BIT BioCyTiH Foundation, BITS Pilani, KK Birla Goa campus organized Goa Innovation & Startup Times (GIST-23), a day-long flagship event, designed to inspire, educate, and foster creativity among academicians, researchers & innovators, startups and students on 25th Nov 2023. GIST-23 focussed on innovation and translational research and created a platform for startups to showcase their technologies.
The event had two parts namely Tech track and Goa Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Track (GEET).
The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Goa, Dr. Pramod Sawant, inaugurated the event. The inaugural function was also graced by the presence of Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani, Prof. (Dr) Unnat P. Pandit, Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks and Shri. Nitin Kunkolienker, Corporate leader & Social entrepreneur.
Mr. Rohan Khaunte, Minister for Tourism, Information Technology, E&C & Printing and Stationary, Government of Goa flagged off Goa Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Track (GEET). The keynote speaker for the launch of GEET was Ms. Upasana Taku, Cofounder, MobiKwik and the Guest of Honour was Ms. Aditi Kare Panandikar, Managing Director, Indoco Remedies Ltd along with Prof. Suman Kundu, Director, BITS Pilani, K.K.Birla Goa Campus.
Tech track consisted of two panel discussions:
- Science for Sustainability
The panelists for the panel discussion were the following:
- Shri Mahesh Patil, Chairman, Goa State Pollution Control Board
- Sangam Kurade, Founder of Dr. Kurade’s
- Rajendra Jagdale, DG and CEO at Science and Technology Park, Univ. of Pune
- Samit Jain, Managing Director, PLUSS Advanced Technologies
- Shridevi Bale, Managing Director-Resources and Energy Lead, Accenture
- Prof Rajeev Chaturvedi, BITS Pillani-Goa
2. Technology for Wellness
The panelists for the panel discussion were the following:
- N. Sriram, Director, Molbio Diagnostics
- Arvind Vaishnav, Vice President, Philips Innovation Centre
- Dr Sudipto Chatterjee, Clinical Director, Merck India
- Sanjeev Krishnan, Head (MRI), Siemens Healthineers
- Sharad Goswami, Senior Director Global Policy and International Public Affairs, Pfizer
The participants included academic scientists, government experts, and representatives from companies like Philips, Pfizer, Merck, Siemens, Sanofi, Syngenta, Indoco, Teva, and Accenture. Other sessions were Technology Showcase and Startup Showcase where cutting-edge technologies in deep tech and emerging ventures in technology were showcased.
Goa Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Track (GEET) consisted of sessions including Pitching Session – BBF Pitch Day, Women Entrepreneurship Event, IDEAthon and Industry-Academia Round Table Session.
India Exim Bank, Lets Venture, 100x VC, Venture Catalysts, Lead Angel, Goa Angel Network, Climate9ers Capital, D’souza Group, TiE Rajasthan, HPCL, Wadhwani Foundation, 91Ventures, BIORx Venture Advisors Pvt. Ltd, Sancoale Technologies, Padup Ventures were the few investors for the Pitching Session – BBF Pitch Day.
The Industry-Academia Round Table Session was chaired by Ms. Aditi Kare Panandikar, Managing Director, Indoco Remedies Ltd and co-chaired by Prof Sunil Bhand, Project Director, BITS BioCyTiH Foundation. The participants and stakeholders for the session were representatives from Indoco Remedies Ltd, Sanofi, Micro Labs, Unichem Laboratories, Teva Pharma, Watson Pharma, Syngenta Bioscience, Deccan Fine Chemicals, Dr Kurade’s, Assocham Goa Council, Commscope, Manipal Hospitals, Government of Goa, The Energy and Water Resourse Institute, BITS Pilani KK Birla Goa Campus, NIT, IIT, Goa Institute of Management and Goa University.
The Women Entrepreneurship Event included WE-Pitch Competition by Wommennovator Global Incubator for Women. The welcome note was given by the Founder of Go Womania and keynote speaker was Wadhwani Group.
Over 400 participants including academicians, industry professionals, innovators, startups, investors and students from various parts of the country attended the event, making it a huge success.
