Chennai: Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) will celebrate its ‘Decade of Dynamism’ during the 10th edition of its annual flagship event Entrepreneurship Summit (E-Summit 2025) from February 28 to March 2.
The summit is expected to attract participation from over 1,000 founders, 50 investors and 15,000 students from more than 400 colleges across India.
Organised by the Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell), IIT Madras, this annual event serves as a hub for aspiring entrepreneurs, providing them a platform to nurture innovative ideas and transform those into viable business ventures. It will bring together industry experts, venture capitalists, and students on a single platform.
A press conference in this regard was held in the campus today by Prof V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras, Prof. Sathyanarayana N Gummadi, dean of students, IIT Madras, Prof Richa Agrawal, advisor, E-Cell, IIT Madras and the student leaders.
Highlighting the need for such events to promote entrepreneurship among students, Prof Kamakoti said, “Bharat must be a product nation and a startup nation for us to achieve sovereignty in technology. This pan-Bharat Entrepreneurship summit is a platform to understand and demonstrate innovative ideas that could potentially become a startup.”
Prof Gummadi said, “I congratulate the entire E-cell team for their hard work and wish them a grand success for this 10th edition. E-Summit’25, will be hosting its first live fundraising event: ‘PitchFest’ that will see the most promising start-ups from across the country, contest for funding from leading angel investors as they present their innovative ideas to a live audience. The Event will offer participating startups an opportunity to raise funds in just five mins at the Students' Activity Centre, IIT Madras.".
E-Summit 2025, will also see a first-ever ‘Biz-Bazaar’, a one-of-a-kind event that offers students a dynamic marketplace to showcase and sell their creations. It acts as a low-prep event for students to get a flavour of business and entrepreneurship.”
Highlighting the efforts put in by the student team of E-Cell, Prof Agrawal said, “E-Summit 2025 is the culmination of a yearlong effort of the E-Cell team, on campus and beyond. This edition of E-Summit is special as it marks a decade of drive, commitment, and excellence from every member of the E-Cell team since inception to promote, nurture, and support, entrepreneurship. As innovation accelerates and opportunities for entrepreneurs expand globally, team E-Cell IIT Madras stands committed to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit, by motivating startup aspirants, helping fledgling startups and encouraging young entrepreneurs to convert their startup dreams into reality.”
What students say?
Sharing the students' perspective on organising such a massive event, Mr. Sukheth Kallupalli, co-curricular affairs secretary, IIT Madras, said, “While E-Summit continues to be our most prominent event, E-Cell’s impact resonates throughout the academic year through various programmes and initiatives to establish entrepreneurship as a viable career path for students. Throughout these years, we've meticulously crafted our initiatives to support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey, right from the seed of inspiration to successful fundraising. We are thoroughly convinced that India's growth story presents unprecedented opportunities, making this the perfect time for aspiring entrepreneurs to take the plunge into startups. We are excited about the possibilities that await us and remain committed to contributing positively to India’s entrepreneurial movement.”
Pratik Dhande, executive head, E-Cell, IIT Madras, said, “E-Cell, IIT Madras acts as a facilitating body for startups in their ‘0 to 1’ journey. We have four conclaves, catering to the needs of each stage of the 0 to 1 journey, starting from curious aspiring entrepreneurs, early innovators, early-stage startups looking for support in fundraising and VC connections, to startups seeking brand visibility or hiring needs from IIT Madras".
Major events:
- Startup-Expo: that invites startups to showcase their products or services to thousands of students, investors, and professionals attending the event. March 2 has been dedicated for exhibiting startups and making Startup Expo the hotspot activity of E-Summit. As the largest startup showcase in the southern region, it provides a prime opportunity to network with VCs, professors, and industrialists while gaining exposure and building connections. More than 100 startups are expected to participate in the event.
- BootCamp: It is s six-week accelerator programme that provides early-stage startups with the expertise and skills to scale ideas in the business world. BootCamp features a carefully designed mixture of workshops and startup-specific mentoring.
- Incubator-Summit or I-Summit: It provides a direct avenue for startups to secure incubation in top-tier incubators across India without undergoing conventional selection procedures. It acts as a central platform to connect with pan-India incubators and have fast-paced evaluations.
- Elevate: A pan-India fundraising event that connects promising startups with top mentors and investors, providing them with opportunities to raise series round funds, enhance their skills, and access valuable market resources. It fosters collaboration between early-stage entrepreneurs, mentors, angel investors, and venture capitalists, creating a dynamic platform for knowledge exchange and business growth.
Social initiatives:
E-Summit also features social initiatives such as ‘In-Verse’ launched this year with a mission to empower the creative arts sector and elevate artistic endeavours in a competitive landscape. Thereby, envisioning a future where innovation and artistic excellence coexist, and artistic ideas are transformed into thriving sustainable ventures.
Other social activities include ‘Education-21’ that helps school students appreciate the incredible potential an entrepreneurial mindset and ‘Entrepreneurship Development Drive’ that seeds and supports student teams in setting setup e-cells in their respective campuses
