The session was started with an extremely motivating speech of Dr. (Smt.) Snehalata Deshmukh (Former Vice Chancellor University of Mumbai) and the conference then was declared open.

The inaugural session was led by Mr. Harish Mehta (Chairman & Managing Director, Onward Technologies) on "Startup, Standup & Skill India - A pathway to make India a super power".

He shared his valuable views on India's journey from being a technologically backward country to being recognized now as the 2nd most IT giant globally.

In the end, he enlightened the audience about NASCOM's past, present and upcoming initiatives to support tech startups in India.

The theme for the first panel discussion of 'One Day National Conference 2017 - Startup India' was "Role of facilitators in improving 'Ease to do Business' in India"

The esteemed panelists for this session were Mr. Rajiv Vaishnav (Head, Ecosystem & Partnership, Reliance GenNext Innovation Hub), Mr. U. S. Paliwal (Former Executive Director, MSME, RBI) & Mr. Ajit Deshmukh (Managing Director, Equirus Capital Pvt. Ltd.)

Mr. Mohan Tanksale (Former CMD - Central Bank of India & Former Chief Executive of IBA) played a very important role as the session moderator.

The panel discussed various topics such as how incubators play an important role in success or failure of an entrepreneur, what does facilitators do and government's initiatives in imbibing the startup culture in our country. These topics helped the audience to figure out what they should do next once they have dreamt big or have a business idea.

Takeaways of this session: "Even if you don't desire to be an entrepreneur, be that kind of a job seeker who has the mindset of a job creator"

The second panel discussion of 'One Day National Conference 2017 - Startup India' was based on "Funding opportunities for Business' in India"

The esteemed panelists for this session were Mr. Ravi Tyagi (Managing Director & CEO, SIDBI Venture Capital), Ms. Bala Deshpande (Senior Managing Director of New Enterprise Associates Pvt. Ltd.) & Mr. Topendra Bhattacharjee (Head, Digital Bank, Direct Channels & Analytics, RBL Bank)

Mr. Arun Mehta (Chief General Manager – Finance Control, SBI Corporate Centre, Mumbai) played a very important role of the session moderator.

The panel discussed various options available to finance a startup, what are various associations that help new businesses in this regard. It also solved queries of the audience regarding why top investors invest in “loss making ventures” and what actually matters to them – an impressive cash flow or a path breaking idea.

The esteemed panelists for this session were three successful entrepreneurs – Ms. Mrudula Barve (Founder, OPandit.com), Mr. Shrikrishna Bharambe (CEO, Maverix Platforms Pvt. Ltd. [Fingerlix]) & Mr. Mihir Karkare (Executive Vice President, Mirum India)

Our Prof. C.A. Ajit Joshi played a very important role of the session moderator and through his various questions he shared the journey of these three entrepreneurs, who consider themselves ‘possessed’ with the business idea; with our audience.

The panel discussed how each one should pursue their dream – may it be a corporate job or a disruptive business idea. They also expressed their concerns on how the concept ‘Startup’ has actually been romanticized and that people just shouldn’t follow this trend blindly if they don’t feel like it.