IIT Delhi’s BECon 2024 Brings Together Startups & Investors To Foster Entrepreneurial Spirit

IIT Delhi hosted BECon 2024 from February 3 to February 4, 2024 to bring together multiple startups, investors and aspiring founders from across the country to promote entrepreneurship. BECon is the annual flagship event of the institute which aims to create a dynamic platform for the exchange of ideas among business experts, entrepreneurs, and change-makers. 

The 2024 edition saw participation from across the country. Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari addressed the students in the inaugural ceremony and former lieutenant governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi delivered the keynote address during the event. 

Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, Info Edge cofounder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, NoBroker CEO Amit Kumar Agarwal were among the other notable speakers at BECon 2024. 

The event also included a startup and auto expo, startup pitches, one-to-one interactions between the students and industry stalwarts, and a fireside conversation between Justdial cofounder and group president V Krishnan and Droom and ShopClues founder Sandeep Aggarwal.

Key Highlights Of BECon 24

Gadkari urged the students to embrace entrepreneurship as a pathway to self-reliance and national development and highlighted the country’s potential to emerge as a global entrepreneurial powerhouse. 

Next, there was a competition called ‘Blueprint’, which had two engaging rounds. Firstly, the participants faced a quiz on diverse sectors and later presented their business plans and entrepreneurial visions to the judges.

In the first edition of the ‘Startup Clinic’, participants engaged in one-to-one interactions with mentors from diverse industries. 

The event also saw a number of panel discussions, which delved into the evolving landscape of deeptech startups and their appeal to traditional venture capital (VC) firms and corporate venture capitalists (CVCs). From exit strategies and innovation evaluation to talent acquisition and sector-specific deeptech ecosystems, the discussions highlighted the collaborative efforts needed to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the ever-changing startup ecosystem. 

Leaders such as Tech Mahindra CEO Mohit Joshi,  Chaayos cofounder Raghav Verma, Lenskar cofounder Peyush Bansal, and SheThePeople.TV founder Shaili Chopra spoke during these sessions. 

Promoting Innovation & Entrepreneurship

BECon is the flagship initiative of the Entrepreneurship Development Cell (eDC) of IIT Delhi. eDC was set up in January 2007 to promote entrepreneurship among the student community and help aspiring student entrepreneurs realise their aspirations. 

Besides BECon, eDC’s initiatives also include Founders Net, an exclusive founders-only community; Moonshot, student-run Shark Tank; Opportunity Portal, which connects startups with top talent; Mad for ad, an inter-hostel ad-making event; and Musketeer, a fresher startup building competition. 

At a time when the Centre and state governments are promoting startups and business innovations in the country, events like those organised by eDC provide aspiring entrepreneurs with a chance to show their products and services to investors, seek guidance, and grow their ventures. Besides, they give startups and companies an opportunity to hire talent.