Dr. M H Bala Subrahmanya
Conference Chairman & Professor Department of Management Studies Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Of late, startups and entrepreneurial ecosystems assume increasing significance in the global economy. Startups are considered the engines for accelerating economic growth of nations through their inorganic growth contributions in terms of innovated products/services, employment, income, and even exports. Startups tend to have higher chances of emergence, stability and scaling up when they are inserted into vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems.
A vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem will have multiple sources of - entrepreneurship, finance, market, human resources, business and technology mentorship, and incubation support, among others. But an entrepreneurial ecosystem will be more productive when an economy offers numerous new venture opportunities in various forms. Among others, emerging economies are considered ‘fertile grounds’ for new venture opportunities. As a result, emerging economies like India, have been attracting an increasing number of local diasporas from the developed world back home in the form of returnee entrepreneurs, in the recent decades.
Returnee entrepreneurs tend to possess better knowledge capital, international social capital, financial capital, managerial and entrepreneurial skills, among others, relative to domestic entrepreneurs. Therefore, they can contribute to bridging knowledge gap, technology gap, skill gap, and entrepreneurship gap that may exist between home and host economies. As a result, they are considered to have better potential to contribute to the acceleration of economic growth and transformation of emerging economies.
However, there is no conclusive evidence to substantiate these hypotheses in the larger context. Therefore, this conference would aim at deliberating the multiple dimensions of sources, functioning and contributions of both domestic and returnee entrepreneurship for start-ups in the context of global economy. Finally, we need to examine whether there is any need to have an exclusive policy to promote returnee entrepreneurship in emerging economies? Against this backdrop, I invite start-up founders, start-up ecosystem stakeholders, entrepreneurship researchers, faculty and students in diverse disciplines to join us in this International Conference with the objective of promoting entrepreneurship for the betterment of human society.
Dr. Jon Thomas
Conference Co-Chairman Associate Professor, University of Fraser Valley, Canada
The University of the Fraser Valley is pleased to partner with the Indian Institute of Science for this exciting international conference in Bangalore in January 2025. Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems are an important mechanism to address significant unmet needs in society and improve standards of living equitably.
The conference will showcase research from a range of entrepreneurial ecosystems and will offer nuanced micro and macro-level perspectives on entrepreneurship phenomena.
We invite you to participate in this conference and celebrate the sharing of knowledge relevant for entrepreneurs, organizations, regions, and policy.
Thank you to the submitters, reviewers, and volunteers.
We look forward to meeting you in Bangalore!