Amidst her busy schedule, Swasti Dubey, the Coordinator of Pilani Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Society (PIEDS), sat down with the APOGEE English Press to delve into the club’s contribution to the fest

She explained that the club was segmented into four verticals: marketing, partnerships, sponsorships and events, and they would be conducting E-Summit x APOGEE ‘26—a first-of-its-kind entrepreneurship fest in BITS—in collaboration with APOGEE, during the first two days of APOGEE. Their lineup would consist of events such as Enspire and Solve for Pilani. The former would be a panel discussion with BITS alumni who were now founders and entrepreneurs, and the latter was an event focused on social entrepreneurship, where participants would implement strategies to make local businesses more profitable. Other events held this E-Summit were Invention Engine Demo Day, conducted with Invention Engine, a venture capital firm that would invest up to two lakh rupees in an early-stage startup and a dropshipping event, with a 40 thousand rupee prize pool attached to it, where you would get to keep the profits you make, and many more.

Swasti noted that the club had planned to conduct E-Summit as a standalone fest during February, but clashes with Food Fest, and Inter-BITS—which was supposed to be conducted in February—forced them to postpone it. The CoStAA suggested collaborating with APOGEE to “bring an entrepreneurial edge to APOGEE”, and PIEDS decided to go forward with it. Leading up to the events, the club focused on logistics and marketing. She added that coordinating work with other clubs and departments had been tricky, as they had never worked in a collaborative manner before.

On a parting note, she hoped that E-Summit would leave a significant impression on the campus and that the attendees would enjoy the events they would conduct.