Wharton India Economic Forum will stage two events this year. The first event, to be held in Mumbai on the 5th of January 2016, will focus on the start-up competition and the start-up ecosystem in India. The second event will be the annual full day conference in Philadelphia, USA planned for the 25th of March 2016.
The 20th Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) is hosting the prestigious Startup Competition for the third year in a row to promote entrepreneurship in India.
The Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) is an annual student-run India-focused conference hosted by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Since its inception 20 years ago, WIEF is one of the largest and most prestigious India-centric business conferences bringing together business and political leaders, professionals, academics and students from around the world to discuss India’s evolution into a prominent global economic power, and the key challenges which it still faces.
The purpose of this conference is to promote dialogue on the circumstances shaping the current business landscape in India and how the diverse sectors of the industry can be harnessed jointly to create a positive change. The collaboration of academics and students from diverse backgrounds (including Wharton MBAs, Penn Law, Penn Design and Penn Engineering) with professionals working in Finance, Consulting, Economics, Entrepreneurship and Media and Entertainment can facilitate a dialogue between sectors.
WIEF is attended by over 500 people annually, and features renowned speakers who are at the forefront of India’s economic and business growth and development. Past speakers have included Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Arvind Kejriwal, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Mr. P. Chidambaram, Mr. K.V. Kamath, Mr. Anil Ambani, Boman Irani and Mr. Sunil Mittal.
The forum receives extensive media coverage in India and in the wider business community. Recent forums have been covered by networks such as CNBC, NDTV and Bloomberg, broadcast over TV and the Internet, and covered by over 30 journalists and all major publications.
Wharton India Startup Competition (WISC)
See the WISC finalists, picked from 750+ applicants, pitch to a start-studded panel of judges including Kirthiga Reddy of Facebook, Sasha Mirchandani of Kae Capital, Ravi Gururaj of Nasscom, Sandeep Murthy of Lightbox Ventures, and Rajan Mehra of Nirvana Venture Advisors.
The winner of the competition will get:
An all-expenses paid trip to Philadelphia to present at the WIEF main event on March 25, 2016.
$10,000 in prize money
$20,000 convertible note from Arihant Patni of Hive Technologies
150 hours of free legal advice from Khaitan and Co. one of India’s leading law firms
Many other things that we are working on right now!
Keynote Address
Ronnie Screwala, founder of UTV Group, Unilazer, and Swades Foundation, will provide an inspirational look into his growth as an entrepreneur, the hurdles he has had to overcome during his path to success, and insights on what lies ahead for himself and for Indian entrepreneurs.
Harsh Mariwala, founder of Marico, will talk about his entrepreneurial journey of creating one of India’s biggest brands and how he is now transitioning to philanthropy that focuses on promoting the Indian start-up ecosystem.
Fireside Chat
Neeraj Kakkar, founder of Hector Beverages, and V.T. Bharadwaj, MD of Sequoia Capital (the lead investor in Hector Beverages), talk about how they picked each other and their journey together.
Networking Cocktails and Dinner
Enjoy amazing views of Mumbai and some great conversations with all the attendees at the post-conference networking dinner. Attendees will include Wharton/Penn students. Alumni and faculty, entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders.
For Startup Related Queries:wharton.india.startup@gmail.com
For All Other Queries:wief2016chairs@wharton.upenn.edu
Website URL: http://whartonindia.com/