Mumbai, January 31, 2024: The Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay commemorated its 10-year journey with the ‘DSSE Entrepreneurship Day’ held at the Institute premises on Wednesday.

Established in 2014, the Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship trains aspiring entrepreneurs through courses and pre-incubation programs. This Centre was set up through the generous contributions of alumnus Bharat Desai (B.Tech., Electrical Engineering, 1975,) and his wife Neerja Sethi, both co-founders of Syntel Inc., and the Desai Sethi Foundation.

In its decadelong journey, the DSSE has trained of over 3,000 students, mentored more than 750 individuals, formed over 200 venture teams, and initiated more than 60 startups.

‘DSSE Entrepreneurship Day’ brought together luminaries in the fields of Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the government, academia and industry, fostering a collaborative platform for entrepreneurs, investors and incubators.

The experts (Rajesh Gopinathan, Former CEO of TCS and now Professor of Practice in IIT Bombay; Shrijeet Mishra, Chief Innovation Officer, Aditya Birla Group; Anuradha Razdan, Executive Director HR & CHRO, Hindustan Unilever & Unilever South Asia; Ankit Mehta, Co-Founder, Idea Forge; Namita Dalmia, Co- Founder, Enzia Ventures; Sibabrata Das, Co-Founder, Atomberg) engaged in thoughtful discussions on various critical and pertinent topics, exploring measures that India can adopt to bolster its entrepreneurial ecosystem. They also emphasised the key role IIT Bombay can play in contributing to this mission.

The trend of India”s economic growth over the past decade with direct result of a significant surge in startups and the emergence of unicorns was aptly captured through a compelling address by Dr. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India as he highlighted the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in nation-building.

Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission added to the intellectual dialogue with a talk on the ‘Evolving Role of Education and Academic Incubators’ as he highlighted their instrumental role in empowering new startups and young entrepreneurs.