HAPPENINGS AT NICE!
NICEorg - Network of Indian Cultural Enterprises
Building Brand India by Catalyzing Cultural Entrepreneurship
Namaste,
TiE Chennai organised a Charter Member Dinner on the 14th of June 2024 and invited Sanjay Anandaram , Co-founder of NICEorg - Network of Indian Cultural Enterprises as a guest speaker at the event. Sanjay challenged the members to think differently about integrating cultural values into their businesses, highlighting missed opportunities in tourism, fashion, wellness, and more. He called for "Cultural Entrepreneurship" to become a part of policymakers' vocabulary, inspiring entrepreneurs to leverage India’s rich heritage for entrepreneurial success and presented insights on the power of Cultural Entrepreneurship.
NICEorg hosted NICESamanvay, India’s first cultural entrepreneurship summit, on the 29th and 30th of June, 2024 at the Bangalore International Center, Bengaluru. NICESamanvay had NuVentures as its principal sponsor along with Yunus Social Business as a supporting partner. The two-day Summit brought together Cultural Enterprises showcasing their journeys, engaging discussions with Industry experts, Investors, Academicians, and Government officials on collaborating and growing Cultural Entrepreneurship.
With over 400 participants, 3 Keynotes, 5 Panel Discussions, 7 Talks, 1 Conversation, 20+ Exhibits, 2 workshops, 10 Entrepreneur Journeys and 1 Cultural Program, NICESamanvay was truly a melting pot of all things relevant to Cultural Entrepreneurship.?
Check out the summary of NICESamanvay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNbmnj8rvys&t=3s&ab_channel=NICEorg
Dr Nandhinidevi K IAS, Director, e-Governance, Govt. of Karnataka
Sri Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Special Chief Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Electronics & Communications (ITE&C) and Department of Industries & Commerce
Dr Nandhinidevi K and Sri Jayesh Ranjan highlighted the crucial role of cultural entrepreneurship in bolstering Brand India's international presence and emphasized on the need of the hour to build this ecosystem.
Sooraj Bhat , CEO, Ethnic Business, Aditya Business Fashion and Retail Ltd
Mr Sooraj Bhat delved into trends, opportunities and challenges in the Indian ethnic wear business by presenting statistics on changing customer preferences and competition that also encompassed the importance of branding, merchandising, formats, product design, lessons and advice for cultural enterprises.
Founder and CEO of Sattva Consulting moderated a panel discussion with Sriparna Ganguly Choudhari , Chief Partnerships Officer, Tata Steel Foundation , Ritika Gandhi , Lead, Design Impact Initiative, Titan Company and Manish Saksena , Lead Advisor, Aadyam Handwoven . Their conversation focused on how cultural entrepreneurs can leverage CSR opportunities from larger corporations.
Chandu Nair , Angel Investor, moderated a panel discussion on Food Entrepreneurship with Shakir Haq , CEO, of NKP Empire Ventures Pvt. Ltd , Gautam Gupta , CEO, Paradise Food Court Pvt. Ltd and Azmat Ali Mir , Founder, Sarposh Foods where the panelists discussed key focus areas such as quality and standardisation to scale Food Enterprises.
Sanjay Prasad , Founder and CEO of Mindsphere Consulting Pvt Ltd, moderated a session on funding for Cultural Entrepreneurs, with, Manoj Kumar , Co-Founder & CEO, of Social Alpha , Sandeep Varma , CEO, of Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprise , Chakravarthy AB, India Country Director, Upaya Social Ventures and Avishek Gupta , MD & CEO, Caspian Debt as panellists. The panel spoke about cultural entrepreneurship being a space where diluting equity should be the last resort and debt and grant options should be considered primarily while looking for funding.
Sanjay Anandaram , Co-Founder, of NICEorg , moderated a panel discussion on the importance of incubators & Accelerators in supporting Cultural Enterprises, facilitating market entry, providing continuous mentorship, fund-raising, creating robust governance and financial systems and enabling the growth of sustainable Cultural Enterprises. Panellists included Venk Krishnan , Founder, NuVentures , Suresh Krishna , Chair, Global Leadership Team Funds, Yunus Social Business , Kunal R Sachdev , CEO, Renaissance Craft Venture Builder Pvt. Ltd and Ismail Akbani , CEO, AIC Mahindra .
Prof Yugank Goyal , Associate Professor, Founding-Director, Centre for Knowledge Alternatives, FLAME University , Dr. Chef K. Thirugnanasambantham , Principal, Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal and Prof Suresh Bhagavatula , Professor of Entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), delved into a conversation on the role of academia in creating awareness of cultural entrepreneurship through education, research, policy and projects.
View of Cultural Enterprises from the Lens of a Corporation
L N Koteshwar, EVP and Head Digital First, Marico Ltd provided insights into what a corporate like Marico looks for in cultural enterprises and highlighted key aspects through a case study of Just Herbs, an Ayurveda based Health & Wellness Startup acquired by Marico.
Kirti Goel , Co-Founder & COO, P-Tal, self-described “bartan wali” and recipient of deals from 5 sharks on Shark Tank India S3 walked the audience through her entrepreneurial journey and spoke about the importance of cultural history in setting up their brand.
Measuring Impact of Cultural Enterprises on Livelihoods by Rashmi Dhanwani, Founder, ArtX
Rashmi Dhanwani , Founder, ArtX spoke about the importance of measuring the impact on livelihoods and Revenue Growth using experiential tourism with a case study of the Serendipity Arts Festival.
Integrating Technology into a Cultural Enterprise by Vijaya Krishnappa Co-Founder Kosha
Vijaya spoke extensively on the use of technologies like IoT and AI to enhance digitalization of the supply chain, traceability and authenticity of artisanal products.
Digital Platforms and Cultural Enterprises by Aravind Mithra , Head, New Initiatives, Ajio ? a Reliance Retail Company
?Aravind Mithra’s session brought to light the criticality of using digital platforms for outreach to specific target groups while building consumer-facing brands. He delved into all aspects of this business function that any cultural entrepreneur ought to pay attention to while building their Enterprise.
Importance and Relevance of IPR for cultural enterprises by Shwetasree Majumder Managing partner at Fidus Law Chambers and? a Fashion Influencer
Shwetashree Majumder presented the nuances of Intellectual Property covering patents, copyrights etc with relevant examples that aimed to provide Cultural Entrepreneurs with a basic understanding of being aware and adhering to existing laws in the course of building Cultural Enterprises.
领英推荐
Talk: Digital Public Infrastructure & PPP? for Cultural Enterprises by Harishankar K , Head of Transformation, ONDC
Harishankar K introduced Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and presented the journey of the platform creation and the benefits that cultural entrepreneurs could derive from it.?
Aparna Thyagarajan , Co-Founder & CPO, Shobitam with Kanchana KV , CEO, NICEorg .
Kanchana KV got into an insightful chat with Aparna Thyagarajan on the business model that puts weavers and customers at the forefront with a vision to democratize Indian ethnic fashion wear globally.
Zamstars lead a Digital Marketing Workshop for Entrepreneurs with Sivaram Kuppachi , Quarterback and CEO ?Zamstars , Manpreet Singh, Digital Evangelist and Manthan Gohil, Design Lead heading the session.
A kalamkari workshop was held by Master Artist Siva Reddy, Shipguru Awardee and Limca Book Record Holder, powered by MeMeraki.
TESTIMONIALS
“NICEorg is doing something truly special, blending cultural preservation with entrepreneurial innovation to drive inclusive and sustainable development.
The richness of India's heritage was on full display, and it was incredibly inspiring to see tradition and innovation come together so beautifully from textiles of West Bengal to curated experiential travel tours in the North East!”?
-Sahar Mansoor, Founder at Bare Necessities Zero Waste Solutions
“Over the weekend, Qaushey Handlooms participated in #NICESamanvay, the first-of-its-kind event organised by NICEorg - Network of Indian Cultural Enterprises. Samanvay was all about passionate entrepreneurs - young & seasoned all driven by the desire to create impactful cultural brands. What inspired me most was the magic of a supportive spirit. We shared experiences, challenges and solutions, all brought in mutual support and created an ecosystem where everyone was eager to help each other.”
-Jaspreet Singh, Founder of Qaushey Handlooms
“Time judiciously spent in the company of industry stalwarts. So much learning, lots of interactions and cross Collab possibilities. Thank you Team NICE for this amazing amalgamation.”?
- Madhumita Sarkar, Founder - Luxe Living?
“Thank you to NICE for the initiative and to each one of you for fostering an environment wherein we can all work towards Cultural Enhancement, individually and collectively.”?
- Dimple, Founder, Svaguna
It was a great experience to be at Nice Samanvay 2024.
The richness of our culture was really brought to life across many categories showcased in the event.? It was also very inspiring to interact with? entrepreneurs who have a deep purpose to support our arts & crafts.
Thanks for the opportunity to present ONDC to this audience - we believe the open network can provide a further impetus to these arts & crafts.
-K Harishankar, Chief Transformation Officer
Announcements at NICESamanvay
NICEorg will partner with TiE Global and curate a whole day on cultural entrepreneurship at the TiE Global Summit in Mysuru, Karnataka in the month of December 2024.
NICEorg wholeheartedly and gratefully thanks NICESamanvay’s Media partner Axis Studio and to an amazing team of volunteers from Christ University for making NICESamanvay a grand success.?
Thanks also to Anushka Jaisinghani , Founder of Snack Me for supplying samosas:)!
Gratitude to our NICE Bengal community including Arihant Kothari , Munmun Podder and Madhumita Sarkar Guha for joining us from Kolkata!
Special thanks to Prannay Kumar Nalla and Aayushi Shah? for spearheading a lot of activities at NICESamanvay.
To join the NICE Chapters and contribute to building the cultural entrepreneurship community in your city.
Want to participate as a moderator/speaker or have a topic you would like us to cover??
Visit NICE Instagram and drop a message with topic - NICE Live
Get featured on NICE Stories. Tell us about your enterprise.?
Fill this Google Form to share your story:https://bit.ly/nicestories
Interested in Partnering / Volunteering / Collaborating with us in this exciting journey of building Brand India? Please write to us at [email protected] .
Follow us on our social media to learn more about our work and to connect with us!