Our Speakers

A leading internet entrepreneur, angel investor and an evangelist for SME issues, Dinesh Agarwal has sealed a reputation for himself as a resilient and dynamic strategist who has constantly evolved with the times. He is one among the rare Indians who survived the Dotcom Bust in 2000, 9/11 incident and the slowdown in 2008. As Founder of the e-marketplace, IndiaMART, in the year 1996, Dinesh is the chief driving force behind getting millions of SMEs online and expanding the marketplace to covermore than 100 cities in the country. His learning as a professional has been honed across a wide range of industries like online marketplace, mobile internet, online classifieds, travel, etc.Known for his business acumen and an eye for detail, Dinesh has always understood the needs of Indian businesses and adapted the marketplace model from time to time to best suit their requirements.A leading innovator in the internet space, he utilizes his wealth of knowledge and experience in successfully creating business growth opportunities for SMEs.

An Advocate of SMEs

Dinesh has spearheaded several path breaking initiatives aided by his futuristic vision to promote the use technology in the Indian SME space.He has successfully pursued his dream of getting millions of SMEs online, connecting them to the outside world beyond national boundaries. His contribution to the sectorhas been widely acknowledged.

He has built several platforms for SMEs likeIndiaMART Emerging Business Forum (in association with Zee Business) to raise the concerns of SMEs, and Leaders of Tomorrow Awards(in association with ET Now) to give due recognition to SMEs for their contribution towards the industry. He continues to participate in key industry forums which are organized to contribute to the welfare of SMEs and has used multiple platforms to voice his concerns on GST, taxation, infrastructure, power, technology, etc. He is a firm believer of empowering SMEs with the best infrastructure and other facilities that can enable them to compete at a global level and positively impact the Indian economy.

A Serial Entrepreneur& Angel Investor

Dinesh’s entrepreneurial ride has always been marked by endeavoursto benefit the small and medium enterprises. In 1999, he launched auto.indiamart.com which provided information to consumers about the latest products available in the auto sector. He forayedinto online gifts and shopping with Indiangiftsportal.com in 2000. Anticipating the growth potential of B2B ecommerce in India, Dinesh launched Tolexo.com in 2014 – the online shopping store for business and industrial goods. An incisive ability to scale businesses from ground-up has helped him in mentoring several business enthusiasts to grow their entrepreneurial wings. He serves as a Director on the Board of several successful business entities.

Dinesh is acknowledged as one of the most respected and successful angel investors in the industry.He is actively involved in incubating startups, having invested in over 35 start-up companies till date.

Associations, Awards and Accolades

Dinesh is an active member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Global Super Angels Forum, and a select member of the Governing Council of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). He has been recognized by CNBC as a Young Turk, and as The Market Maker by The Economic Times. He recently bagged the prestigious award of ‘The Best Corporate Executive’ by the NCR Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NCCI).His deep knowledge and understanding of the SME sector makes him a regular speaker in seminars/workshops/panel discussions across the country.

Educational Experience&Early Years of Career

Dinesh pursued his B. Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur. He initially worked with CMC Limited, where he was associated with the Centralized Railway Reservation Systems Project during its early development stages. Thereafter, he joined the Center for Development of Telematics (C-Dot), and was a part of the team working on Rural Automatic Exchange. He then moved to America to join HCL Technologies, where he worked for some top IT companies of the world at the time like Bank of America, Novell NetWare, UB Networks, etc.With extensive experience in Networking & Systems Development and Consulting, Dinesh saw huge scope in harnessing the power of the internet in India, after his return from the US. This triggered the idea of IndiaMART and the rise of a new entrepreneur on the Indian horizon.

Beyond Work

A keen philanthropist,Dinesh’s deep commitment to empower people has translated in his support tothe Olympic Gold Quest (Foundation for Promotion of Sports and Games) to promote the spirit of sportsmanship. He also works towards women’s welfarethrough his contribution in‘Mera Sahara’, a Joint Women’s Programme.

Spending time with his family, travelling to exotic locations and experiencing different culturesare among Dinesh’spreferred recreational pursuits.