Dr. Ashish Gupta is a co-founder of Helion Ventures, and an integral board member of Gridstone Research, Jivox, Kirusa, MuSigma, Naukri.com and SMS Gupshup. Also the co-founder of two successful companies- Tayant Technologies and Junglee pioneering comparison shopping on the internet, Dr. Ashish has also worked at Woodside Fund, Oracle Corporation and IBM Research.

Ashish also serves on the Board of Kauffman Fellows Program, the leading educational fellowship in Venture Capital and the Foundation for Excellence, meant for promoting education in India.

Ashish is a Kauffman Fellow, holds a Ph. D. in Computer Science from Stanford University, and a bachelor’s degree from IIT Kanpur, where he was awarded the President’s Gold medal. He has also been the author of several patents, publications and a book by MIT press.

Rajiv Kumar (RockeTalk)

Rajiv Kumar is the founder and CEO of Rocketalk, founded in 2005 to make mobile communication fun, easy and expressive just like a face-to-face chat. Prior to Rocketalk, Rajiv was the Founder and CEO of Widcomm, a technology and market leader in Bluetooth solutions, which was later acquired by Broadcom. Prior to that, Rajiv was a VP and CTO at Uniden’s San Diego research and development center, which he co-founded.

There he was responsible for the development of the advanced wireless data product line including GPRS modems, CDPD and 2-way pagers.

Having been an engineering leader at Hughes Network Systems, he was one of the primary investors of CDPD technology which was the first ever cellular wireless data deployed.

Rajiv holds several patents and has published textbooks in the wireless data area. Rajiv holds a BS and MS from Indian Institute of Technology.

Prajakt Raut (TiE Asia)

Prajakt Raut is the Director of the Transnationals Information Exchange- Asia (TIE Asia) office, which is a non-profit, independent, regional labor network. His work focuses on building interconnectivity between the TiE network, apart from assisting members, sponsors and partners from outside India access the opportunities of dealing in business in and with India. Prior to this experience, has been an entrepreneur twice over and has also worked in global marketing communication companies and has over 23 years of operating and general management experience.

Being also associated with India Sponsor Foundation, a non-profit organization that links, supports and empowers the voluntary, non-profit sector in India, Prajakt’s dream lies in creating a social entrepreneurship venture making quality healthcare more accessible globally, especially in the developing and underdeveloped world.
Shri Rakesh Bharti Mittal (Bharti Enterprises)

Rakesh Bharti Mittal is the Vice-Chairman of Bharti Enterprises and the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti TeleTech. He has contributed immensely to the industrial, social, educational development of the welfare sectors of India.

Rakesh is Member of National Council since 1999, and has been Past Chairman of Northern Region and various CII National Committees.
Rakesh is also a member of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authouthy [APEDA] and Punjab Education Development Board.
Being a passionate advocate of right to good education, Rakesh serves on the Governing Boards of many educational institutes in India and abroad.
Rakesh is also a Trustee of the Bharti Foundation, which is dedicated to the promotion of education & child welfare being currently engaged in setting up 500 Satya Bharti primary schools in villages in the next two years.
Rakesh, an electronics engineer, has a rich experience in managing evolving business operations and environments for over 32 years.

Vineet Rai (Aavishkar)

Vineet Rai is a founder and the CEO of Aavishkaar, a Micro Venture Capital Fund founded to promote development in rural and semi-urban India. He is responsible for overall management of the fund.

Prior to Aavishkaar, Mr. Rai was a founder and the CEO of GIAN, an incubator for rural innovations and ventures based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat where he was responsible for identifying, evaluating, nurturing and launching grassroots innovations based micro level enterprises for poverty alleviation.  Mr. Vineet Rai has been a guest faculty at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow on Technology Incubation and Social Venture Funding. Mr. Rai has co-authored several papers with Professor Anil Gupta on issues concerning rural and micro innovations.

Mr. Rai holds a Post-Graduate diploma in Forestry Management from Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal.  Mr. Rai is based in Mumbai.

Gaurav Mishra (2020 social)

Gaurva Mishra is the CEO of 2020 social, which builds and nurtures online communities for Indian and international clients to connect their customers, partners and employees and help them achieve their business objectives.

In his previous avatars, he has studied at IIM Bangalore, held senior marketing roles at the Tata Group, taught social media at Georgetown University as the 2008-09 Yahoo! Fellow, and co-founded Vote Report India.

Shradha Sharma

Miss Shradha is the founder of Yourstory.in, an online media platform for first generation entrepreneurs, enabling network and focused visibility. She has completed a DCM in Design Management from MICA and History, Modern India degree from St. Stephen’s college, Delhi.

Anand Lunia (Seedfund.in)

Anand Lunia is the Executive Director and CFO of Seedfund, providing big backing and tiny funding to great companies, generating huge impacts. He is also the Executive, VP Operations of Hurix Technologies, a Deloitte Fast 50 company focusing on publishing services. Apart from this, he co-founded Brainvisa, one of the leading e-learning companies in India. He holds a Masters from Indian Institute of Management and a Graduate in Engineering. One of Anand’s passions is to motivate entrepreneurs, helping them in structuring their finances, handling legalese and be a sounding board in day-to-day operations.

Vivek Rana (Practice)

Vivek Rana is the Principal Head and Healthcare of PRactice, dealing in Public Relation plans for clients. He has helped the firm as a part of the core team, helping systems and processes thus achieving recognition on the global scale.

Vivek has led important regional and portfolio diversification efforts at The PRactice, including establishing the firm’s presence in Mumbai and Delhi and launching its healthcare practice.  He brings to his role extensive experience in media relations, corporate and product positioning, investor relations, crisis communications, community relations and advocacy support.  Currently, he works closely with client teams in areas such as biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, molecular diagnostics and research institutions.

During the course of his career in public relations, Vivek has helped develop strategies for both Indian and international clients in the technology, healthcare, financial services and consumer sectors.  He has successfully handled crisis situations for many clients, both at the local and national level.

Vivek has a master’s degree in Business Law, a degree in Psychology and a diploma in Public Relations.

Mr. Ventakesh Sarvasiddhi (Microsoft)

Venkatesh Sarvasiddhi is a part of Developer Platform & Evangelism Marketing Team of Microsoft India. His primary responsibility is to engage with the right audience in Partner & Influencer community and create a strong and sustainable engagement framework for Microsoft India.
He holds a B.Sc Electrical Engineeringg from the Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Master of Science from BITS Pilani and an alumnus of IIM Calcutta having varied experience that ranges from Services, Outsourcing, Product Marketing, Assets Monetization to Partnership & Alliances.
He started his career with Birlasoft in the Global Business Development Division and moved on to HCL Tech where he was heading the Direct Marketing Operations and from there he moved to Polaris Software labs as Assistant Vice President-Corporate Marketing.
He was also featured as Frontrunners and the Youngest AVP of Corporate India at the age of 26, by Business India 23rd March 2008 edition.

Mr. Girish Joshi (Microsoft)

Girish’s charter is to shape Microsoft’s Business strategy for healthy Breadth Partner Ecosystem (including Start ups) in India. The role entails mapping out the market landscape, working with ecosystem Industry Bodies & identifying areas where Microsoft can make a significant impact, and drive thought leadership to address new opportunities with innovative ideas and business models which assist Breadth partners.

Rajiv Arya (CEO, Moserbear)

Rajiv Arya is the CEO of Moser Baer Photo Voltaic Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Moser Baer India Limited.
He has been instrumental in envisaging company’s plan to attain a 1GW capacity for Moser Baer Photovoltaic Limited across the three verticals—silicon, thin film and concentrators—over the next few years.
He is known and recognized in the industry as a senior technology leader with experience of over 25 years in the solar energy space. He has vast experience in building and integrating professionals into result-oriented multi-disciplinary teams and has been instrumental in scale-up and validation of three thin film technologies from research into production. His knowledge and experience with amorphous silicon, in particular, makes him an industry thought leader.
He joined the company in September 2007 from the California-based OptiSolar Inc., where he was the Chief Technology Officer. He has also been Director of the Oregon Renewable Energy Centre in Portland, Oregon, where he led an organisation with a statewide charter for applied research and education in renewable energy systems and for long years with the Virginia-based BP Solar, a company he joined as a senior project scientist and left 19 years later as Executive Director (Thin Film Technology).
Rajiv has an M. Tech (Material Sciences) degree from IIT, Kanpur and a Ph.D in electrical engineering from Brown University in Rhode Island.

Ashok Khosla

Ashok Khosla is one of world’s leading experts on the environment and sustainable development. A former director of the United Nations Environment Programme, he was awarded the 2002 Sasakawa Environment Prize – “the Nobel Prize of the environment world” – and has been named in the UNEP’s Global 500 Roll of Honour.

After a period teaching in the United States – he was part of the team that designed and taught Harvard’s inaugural undergraduate course on the environment – he returned to his native India where he became the founding director of the Indian government’s Office of Environmental Planning and Co-Ordination, the first such agency in a developing country.

In 1976 he was appointed director of the UNEP, where he designed and launched Infoterra, the global environmental information exchange. He remained with the UNEP until 1982 when he left to found Development Alternatives, a Delhi-based Non-Governmental Organization devoted to promoting commercially viable, environmentally friendly technologies.

He has been a board member of numerous global environmental organizations – including the Club of Rome, the World Conservation Union and the International Institute for Sustainable Development – and served as an adviser to, among others, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the Indian government.

An event mainly designed for students, where adventure shall not comprise testing physical limits, but rather mental capability to optimize. Given a sum of money in the morning, the contestants face the challenging task of maximizing this finite amount through the ideal exploitation of their business acumen by dusk. No bungee jumps, no water games only letting the mind play the Roadies game tactically.

Weakest Link

Yet another game, where practical skills rather than exposure to theory shall be the primary aim. A game spanning 10 rounds, and an expected 500 contestants, but having only 1 winner, the Weakest Link shall identify the one with the innate ability to be an entrepreneur. As perplexing strategies and mind games shall be unleashed, the ‘chosen one’ must persevere through the rounds of elimination to enjoy the glory of conquest at the end of the day.

Treasure from Trash

Though the concept of ‘Best out of Waste’ isn’t entirely new when the word money gets attached with trash, things become trickier. The challenge to the contestants shall not be to make the best product out of waste only, but to able to market it. Simply put, the best shall not be decided by a panel of judges, but rather the customers. All entrepreneurial skills will be tested, as it would be the skillful ones who can manufacture marketable stuff out of a bunch of trash.

Social Entrepreneurship
An entrepreneur won’t be able to call himself successful, in case his activities have damaged the environmental ecosystem. The idea of social entrepreneurship, of contributing to society and indeed planet as a whole is a merger of profitable and eco-friendly ideas. Social entrepreneurs shall serve as the agents of change, questioning norms and grabbing the new yet overlooked opportunities, changing the world for the better. To bring a budding entrepreneur close to the problem and solutions, the speech shall serve as the ideal platform.