Nepalese SummerFest Entrepreneurship Forum
Date: May 26, 2012; Time: 11 am - 1 pm; Address: 8661 Leesberg Pike, Vienna, VA, 22182
Title: Entrepreneurship Forum & Networking: Building Ventures Across Borders
Why Attend:
We repeatedly express a desire to do something relevant to Nepal but too often find ourselves not sure where or how to start. In the absence of compelling stories of success, and the gravity of pessimistic news and poor state of affairs in Nepal, we quickly lose confidence in our ability to translate our ideas into a viable business. The challenges are real, but so are the opportunities.
Come and participate in the "Entrepreneurship Forum & Networking: Building Ventures Across Borders" to hear experiences and advice from US Professionals and Nepali Entrepreneurs who view the geographic distance as an opportunity. Learn how they have overcome the challenges and be inspired by what they have been able to accomplish. More importantly, come, meet and network with peers who have ideas, skill-sets, resources and a strong passion for entrepreneurship.
Join our Facebook group to start discussing and sharing ideas amongst peers. Meet your fellow co-founder and investors. We want to encourage continuity to your ideas throughout the year, and provide the support and guidance needed to build new ventures in Nepal because we believe integral to entrepreneurship is its ability to Build Ventures Across Borders.
Facebook Group Link: http://www.facebook.com/groups/449565468406754/
Panelists:
+ His Excellency Dr. Shankar P. Sharma, Nepali Ambassador to the United States.
Dr. Shankar Sharma, Ambassador of Nepal to the United States has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Hawaii. He was Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Nepal from 2002 to 2006. He has an extensive experience in government, international institutions and economic research. Before joining the National Planning Commission as a Member in 1997, he worked as a Senior Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Nepal; a Senior Economist in the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore; and a Fellow in the East-West Center, Hawaii. He also served as a Professor of Economics in the Centre for Economic Development and Administration, Tribhuvan University.
As a highest level development planner in Nepal, Dr. Sharma provided leadership for national planning, policy guidance, programme development and monitoring. For more, see
http://www.nepalembassyusa.org/sps.php
+ Lorraine Hariton, Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs, US Department of State:
Lorraine, "works with the business community worldwide to ensure that commercial diplomacy efforts support U.S. foreign policy objectives. In her first year with CBA, Ms. Harinton oversaw the launch of the Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP), a State Department led effort to promote and spur entrepreneurship around the world." For more, see http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/bio/129134.htm
+ Dolly Oberoi, President of DC TiE Chapter; CEO C2 Technologies:
TiE's mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, and education to generate and nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs. TiE has more than 11,000 members and over 2,500 charter members in 53 chapters across 12 countries. As President of the DC Chapter, Ms. Oberoi expands TiE efforts to provide greater support for women entrepreneurs and launch initiatives such as matching Indian and American businesses - For more on TiE, see
https://dc.tie.org/page/about-tie-washington-dc
+ Gagan Pradhan, Founder, Himalayan Java:
Mr. Pradhan nurtured and ushered in the coffee culture in Nepal. He started Himalayan Java in 2000. Mr. Pradhan spent seven years in Australia studying hospitality, and upon his return to Nepal he joined a five star hotel only to quit in 8 days. His coffee entrepreneurship has helped introduce Nepali coffee in the international arena. His entrepreneurship has brought him to Washington DC's Dalchini restaurant, where you can taste terrific and aromatic Himalayan Java coffee. For more, seehttp://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/2010/02/26/Business/16753
Coffee exports in 2000 stood at 4 tons, and increased 7,000% to about 280 tons in 2011; while imports have dropped. Coffee shops and culture that use fresh Nepali beans are becoming common throughout the city.
+ Sameer Maskey, Founder, Parakhi.com
Mr. Maskey founded Parakhi.com, a review based site that helps makes informed decisions on choices such as restaurants. Parakhi's operations span Nepal, US and London.
Mr. Maskey holds a Phd in Computer Science. His research focuses on statistical methods/machine learning for natural language and speech processing. For more, see:
http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~smaskey/
+ Kiran Joshi, Founder Incessant Rain Animation Studios:
Mr. Joshi spent 18 years at Walt Disney Studios during which his team developed the animation system for "Beauty and the Beast." As head of production, and a team with 250 artists and technologist Mr. Joshi left Disney to start his studio in Nepal. He shuttles between the US and Nepal, but his goal is not to just outsource work from USA, but also take Nepali folk stories to the world. For more, see http://www.whynepal.com/foreign-investment/kiran-joshi-disney-animator-animation-studio-founder-entrepreneurs-for-nepal/
+ Sandeep Giri, Founder and President Gham Power
Load-shedding is often seen as a hurdle to start business in Nepal. Mr. Giri has taken this challenge as an opportunity and started Gham Power - a solar energy company in Nepal that has been growing rapidly. Besides, Clean Tech, Mr. Giri has successfully founded a software business in Nepal the has been growing rapidly over the last 2 years in Nepal.
Prior to Gham Power, Mr. Giri was the CEO of San Francisco based Loyalty Matrix, an on demand marketing analytics software company, which was acquired by Responsys, a major email marketing company in 2007. For more, seehttp://ghampower.com/about-2/executive-team/
Platforms for Entrepreneurship in Nepal:
Abhinab Basnyat and Vidhan Rana, Biruwa Ventures, www.biruwa.net
Ujwal Thapa, Entrepreneurs for Nepal, www.e4nepal.com
Manish Jha, Samriddhi Foundation, www.samriddhi.org
Biruwa Ventures, Entrepreneurs for Nepal, Samriddhi Foundation have been working together to support an eco-system for entrepreneurship in Nepal. Biruwa is a start-up incubator, E4N has continued to be a hub for discussion on entrepreneurship in Nepal, and Samriddhi has been active in the advocacy and policy space for entrepreneurship in Nepal.
