Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership

The [http://cel-bits.org Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL)] is an entrepreneurial community at BITS Pilani. It was set up for that very purpose, to create entrepreneurial leaders and have a significant impact on the global entrepreneurial community.

The CEL centre is one of the top 5 Centres of Entrepreneurship among Indian Universities. It is one of the Centres for Excellence at BITS-Pilani and also one of the founders of "National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN)." The NEN, founded in 2002, is a non-profit initiative by the Wadhwani Foundation enabling new and future entrepreneurs to access events and resources, share ideas and content, organize and market activities, and forge relationships across India and the world. The NEN was co-founded by five of India's premier academic institutions: IIT Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad, S P Jain Institute Bombay, Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB), Bangalore and BITS Pilani

The idea for CEL was seeded by the BITSAA Center for Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital (CEVC), with the vision of promoting the spirit of entrepreneurial thinking among the BITS student community. The students and the Institute shared this vision and came together to set up the center. The concerted efforts of the students, alumni and faculty resulted in the Centre (set up within a short span of 6 months) being named as one of the top 5 centres of Entrepreneurship among Indian Universities . The start of the new MBA program in BITS-Pilani is expected to add more strength to centre.

The various popular events held by the Center, such as Conquest, Epsilon, Parampara and many more have managed to create an impact on the student and entrepreneurial community in India.

[http://conquest.cel-bits.org CONQUEST ]

The aim of the event is to evaluate the entrepreneurial abilities of the aspirants from different backgrounds. This event will be unique in the sense that it does not fit into the perspective of a normal business quiz or a Business plan competition. Instead it tries to put the participants on the grill and is an exhibition of grit, consistency and spontaneity mixed with risk mitigation abilities, making it a reflection of their leadership qualities and the entrepreneurial element in them.

The sixth edition of Conquest would witness a additional conference, [http://conquest.cel-bits.org/conference.html EFactor] to be held at the Taj Palace, New Delhi on 7th February, 2009. The conference, slated to be the largest student run event in Asia, would involve discussions on new business models, sunrise sectors and startups in various sectors of the Indian economy.

[http://epsilon.cel-bits.org EPSILON ]

Since the BITS student community is the primary target audience for the CEL's activities, it has launched a business challenge primarily for them so as to initiate activities aimed at equipping them with the necessary skills to convert an idea into a Business Plan.

[http://sparks.cel-bits.org SPARKS ] Sparks is an idea to product conversion arena developed by Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL), BITS Pilani & supported by Mr. Anurag Jain. In one line "Unlock the True potential of technology Innovations through Entrepreneurial Skills, which can solve seemingly Intractable World Problems."

PARAMPARA

The Parampara project was initiated by the CEL, BITS-Pilani. It aims to build a self-sustained women’s cooperative in rural India.

BBB

BITS Big Bout (BBB) is a discussion forum where faculty and students get together under one roof to engage in a discussion on campus. BITS Big Bout, or BBB as it is known popularly, provides a platform to discuss various issues relating to entrepreneurship and its peripherals.

TECH BAZAAR

The Tech Bazaar convention is being jointly organized by the CEL and the Technology Business Incubator (TBI), BITS, Pilani.

The primary objective of the convention is to arouse responsiveness about innovation, venture capital and to offer possibilities for networking by bringing at a single platform, financiers, consultancy firms, entrepreneurs, government agencies, universities and R&D research institutions.

STIMULUS

It is a business simulation software which is being developed by the team. The beta version had a market simulation in which teams compete with each other in a virtual product market. Stimulus Beta was based on the mobile phones market & had 150+ teams participating. The team is currently focusing in making the game more realistic.

News Items:
* [http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/education/200711025467.htm Entrepreneurship - Innovation National Convention at BITS Pilani ..]
* [http://www.prlog.org/10036460-entrepreneurship-culture-and-bits-pilani-rajasthan-made-for-each-other.html Entrepreneurship Culture and BITS Pilani Rajasthan Made for Each Other ]
* [http://www.pr-inside.com/entrepreneurship-national-convention-takes-r279827.htm Entrepreneurship National Convention takes off at BITS Pilani ... ]
* [http://www.i-newswire.com/pr130188.html Proud to be BITSian inaugurates Entrepreneurship National ... ]