The Entrepreneurs' Committee of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized "Entrepreneurs' Business Summit 2019 - Key Focus - The Big Pitch Competition" held on Friday & Saturday, 6th & 7th December 2019 at Williamson Magor Hall, The Bengal Chamber Premises, Kolkata.

The Big Pitch Competition (6th December 2019)
"The Big Pitch Competition" initiative was undertaken by The Entrepreneurs' Committee of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The competition was for the Startup Entrepreneurs. Out of 84 applications, 20 applications were shortlisted by a group of internal jury. Shortlisted applicants got an opportunity to pitch directly to Funding Agencies/Venture Capitalists and gained some valuable exposure and some equally valuable feedback. 10 applicants were finally selected and awarded as the 'Best Performing Start-up 2019' on the day of main event held on 7th December 2019. During the main event, the finalists got an opportunity to network and potentially build partnerships but most importantly, they got a chance to accelerate their businesses.

Entrepreneurs' Business Summit 2019 (7th December 2019)
"Entrepreneurs' Business Summit 2019" is the flagship annual event of The Entrepreneur's Committee of BCC&I. The Summit aimed to bring together inspiring entrepreneurs and investors for creating new opportunities for investment, build new partnerships and collaboration avenues and highlight entrepreneurship as means to address some of the most intractable society challenges. It was a platform for entrepreneurs to discover and unleash breakthrough Ideas, Innovations and Insights needed to realize their power to disrupt the social, economic and tech ecosystem.

Speakers at this event were:
▪  Mr. B.B Chatterjee, President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
▪  Mr. Deepak Daftari, Chairperson, The Entrepreneurs' Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry & Director & CEO, DD Web Vision Pvt Ltd.
▪  Mr. Abhijit Hazra, Permanent Invitee, The Entrepreneurs' Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry & Director, Touchstone Tie-up Pvt Ltd.
▪  Shri Shankaar Sen, Managing Director, Senco Gold Ltd
▪  Shri Shyamal Karmakar, Managing Director, S & IB Services Pvt Ltd.
▪  Mr. Meghdut RoyChowdhury, Vice Chairperson, The Entrepreneurs' Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Director, Global Operations, Techno India Group.
▪  Mr. Binod Homagai, Co-Chairperson - The Entrepreneur's Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry & Co-Founder & COO, Wow Momo Foods Pvt Ltd.
▪  Mr. Prabir Kumar Das, Founder, North East Aviation.
▪  Mr. Debajyoti Banerjee, Founder & CEO, Seven Boats Info System Pvt Ltd.
▪  Ms. Shaleni Arorah, Founder, Naushiizaan.
▪  Ms. Pooja Dugar, Founder & Director, Leap Years Preschool.
▪  Mr. Rajesh Singhal, Asst. Vice President, Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd. (Times Group).
▪  Mr. Abhishek Rungta, Chief Executive Officer, Indus Net Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
▪  Mr. Ravi Didwania, Director, Ravi Diesels Pvt Ltd.

Successful Promoters/Stalwarts of various industries shared their story of journey to success which inspired budding entrepreneurs and young start-ups to strive for professional excellence and also motivated them to be more focused in their professional career. They were also of the opinion that every country, whether developed or developing, needs entrepreneurs. A developing country needs entrepreneurs to initiate the process of development, where as the developed one needs entrepreneurship to sustain it. In the present Indian context, where on the one hand, employment opportunities in public sector and large-scale sector are shrinking, and on the other, vast opportunities arising from globalization are waiting to be exploited; hence entrepreneurship can really take India to the heights of becoming a super economic power.

Venture Capitalists and Funding Agencies present at the programme interacted with the budding entrepreneurs and guide them on how to create and pitch successful business ideas in order to get funded for their start-ups. They also shared their key USPs to support Entrepreneurship and Start-Ups.

A Partnership Agreement was signed between University Institute of Technology, The University of Burdwan and The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry for providing more exposure to their students with the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem.