Varun Agarwal – Keynote Speaker

Varun Agarwal is an Indian first-generation entrepreneur, film maker and author. Born on December 6, 1987, in Bangalore, India, he attended Bishop Cotton Boys’ School before going on to study engineering at the CMR Institute of Technology in Bangalore, Karnataka. He decided to drop out of college because he lacked interest in pursuing engineering and started making short films instead.

Shortly after this he co-founded Last Minute Films. LMF is an indie film production company which focuses on producing music videos, corporate films and ad films. As a film maker, Varun has directed A. R. Rahman and Preity Zinta ,and also worked with Karan Johar which he considers to be one of the greatest experiences of his life. Varun’s video channel has over 1 million views.

At 22 he co-founded his second business venture, Alma Mater, with his friend Rohn Malhotra. Alma Mater has successfully partnered with educational institutions across India in being able to make and supply customized sweatshirts to alumni. It is now India’s largest company for providing merchandise to students of schools and colleges. Besides these two companies he also co-founded Reticular. Varun has been featured on the cover of India Today as well as on the CNBC Young Turks Show.

After his success with ‘Alma Mater’, his debut book, the semi-autobiographical How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company, chronicling his journey as an entrepreneur was published by Rupa Publishers and became a best-seller.