TiE Entrepreneurial Summit 2008, Asia’s Largest Entrepreneurial Summit Concludes on a Successful Note

Bangalore, December 18, 2008: The three-day TiE Entrepreneurial Summit 2008 (www.tiesummit.org) concluded today, accomplishing its objective of unlocking entrepreneurial energies by bringing together a wide array of entrepreneurs from diverse sectors. More than 1,700 delegates had registered and attended the summit, making it an unqualified success. TiE Delhi President Pradeep Gupta announced that TES 2008 had set very high standards in addition to setting the scale and ambitions for the next TiE Entrepreneurial Summit.

Carrying forward the theme of ‘Inclusive Entrepreneurship’ the concluding day of the summit featured key luminaries and decision makers, most notably Dr. R K Pachauri, Chairman IPCC and Director General, TERI, and a high-power panel discussion chaired by Sonjoy Chatterjee, Executive Director, ICICI Bank with Atul Punj of Punj Lloyds, Hari Bhartia of Jubilant Organosys and Mihir Doshi, CEO of Credit Suisse.

Dr Pachauri discussed the impact of climate change, suggesting a realistic response strategy in areas of investment, technology, legal mandates and consumer attitudes. “Today, we need political support to mitigate the impact of climate change and deliver green growth,” said Dr Pachauri. Countries and companies that do not respond to the need for change will lose respect from consumers, he added.

Chairing the special panel discussion titled ‘From Adversity to Advantage: Opportunities for Growth & Investment’, Sonjoy Chatterjee, Executive Director, ICICI Bank suggested that the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India was finding sustenance despite the economic downturns. Atul Punj mentioned that this could also be opportunities for companies to make good acquisitions/investments as the price point of some of the companies would provide attractive upsides in the times to come. Hari Bhartia on the contrary mentioned that cash is king and companies must be conservative in spending cash and use Lean and Sig Sigma techniques for process improvements.

The eminent speakers and panelists collectively expressed their appreciation to TiE Bangalore chapter members, for their success in hosting TES 2008 and for creating, for the first time, an inclusive platform for dialogue, knowledge-sharing, mentorship and networking for budding and experienced entrepreneurs and professionals alike.

The final leg of the summit saw an emphasis on Green Technology and processes with a focus on funding trends in Green Technology. Terence Hart, CEO, Technical Director and co-founder of ITPI and Director of IT Power UK, emphasized the need of investments in sustainable energy technologies. He urged that young and budding entrepreneurs should look at business initiatives that combine the functionality of profit making with products and processes that have a low impact on the environment

The summit came to a successful conclusion with the valedictory session by Pravin Gandhi, Past President Tie Mumbai and Partner, Seedfund; Sridhar Iyengar, President TiE Mumbai and Pradeep Kar, President TiE Bangalore and Chairman and Managing Director of Microland, thanking everyone who had contributed to the success of TES 2008.

Speaking on the occasion, Pradeep Kar, President, TiE Bangalore Chapter, said, “We are immensely pleased by the huge response and participation received to this year’s summit from budding and established entrepreneurs. We believe such forums are necessary in order to not just transform but also make the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem more inclusive. We thank all our key stakeholders including our partners, co-sponsors, TiE & TiE Institute Annual sponsors, Friends of TiE, Mentor Clinic sponsors, track sponsors, media & PR partners amongst others whose significant contribution has made this year’s summit such a success.”

About TiE

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) (www.tie.org) is a global not-for-profit organization focused on promoting entrepreneurship. TiE helps budding entrepreneurs by way of advice, guidance and assistance from successful & experienced entrepreneurs and professionals. There are currently more than 12,600 members and over 1,800 charter members in 52 chapters across 11 countries.

About TiE Bangalore Chapter

The TiE Bangalore Chapter (www.tiebangalore.org) is the largest Indian TiE Chapter and amongst the top five largest TiE Chapters in the world, with around 850+ Associate Members and over 130 Charter Members. The TiE Bangalore Governing Council comprises of industry leaders such as Nandan Nilekani of Infosys, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon, Ashok Soota of MindTree, Dr Sridar Mitta of e4e, Pradeep Kar of Microland, B V Naidu Group CEO, Vanpic Ports Pvt Ltd and Poornima Jairaj Executive Trustee Amber Valley Residential School.

For further information, please contact:

Bringi Dev, Executive Director

TiE Bangalore Chapter

+91 98 440 84873

bringidev {at} tiebangalore(.)org

Vidhya Arvind

The Practice

+91 93 791 68989

vidhya {at} the-practice(.)net