The entrepreneurial climate in India is set to get a much needed impetus with the launch of an ‘Entrepreneurship Week’ from February 24 to March 3, 2007, initiated by the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), a non-profit initiative working to inspire, educate and support new and future entrepreneurs in India. Part of a global initiative, Entrepreneurship Week aims to bring several thousand citizens together to celebrate opportunities and explore the myriad ways in which the nation can improve the ecosystem for entrepreneurship in the country.  

Laura Parkin, Executive Director,NEN says “India offers amazing opportunities for entrepreneurs today – at the same time, the culture and ecosystem still throw up tremendous barriers. Entrepreneurship Week has been initiated as both a celebration and a call to action: a week during people come together to improve climate and the supports necessary for entrepreneurs success – inside companies, starting ventures, in government and academia. The spirit of E Week is “We can. We will.”

Entrepreneurship Week will open with two nationwide awareness campaigns aimed at getting the general public to think about entrepreneurship and their role in creating a favorable entrepreneurial climate.

The online contest will invite one line answers to the question “What does entrepreneurship mean to you?” 

• The Pledge campaign is expected to bring together 250,000 people to make at least ONE promise from the E Week Pledge list, to take an important step towards supporting entrepreneurial India.
• E Week partners including leading corporates, associations and over 160 academic institutes across 25 cities and towns have also planned a variety of activities to build on this momentum.
• Two innovatively designed international competitions - the ‘NEN-techTribe Networking Challenge’ and the ‘Global Innovation Challenge’, will allow students to compete with their peers worldwide.  

Information on these campaigns and partner activities can be obtained on www.eweekindia.org.

India Inc. is lending support to the cause with HSBC, Symphony Services, Himalaya, Mahindra & Mahindra, techTribe, Microland, PVR, Yahoo! India, and Business India being corporate partners. In addition, EWeek has also received support from associations including TiE and IVCA (Indian Venture Capital Association).

Prof. Ashok Mishra, Director - IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Bombay, says, “I support Entrepreneurship Week India initiated by the NEN and would like to endorse this nationwide forum that will allow students in India to come together under one platform.  The activities of E-Week will provide an opportunity for the students to create new ideas and new partnerships. We need the student community in India to be pro-active. Moreover, E-Week will give other stakeholders like successful entrepreneurs, educationists, corporate India to come together and create an eco-system that fosters the spirit of creating new enterprise”.

Entrepreneur, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, of Biocon adds “With NEN I see a vision and a synergy that allows the creation of an eco-system that nurtures the spirit of enterprise. Employability and empowerment through entrepreneurship is a pragmatic path ahead for India. We must create an environment that inculcates a spirit of challenge and risk taking. The ability to face failure is a part of this challenge where pervesence pays. Creating a support structure that allows entrepreneurs to stay in the game is therefore important.

NEN provides this exciting platform for the next generation entrepreneurs to take the risks or chase the dreams perhaps we never did. I see this becoming a National passion and I am also glad the Planning Commission is planning to set up an incubation fund for entrepreneurs. This is all good news to create an incredibly entrepreneurial India. Kudos to NEN for taking the lead.”

Entrepreneurship Week India will culminate in a grand closing ceremony at Palace Grounds, Bangalore on March 3, 2007.