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We conduct ‘Thinking Social’ seminars and webinars at various institutes to promote social entrepreneurship.
The Spark Social Seminar, a part of the 12th edition of the TATA Social Enterprise Challenge, recently concluded in Chhattisgarh following its success in Odisha and Bihar. Hosted at the Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University (CSVTU) in Durg, the seminar drew approximately 80 attendees. The theme for this year’s series of Spark Social Seminars is “Scaling Impact: Challenges & Opportunities,” emphasising the growth and potential hurdles in creating significant social change. This initiative continues to inspire and educate individuals committed to making a difference through social entrepreneurship.
The seminar was enriched by the experiences shared by Mr. Priyjeet Bose (Founder, BPN Agro and Livestock) and Mr. Satendrasingh Lilhare (Founder, Bastar se Bazaar Tak. Additionally, the presence and contributions of Ms. Namami Ghosh and Mr. Soujit Das from IIM Calcutta Innovation Park significantly enhanced the depth and breadth of the discussions. Their collective insights provided the participants with a multifaceted understanding of the social enterprise landscape.
After receiving a heartening response in Bihar, the Spark Social Seminar, part of the 12th edition of the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge, was conducted in Odisha. Held at O-Hub, Bhubaneswar, the seminar attracted around 80 participants, including students, startup founders and working professionals. This year’s Spark Social Seminar series focuses on the theme, “Scaling Impact: Challenges & Opportunities.”
Participants gained valuable insights into social entrepreneurship from Mr. Binayak Acharya, Founder of ThinkZone, and Mr. Ananda K Mishra, Founder & CEO of Grozip. Besides, Mr. Pranjal Konwar (COO, IIMCIP) and Mr. Srinivas Gadhavilli (Project Head – NRETP Bihar, IIMCIP) further augmented the quality of the seminar with their insightful participation.
The Spark Social Seminar series, part of the 12th edition of the TATA Social Enterprise Challenge, kickstarted from Patna recently! Hosted at L.N Mishra Institute of Economic Development And Social Change, Patna-BCA, the Seminar attracted about 100 participants including students, startup founders and working professionals. This year’s Spark Social Seminar series revolves around the theme, “Scaling Impact: Challenges & Opportunities.”
The attendees were provided with valuable insights into social entrepreneurship by IIMCIP-incubated startup founders, Mr. Sidhartha Vijay (RepairMyMobile) and Mr. Sachin Kumar (Sattuz). “RepairMyMobile” is on a mission to skill up technicians across the globe with solutions in the form of DIY videos, software files, hardware devices and advanced online training. “Sattuz” is taking care of people’s health by offering a range of taste buds-tickling refreshing Sattu drinks as healthier alternatives to carbonated beverages.
Besides, Mr. Gaurav Kapoor (CBO, IIMCIP) and Mr. Srinivas Gadhavilli (Project Head – NRETP Bihar, IIMCIP) were present at the Seminar on behalf of IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, while Mr. Saurabh Mitra represented the TATA Sons.
After a raving opening of the TSEC Spark Social Seminar in Guwahati and a grand launch at Kolkata, the Spark Social Seminar as part of the 11th edition of the TATA Social Enterprise Challenge was organised at Kochi on 21st March 2023.
Attended by more than 50 aspiring startups and students from various academic institutions, the seminar witnessed two successful startup founders Dr Saji Varghese (Founder & Director Brown Reed Agri-Waste Innovations Pvt Ltd) and Karthickjothi (founder & CEO of Allytriz Technologies) shared their experiences on social entrepreneurship. The house was filled with interactive sessions.
The TSEC spark seminar coincided with the official launch of TSEC at the IIM Calcutta campus. The grand launch and seminar witnessed an audience of more than 90 aspiring startups and student entrepreneurs from West Bengal. The participants were treated to two moving accounts of the entrepreneurial journey narrated by the founders of two socially impactful startups incubated under IIM Calcutta Innovation Park. Kalyan Koley (Founder and CEO, Ageipan Animal Biocare Pvt. Ltd.) and Prabal Kumar Basu (Founder, Zaarii) poured their hearts out during their addresses, throwing light on social entrepreneurship and their own stance as social entrepreneurs. The seminar concluded with an interesting Q&A round with Dr. Subhrangshu Sanyal, CEO, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park.
The TSEC SPARK Social seminar kicked off in Guwahati in March to a raving response. Attended by 120 aspiring startups and students from various academic institutions, the seminar witnessed two successful startup founders incubated under Assam Startup narrate their entrepreneurial journey. David Gogoi (Co-Founder, Zerund Manufacturing) and Ratan Kumar (Founder, Encamp Tourism) shared their insights on social entrepreneurship drawn from their personal experience, which invited a range of questions from the audience.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized a “Thinking Social Webinar” on“Post Covid – Mental Health on Corporate Workspace”. The speakers were Mr. Jay Ranjan Ram- a psychiatrist and Co-founder of the Mental Health Foundation. Mr.Soubhik Das- CEO & Cofounder of Manastik. Manastik provides Teleneurology services to dementia patients & caregivers using Artificial Intelligence. Ms.Harshita Lalchand- Cofounder at All is Well. It is a startup incubated by NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore. It is among the “Top 100 Women-led-startups” from the Women Start-up Program 3.0. Mr.C.D Mitra is a Strategy Coach & Mentor for Start-Ups & Entrepreneurs, Professor of Marketing, Corporate Master Trainer, Branding & Innovation Consultant, and Social Enterprise Evangelist.
The session was on the challenges faced by the employees covid in terms of mental health in the workplace. Workplace mental health includes leaders advocating resources and healthy culture, as well as managers proactively creating a safe, supportive and sustainable environment. Mental health is connected with emotions and communications. Enhancing access to mental health services including telepsychiatry, early assessment, treatment and psycho-social support, screening and support for specific groups where appropriate, implementing long-term measures to mitigate the impact of economic recession on mental health, and addressing stigma during the pandemic are paramount in addressing the problem.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized a “Thinking Social Webinar” on the Pros & Cons Of Moving The Global Economy From A Fossil Fuel Base To Alternative Energy. The speakers were Mr. Piyush Jaju from Co-founder of SwitchON Foundation, ONergy Solar, ONganic Foods, and ONSkills. Mr. Syed Masihur Rab: CEO of Citadel Enterprise Pvt Ltd. He is an entrepreneur who is bringing innovations to the e-vehicle arena. Mr.Pankaj Choudhary –Co-founder of Carbon Minus. Mr. Ananth Aravamudan: He has more than 25 years in technological development, product R&D, and social entrepreneurship.
The session was on the change of the way of using energy sources. Its impact on socio-economy and humanity as well. There are a lot of pros and cons of renewable energy and fossil fuels, too. Both have a huge impact on the environment, energy sector, everyday life, and the future of humanity. The difference is even greater if we look at the pollution of coal vs solar energy. Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel on Earth, meanwhile, solar energy is not polluting at all.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized a “Thinking Social Webinar” on “Handicrafts Supporting Sustainable Livelihood” The speakers were Priya Krishnamoorthy, Founder & CEO 200 Million Artisans. Madhura Dutta, Co-director, Banglanatok.com, Madhura Dutta Is a well-known name in the Culture & Development space. She is the co-director at Banglanatak dot com. Ankit Kumar, Co-Founder & CEO, Shoegaro. Kong laishah Rymbai is the successor of Kong Prissila Rymbai, who is the proprietor of “EriWeave”. Suman Mukhopadhyay: Director Bangla Natak dot com, Mentor of IIMCIP for the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Agiye Bangla and Smart 50.
The session was on how India has evolved as a leading Nation in terms of Crafts & Creativity post-pandemic. India being a country of rich heritage and culture, is not getting enough economical sustainability in terms of Handicrafts. The stereotype thinking of creativity as being a hobby rather than an economy must get a breakthrough. Advance training is required, there are only 1-2 buyers for artisans on average. It is a diverse sector that has huge scope to work on, good stories are required, and a narrative of enterprises is appealing.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized a “Thinking Social Webinar” on “Breaking the Barriers- Undoing the implicative barriers of disability”. The speakers were Sumit Agrawal: Founder and CEO of PR Signal. He is the miracle man having cerebral palsy and 70% body restrictions who grew up isolated, now a founder of a PR company named PR Signal. Soumita Basu is the founder of Zyenika Inclusive Fashion which enables people with chronic illnesses, disabilities, and different body types to fulfill their basic need of dressing up, with ease and dignity. Llewellyn D’sa, is the CEO & Founder of Robo bionics. Under his leadership, Robo bionics won the National startup award 2021 under the Medical device category and the technology Harare mela 2022.
The session was on breaking the silos on disability and making the disability as inclusive. The word empathy is extensively overrated in the domain and it’s okay to call a person disabled rather than specially-abled or differently abled. The word sympathy and empathy is not required to treat them as equal is all that they are looking for. Not only the physical pressure but again the peer pressure of the society to prove themselves is always there the least that we can do is to accept them and not pity them.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized a “Thinking Social Webinar” on Shaktipreneurs- Series-2. The speakers were: Geeta Solanki- Unipads is a serial social entrepreneur in Women’s health, hygiene, and social development. Akriti- Canfem. It is an internationally recognised social enterprise working at an intersection of advocacy, empowerment and providing unique solution for better quality of life of cancer patients and survivors. Rama Kannan- Moderator Experienced Master Certified Coach from International Coaching Federation and Mentor with a demonstrated history of working globally with senior leaders in corporate and social sectors in achieving their goals. The key takeaways of the Webinar: How awareness building program is a must to start any social venture rural section of the society. Its important to connect with the rural mass to start a venture that will enable economic growth for them in the long run. Also we go to know that how counselling is important and not only selling the product. Mistakes are inevitable but we must start with the idea and not keep thinking over it for months and years.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized a “Thinking Social Webinar” on Shaktiprenuers Series. The speakers were Dr. Ramya S Moorthy-Founder | Director | Nimaya Robotics Private Limited. It develops IOT based Robotic devices to train Daily Life Activities for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other Multiple disabilities. Janhavi Joshi, Founder I CEO I Bleetech Innovations. Bleetech Innovations is working on design and technology interventions for accessibility and inclusion for the deaf community in education and employment. The key takeaways: How to make the children in the autism spectrum self-dependent. So that they are not dependent on others on basic requirements with the help of robotics and technology. What designing solutions for the hearing-impaired people and how technology has helped them to come up with solutions and solved the problem they are suffering. How scaling will reach out to greater population and also create a market place and get a value proposition of the product that is offered.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized a “Thinking Social Webinar” on WEAVING MEMORIES – KNITTING LIVES. The speakers were: Nand Kishore Chaudhary: a globally acclaimed Social Entrepreneur and Founder of Jaipur Rugs, India’s largest manufacturers of hand knotted rugs.
Abhishek Pathak, Founder of Greenwear, is on a mission to create 5000 jobs for women in rural India by 2025.Dhruba Jyoti Deka is the founder of Brahmaputra Fables, Northeast India’s largest tech-driven integrated platform for handloom & handcrafted products which connects artisans & weavers to end consumers. Major discussion in the webinar: The main objective was to carry & living values and striving to achieve our aspiration every day , every company should ensure the legacy of the business & that they are working with. The key takeaways of the Webinar: Business can also be done by playing close connects with our grassroot and flourish. The art should be known clearly and value must be there for everyone.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized a “Thinking Social Webinar” on LEADERSHIP IN SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP. The speakers were: – Sucharita Eashwar- Founder & CEO of Catalyst For Women Entrepreneurs (CWE) CWE is a comprehensive ecosystem for women entrepreneurs to start up and scale up their businesses. Prarthana Kaul- Founder of Giftabled. It is a social enterprise that strives to create an ecosystem of like-minded individuals to collectively build an inclusive society. Manisha Sharaf – Co-founder & CEO SuperProcure, SuperProcure helps to bring efficiency, transparency and simplicity to the logistics sector through automation and digitalization. The major discussion in the webinar was- Leadership In Social Entrepreneurship was to know that there’s an opportunity to create a robust ecosystem for women and to enable a significant growth in the local and national economy. It is observed that entrepreneurs may be employing more than a million people in the next decade. Importantly, as studies show, women typically employ more women; therefore, we will have more women coming into India’s workforce as a natural consequence. The key takeaways of the Webinar: Women should have financial knowledge once they plan to start their own start up or else its very difficult in the long run to sustain.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized a “Thinking Social Webinar” on DARR KE AAGE JEET HAI. Satyarup Siddhanta – An ace mountaineer, the youngest India to have climbed the Seven Summits, the only Indian to have climbed the Seven Volcanic Summits and a Guiness World Book Record Holder. The motive of discussion was – Mountaineering and Entrepreneurship are similar in a lot of ways – you have to look at the ultimate goal, be determined, go through every weather condition, but still reach the goal. The key takeaways of the Webinar was: traits of a successful entrepreneur, attitude of fighting back, skills to overcome obstacles and struggle.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized a “Thinking Social Webinar” on DECODING STARTUP CHALLENGES IN COVID TIMES. . The speakers were Amit Antony Alex – India Country Director of Upaya Social Ventures. Mr. Hamant Borah-Head Ecosystem Development, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park. The major discussion in the webinar were :
– Entrepreneurs now need to assess situations more closely and include a lot more short term planning at least in the next 2 years.
– Consumers in general will become more ecologically conscious which can impact your business.
– Entrepreneurs should immediately improve their cash flows.
– Entrepreneurs need to think about how to address uncertain situations like glitches in supply chain
– Entrepreneurs should look at collaborations and partnerships in these unprecedented times. You get a larger pool of contacts and collaboration is the way forward.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized “Thinking Social” seminar in partnership at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune on 11 th September, 2019. The primary objective of this exercise was to build awareness, interest and desire to engage with the Social Enterprise Ecosystem amongst the aspiring entrepreneurs and start ups. The seminar was formally inaugurated by Dr. Apoorva Palkar, Director- Innovation, Incubation and Linkage, SP Pune University, Pune. This was followed by keynote address by Dr. N.S. Umarani, Pro Vice Chancellor, SP Pune University.The other eminent speakers comprised Ms. Geeta Tolia, Chartered Accountant and a Sloan Fellow from London School of Business armed with over 30 years of Indian and international experience in the areas of Financial Management, Business Turnarounds and Indian and International Taxation; Mr. Swapnil Chaturvedi, popularly known as Poop Guy. He was the co founder and Chief Toilet Cleaner at Samagra Empowerment Foundation; Mr. Suman,Mukhopadhyay, Mentor-IIM Calcutta Innovation Park. There was a panel discussion on social entrepreneurship moderated by Mr. Suman Mukhopadhyay and the panellists were Mr. Amit Godse, Founder – Bee Basket, Mr. Harshad Bhagwat, Founder – Wordsmaya Edutech, Mr. Dhananjay Abhang, Founder – Cleanergy Tech Solutions. The event was attended by over 100 enthusiastic participants comprising entrepreneurs, aspiring start ups and students and members of faculty from SP Pune University.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized “Thinking Social” seminar in partnership with Veterans India, Bihar at NIT, Patna on 7 th September, 2019. The primary objective of this exercise was to build awareness, interest and desire to engage with the Social Enterprise Ecosystem amongst the aspiring entrepreneurs and start ups who are about to embark on their entrepreneurship journey. The seminar was formally inaugurated by Mr. Sanjeev Srivastwa, Patron, Veterans India, Bihar. This was followed by address by Mr. Amitabh Lall, CGM- NABARD, Patna.Ex Commando Rakesh Ranjan also spoke on the ocassion. Dr. Sanjeev Verma, Deputy Director, MSME, Government of India mentioned in his address that MSME has strong focus in social entrepreneurship and hence share much synergy with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park in ushering social entrepreneurship revolution in the state.In the entrepreneurship session, the following enterprising entrepreneurs shared their experience: Prantik Sinha, Founder – Agastya Buoyant; Sunandan Mukherjee, Founder – Brickcells; Kalyan Kolay, Founder – Aegipan Animal Biocare;Sidharth Vijay, Founder – Wejoy Phonefix; ,Rahul Kumar, Founder – Ecoventure. The event was attended by over 50 enthusiastic participants comprising entrepreneurs, aspiring start ups and students and members of faculty from Dayanand Sagar University.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized “Thinking Social” seminar in partnership with Derbi Foundation, a business incubator under the aegis of Dayanand Sagar University at Bengaluru on 23rd August, 2019. The primary objective of this exercise was to build awareness, interest and desire to engage with the Social Enterprise Ecosystem amongst the aspiring entrepreneurs and start ups who were about to embark on their entrepreneurship journey soon.The seminar was formally inaugurated by Dr. Lakshmi Jagannathan, COO- Derbi Foundation.This was followed by address by Chief Guest, Mr. M.N. Vidyashankar, IAS (Retd.), Chairman- Derbi Advisory Board and former Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka. In the entrepreneurship session, the following enterprising entrepreneurs shared their experience with the participants present: Mr. Prateek Kaul, Founder –Giftabled, Mr. Kalyan Siva- the founder of 5C Network,Mr. Arpit Paliwal the Founder of Happy Relliable Surgeries,Mr. Madhusudan, Founder – Ambee. The event was attended by over 80 enthusiastic participants.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized “Thinking Social” seminar in partnership with School of Social Entrepreneurs and Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), Atal Incubation Centre on 10 th August, 2019. The primary objective of this exercise was to build awareness, interest and desire to engage with the Social Enterprise Ecosystem amongst the aspiring entrepreneurs and start ups who were about to embark on their entrepreneurship journey soon.The speakers comprised Dr. Abha Rishi CEO, BIMTECH, Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) and Chairperson, Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development;Mr. Suman Mukhopadhyay, Mentor- IIM Calcutta Innovation Park;Mr. Parul Soni, Global Managing Partner, Think Through Consulting;Ms. Umang Sridhar is the founder of KhaDigi;Mr. Abhinav Girdhar is Co-founder & CEO of Bodhi Health Education;Mr. Aditya Bose is the founder of Pro Bano;Mr. Ashish Agarwal is the founder of Talento Consulting; Dr. Kamal Singh, CEO and the Executive Director of Global Compact Network India (GCNI); Mr. Shalabh Mittal, CEO- School of Social Entrepreneurs. The event witnessed around 50 participants.
The TATA Social Enterprise Challenge Thinking Social Seminar was organised on 2nd August, 2019 for eastern part of the country at Indian Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata. The primary objective of this event was to build awareness on social entrepreneurship,generating interest and inspiring the youth to come up with innovative solutions to combat social challenges.Speakers such as Mr. Anoop Kumar Agrawal, IAS, Principal Secretary, SHG & SE Department, Govt. of West Bengal;Prof. Prashant Mishra, Dean- New Initiatives & External Relations, IIM Calcutta; Dr. Mahul Brahma, Head – CSR & Corporate Communications, Mjunction Services Limited;Mr. Kalyan Kolay, Founder – Aegipan Animal Biocare and Mr. Adarsh Srivastava,Founder – Green Agrovolution along with Mr. Suman Mukhopadhyay, mentor at IIMCIP spoke to nearly 40 participants.
Mr. Narendra Godse, Founder-Anoobhuti Learning and Mr. Prateek Sharma, Founder- Vishalya Foods and Farms elucidates their entrepreneurial journey with over 100 participants at the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge Thinking Social Seminar at Rabindranath Tagore University, Atal Incubation Centre, Bhopal on July 27,2019. The other speakers included Ronald Fernandez, CEO- Rabindranath Tagore University-Atal Incubation Centre;Santosh Dubey, Chancellor- Rabindranath Tagore University- Bhopal,V C Dubey- Nodal Officer,Start up and Incubation Cell
Department of MSME, Govt. of M.P.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organised a one-day “Thinking Social” seminar at Goa in association with Goa State Innovation Council on 25th January, 2019. The primary objective of this exercise was to build awareness, interest and desire to engage with the Social Enterprise Ecosystem amongst the aspiring entrepreneurs and start ups who were about to embark on their entrepreneurship journey soon. This seminar series introduced the budding entrepreneurs to the concept of social entrepreneurship in the rapidly evolving global economy.
IIM Calcutta Innovation Park organized “Thinking Social” seminar at The nest, Guwahati, Assam on 8th March, 2019. The speakers comprised senior bureaucrats from Government of Assam such as Ms. Manjula Saikia Bhuyan, IAS, Addl Secretary to the Government of Assam, Department of Commerce & Industries and Managing Director, Assam Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, Shri Alok Kumar, IAS, Chief Secretary to Government of Assam, Shri Ravi Capoor, IAS, Addl. Chief Secretary to Government of Assam, Department of Commerce & Industries, Assam, Shri Rajiv Bora, IAS, Addl. Chief Secretary to Government of Assam, Department of Finance, Assam and Shri Puru Gupta, IAS, Secretary to Government of Assam, Department of Commerce & Industries, Assam. Social entrepreneurs from various parts of the country such as Mr. Abhinav Girdhar, Founder – Bodhi Health Education; Mr. Hironmoy Gogoi, Founder & Creative Head- GKK India (Gaon Ka Khana) & Proprietor- Blackhorse Marketing; Mr. Prantik Sinha, Founder – Agastya Buoyant; Mr. Anupam Nath, Co Founder- Xcraft Online shared their experiences with entrepreneurs, aspiring start ups, investors, mentors and students from all over North East.
Thinking Social Seminar was held at Sangam AIC, Gurugram on 26 February 2019. The speakers comprised of eminent social entrepreneurs such as Kalyan Koley, Founder & CEO- Aegipan Animal Bio Care and Anuroop Raj, Co Founder – Talento. The event witnessed around 50 attendees.
