How to organise an E-Summit: a six-month plan
To organise an E-Summit, start six months out: get written institute approval and a budget head first, then build a core team of six or seven leads, confirm speakers and investors three months ahead, run competitions with screened finalists and sign sponsors before you print anything. Afterwards, report outcomes to the principal and the IIC.
By Akshay Kendurkar, CEO, MyStartupValley
An E-Summit is the biggest event most college E-cells run, and the hardest to rescue late. The ones that work are planned backwards from a date, a budget head and a list of people who must be in the room.
This guide sets out a six-month plan for a student team and its faculty adviser: the roles, approvals, speakers and investors, competitions, sponsors and budget lines. It uses the official framework colleges already work under, not any one college's event as a model.
What is an E-Summit, and what should it achieve?
An E-Summit is a college's annual entrepreneurship event: usually one to three days of talks, startup competitions, workshops and investor sessions, run by the E-cell. It should achieve something a principal or funder can check, such as startups pitched, investors met and student founders moved forward, not only footfall.
The official framework points the same way. The Ministry of Education's National Innovation and Startup Policy 2019 asks institutions to hold networking events where young entrepreneurs meet investors and pitch, and to run competitions, hackathons and bootcamps. It also warns that events must not become an end goal: the first focus is successful ventures.
Most campuses already have a structure to host one. The Institution's Innovation Council programme was launched in November 2018, when more than 1000 institutions had formed councils, according to the Ministry's launch release. A PIB backgrounder of July 2025 puts the count at 16,051 IICs across 28 States and 8 Union Territories.
What does a six-month E-Summit timeline look like?
A six-month E-Summit timeline runs in four stages: approvals and budget in month six, people and partners in months five to three, shortlists and logistics in the last two months, then the report after the event. Speakers and investors need the longest lead, so invite them early.
| Months out | What gets done | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Date, theme, approval note, budget head, core team | Convener, faculty adviser |
| 5 | Venue blocked, sponsor deck out, first speaker invites | Sponsorship, speakers |
| 4 | Competition rules and judges fixed, registration form live | Competitions, tech |
| 3 | Speakers and investors confirmed, sponsors signed | Speakers, sponsorship |
| 2 | Shortlists out, travel booked, volunteers trained | Competitions, operations |
| 1 | Run of show, rehearsals, check-in tested | Operations |
| After | Report to principal, IIC, sponsors and investors | Convener |
Fix the date against the academic calendar first. Exams, placements and the college's internal hackathon for Smart India Hackathon all compete for the same students. Our note on the official numbers and dates behind startup events in India covers the national calendar.
Which core team roles does an E-Summit need?
An E-Summit needs a convener who owns the date and the budget, plus leads for sponsorship, speakers and investors, competitions, operations, marketing and technology. Give each lead a deputy from the year below, so the event survives exam weeks and next year's team includes people who have done it before.
- Convener: one decision maker and the link to the faculty adviser and the principal.
- Sponsorship lead: the deck, the pipeline and the deliverables promised to each sponsor.
- Speakers and investors lead: invites, briefs, travel and the investor list.
- Competitions lead: rules, judges, the rubric and the shortlist.
- Operations lead: venue, food, volunteers, check-in and safety.
- Marketing and tech leads: outreach to other campuses, the registration form, data and consent.
Volunteers need a brief, not just a T-shirt. The volunteer check-in guide covers desks and shifts.
Which approvals does an E-Summit need from the institute?
Most E-Summits need written approval from the principal or director for the date, venue and budget, a named faculty in charge, and a rule for how sponsor money is received and spent through the institute's accounts. Get these in month six, because sponsors and speakers will ask who signs.
Ask for four things in one note:
- Date and venue: halls, auditorium and any outdoor space, blocked in the academic calendar.
- Budget head: NISP 2019 asks institutions to allocate at least 1% of their total annual budget to a separate innovation fund, and to give the IIC an appropriate budget. Ask whether the E-Summit can draw on it.
- Money handling: which account receives sponsorship, who issues invoices and who handles GST.
- Outside visitors: security, gate passes and any permission your campus or city needs for a public event.
Sponsorship carries its own tax rule. Our guide to startup event sponsorship in India explains it, along with how to price packages.
How do you get speakers and investors to an E-Summit?
Invite speakers and investors three to five months out with a specific ask: one session, its audience, its length and the date. Investors come when the room is worth their time, so offer them a screened list of startups in their sector and booked meetings, not a seat in the audience.
Alumni founders, local angel networks and nearby incubator managers accept more often than celebrity names, and they return the next year. Send each a short brief two weeks before: who else is speaking, who is in the room and what you hope they leave with.
Our guide on how to get investors to attend startup events covers the invite and the follow-up in detail.
How should E-Summit competitions be run?
Run E-Summit competitions with published rules, a screened shortlist and a scoring rubric that judges see in advance. A pitch competition, a business plan contest and a case or hackathon track cover most audiences. Close applications well before the summit, so judges can read every submission properly.
Keep the stages simple: online applications, a desk screen, a shortlist and a final round on the day. Use the same rubric at every stage. Our guide to shortlisting startups for a pitch event sets out the weights, the judging rubric guide gives a scoring sheet and the pitch event checklist covers the day itself.
Prizes need clear terms: cash, credits or incubation, who pays and when. Announce them only once the money is approved.
Plan the E-Summit backwards from the report you will write afterwards. If you cannot count it, do not promise it.
What are the main budget lines for an E-Summit?
The main budget lines for an E-Summit are venue and AV, food, speaker and judge travel and stay, prizes, marketing and printing, volunteer costs, insurance and security, and a contingency. Cost them per attendee, and fund them from the institute's budget head, sponsors and passes in a mix agreed in month six.
Food scales with attendance, so budget it on expected check-ins rather than registrations. Travel and stay for outstation speakers is the line most likely to overrun, so book it by month two.
Sell sponsors outcomes they can count afterwards; the sponsor deck guide gives a slide order. Collect attendee data with a clear consent line for each use, starting from the startup event registration form template.
What should you report after an E-Summit?
Within a month, report to the principal, the IIC, sponsors and investors in plain units: registrations, check-ins, startups that applied and pitched, investors present, meetings requested and what followed. Keep the report, the budget and the contact list for next year's team.
That report is also the start of next year's approval note. Our guide to starting an incubation centre in a college covers the longer record that principals and funders ask for, and the demo day report guide shows a simple format.
Questions
How long does it take to organise an E-Summit?
Plan for about six months. Use month six for approval, budget and the core team; months five to three for venue, sponsors, speakers and investors; and the last two months for shortlists, travel, volunteers and rehearsals. A smaller one-day summit can work in three months if approvals come quickly.
Who approves an E-Summit in a college?
Usually the principal or director, through the faculty adviser to the E-cell or the Institution's Innovation Council. Ask for written approval of the date, venue and budget, a named faculty in charge, and a rule for receiving sponsorship through the institute's accounts before you approach any sponsor.
Can an E-Summit use the institute's innovation budget?
Often it can. The National Innovation and Startup Policy 2019 asks institutions to allocate at least 1% of their total annual budget to an innovation fund and to give the IIC an appropriate budget. Whether the E-Summit can draw on it is the institute's decision, so ask in the approval note.
How many Institution's Innovation Councils are there in India?
A PIB backgrounder of July 2025 says 16,051 Institution's Innovation Councils have been set up across 28 States and 8 Union Territories. The Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell launched the programme in November 2018, when more than 1000 institutions had already formed councils.
Sources: Ministry of Education Innovation Cell, National Innovation and Startup Policy 2019 for Students and Faculty, 11 Sep 2019 · Press Information Bureau (MHRD), Union HRD Minister launches Institution's Innovation Council programme, 21 Nov 2018 · Press Information Bureau, Higher Education under NEP 2020: Reimagining India's Academic Landscape, 29 Jul 2025
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