E-Cell IIT BHU successfully conducted the Techstars Startup Weekend Varanasi supported by Google for Startups. It was a 54-hour Startup hackathon where everyone dived deep into the entrepreneurial world and collaborated with other startup enthusiasts, designers, developers and marketers.
The event, spread over three days from 25th to 27th of August ‘23 was a resounding success, leaving participants and organizers extremely pleased with the outcome. E-Cell IIT BHU under the guidance of Prof. Rajnesh Tyagi seeks to create a strong foundation to bring motivated people together to learn and turn abstract ideas into reality and the 54-hour hackathon event was a projection of that vision. The event kicked off with great enthusiasm as the facilitator for the event, Mr. Vineet Singh delivered an inspiring keynote speech, filling up the room with energy and leaving it brimming with ideas. Students from IIT BHU and other institutions gathered for this immersive experience. Our mentor and judge panel consisted of various personalities including CEOs and Founders of many ventures.
A total of 118 participants got together. Most of them, with innovative and creative ideas, pitched them. With ideas overflowing the whiteboard on the first day, everybody was left agasted by the creativity of these young minds. Out of 60+ ideas, 16 ideas were shortlisted by a process of voting amongst the participants. The first day ended with participants networking with each other and forming teams with like-minded people. Day two of the hackathon started with a bang. With great eagerness to start, participants showed up well on time. They were excited to start working on their startup ideas. Morning briefing by Mr. Vineet had set the tone for the day. Participants coordinated among themselves and choosing their respective work spaces, started working with zeal and enthusiasm. Post lunch, there was an interaction session with the mentors – Naman Mishra, Founder, Sedax; Manish Rao, Analyst; Aishwarya Jaiswal, CEO, HAND Corp.; Kapil Parashar, Director, Vyom Digital Services; Kulraj Singh Sabharwal, Founder & CEO Textr AI, Sudipan Sinha, Co-Founder & CEO at UNSNARL; Raghav Choudhary, Co-Founder Finswealth. Mentors, specializing in different profiles assisted teams with the specific problems they faced while also giving them insights on entrepreneurial topics. The day concluded with participants bonding over the dinner. Each idea they pursued, each partnership they forged, and each problem they solved contributed to the collective advancement of our community as a whole. And here was the final day of the event, despite being the final day, everyone’s enthusiasm remained palpable. The day began with Mr. Vineet addressing the young innovators, acknowledging them for the great work they have been doing as young innovators. Teams gave final touches to their works, an experienced panel of judges and mentors joined in, and then began the showdown – the final presentation round. The pitching round remained thrilling from start to end as teams came one after another to showcase their presentations. Pitches were followed by Q&A by judges. There was a mildly tense atmosphere with participants preparing for pitches, a mix of nervousness and excitement. Judges gave teams their invaluable insights and delivered the judgment and the winners were declared. Our esteemed judge panel included Prof (Dr) Raj Kumar Singh, Chairperson-Centre For Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Skill Development of SMS, Varanasi; Ms. Richa Singh, CPO and Co-Founder at UpTodd, Alumnus of IIT BHU; Ms. Smita Dikondkar, Project Manager, Technology Innovation Hub (TIH), I-DAPT HUB FOUNDATION, IIT (BHU), Varanasi; Ms. Tripti Verma, Co-Founder and COO, Study At Home, Winner of National Startup Awards 2021, Alumnus of Faculty of Commerce, BHU
The event was made possible by the combined efforts of the student team at E-Cell IIT BHU consisting of final and pre-final year students leading a diligent team of sophomores consisting of Vandan Deulkar, Sahil Bharadwaj, Sakshi Wagh, Akshita Bindal, Chetansi, Sujal Ahire, Bhavesh Zode, Utkarsh Srivastava, Ashi Jain, Sidhanth Singh, Aaditya Sharma, Suman Kumar, K. Yeswanth, Ananya Saha, Sagar Ahirrao, Priyanshu Vishwakarma, Gaurav Yadav, Apurva Kumari, Vipul Bharti, Nandini Aggarwal and Jahnavi Khosla. The event concluded with the announcement of the top three teams, prize distribution and felicitation of our esteemed jury and facilitator. These 54 hours witnessed groundbreaking conversations, insightful discussions, and transformative mentor sessions which sparked creativity within everyone. But beyond the concepts and strategies shared, this event has been about more than just an entrepreneurship conference. It has been about fostering a spirit of collaboration and fostering connections. It has been about celebrating the entrepreneurial journey – a journey that’s often marked by hurdles, failures, and uncertainty, yet driven by an unwavering belief in the power of one’s dreams. This event was all about identifying opportunities where others see obstacles, about turning challenges into stepping stones, and about learning and growing from every experience, whether success or setback.
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