturing the Innovation Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Colleges”. The panel comprised prominent personalities such as Mr. J. Balmurugan, VP of CII Coimbatore Region, Mr. KV Kannan, architect of Rural Innovation Fund, Mr. Srikanth Reddy, Mr Sunil Malhotra, Founder of Idea Farms among others. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Sidin Vadukut from MINT newspaper.

A day long workshop on ‘Strategic Persuasion & Negotiation Skills for Entrepreneurs’ was organized during Genesis ’09 in association with CK Consultants, a well-known training and corporate consultancy firm from Bangalore, who are its knowledge partners. Mr. T Chendil Kumar, Chief Catalyst at CK Consultants handled the workshop. More than 50 engineering and management students from the campus participated in this workshop.

Genesis '09 also featured the Ideas Chellenge '09(scroll up for details) awards ceremony.