Rajeeb Dey MBE (born 6 December 1985) is a British entrepreneur. He was the winner of the O2 X Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 Award[1][2] and has been referred to as "among the most high profile" young entrepreneurs by the Financial Times.[3] In 2012, Rajeeb Dey was named the world's Youngest[4] Young Global Leader[5][6] in the 2012 cohort[7] by the World Economic Forum.

University life edit

Rajeeb graduated with First Class Honours in June 2008 from Jesus College, University of Oxford in Economics and Management.[8] Whilst at university he was President of Oxford Entrepreneurs, the student society for entrepreneurs at the University of Oxford. He was also President of the University of Oxford India Society (then known as the Oxford Majlis Asian Society), founded in 1896 as a political forum for Indian independence and the second oldest society at Oxford University.[9]

English Secondary Students' Association edit

At 17, Rajeeb became the founder and chair of the English Secondary Students' Association (ESSA) – the first national student-run organisation empowering secondary school students, giving them a voice in education.[10][11][12] He is often quoted in the media, including The Times Educational Supplement,[13] New Statesman,[14] The Guardian[15] as well as BBC Radio 4,[16] commenting on matters related to ESSA and student voice.

Enternships.com edit

Dey is the founder and CEO of the now defunct website Enternships.com, a service providing "entrepreneurial work placements" by connecting students and graduates to start-ups, SMEs and intrapreneurial firms worldwide, for which Rajeeb received the O2 X Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009.[1][17][18][19] Enternships.com was a Top 3 Finalist in the Esquire Magazine / Philips New Business Challenge, Finalist in the Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 "Life Academy" Awards,[20] and received media coverage in a number of outlets. Rajeeb was profiled by the Institute of Directors as the Director of the Month in March 2010[21] and as one of the UK's Top 30 Entrepreneurs aged Under 30 in Real Business Magazine (April 2010).[22]

Dey was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to entrepreneurship.[23]

StartUp Britain edit

As an advocate of entrepreneurship, Rajeeb Dey is a co-founder of StartUp Britain, a campaign by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, which was launched in 2011 by the Prime Minister David Cameron, the Chancellor George Osborne and the Secretary of State for Business Vince Cable in response to the Government's call for an "enterprise-led" recovery.

StartUp Britain "will be a champion for the UK's 270,000 businesses that start up every year aiming to help drive growth by accelerating, inspiring and celebrating Britain's start-up talent" said 10 Downing Street in a 2011 press statement, saying that the organisation "is fully supported by Prime Minister David Cameron and HM Government and has so far gathered the backing of significant international brands including Barclays, BlackBerry, Experian, Intel, Microsoft, McKinsey & Co. and Virgin Media."[24]

Advisory roles edit

Rajeeb is an Ambassador for Enterprise UK;[25] Trustee and Investment Committee member of UnLtd;[26] Trustee of the Phoenix Education Trust;[27] a Commissioner on the Carnegie UK Trust's Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society;[28] Education Advisory Board Member for Channel 4; a Founding Advisory Board Member of the UK–India Business Council (UKIBC) Next Generation Network[29] and member of the UK Trade & Investment Sub–Saharan Africa Taskforce chaired by Lord Stephen Green.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "O2 News Centre". Mediacentre.o2.co.uk. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  2. ^ "Business News. Rajeeb Dey is named the O2 X' Young Entrepreneur of the Year' 2009". Redhotcurry. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Web drives wave of entrepreneurialism among so-called 'lost generation'". Financial Times. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Enternships founder named Young Global Leader 2012". startups.co.uk.
  5. ^ "The Forum of Young Global Leaders". World Economic Forum.
  6. ^ "Global honour for young British entrepreneur". smarta.com.
  7. ^ WEF YGL Honourees 2012
  8. ^ "Courvoisier The Future 500". Jesus College, Oxford. 10 December 2009. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  9. ^ "Profiles. Rajeeb Dey". Redhotcurry. 1 January 2000. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  10. ^ "Pupils' union vows not to walk out". Times Education Supplement. 11 June 2004. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  11. ^ "Plugging into pupil power". Times Education Supplement. 18 February 2005. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  12. ^ "Pupil views? No, let them make decisions". TES. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  13. ^ "Early voice for the responsible citizen". Times Education Supplement. 14 January 2005. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  14. ^ Hasan, Mehdi. "Give us a little respect". New Statesman. UK. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  15. ^ "Emerging activists case study: Rajeeb Dey". The Guardian. UK. 25 May 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  16. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – The Learning Curve". BBC. 28 September 2004. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  17. ^ "Business Extra: News in brief – SME, Business". The Independent. UK. 10 November 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  18. ^ "Starting young: 23 year old named young entrepreneur of the year". Business Matters. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  19. ^ "Rajeeb Dey's Five Success Tips". Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  20. ^ "INTERNET EXPLORER 8 LIFE ACADEMY FINALISTS REVEALED « Internet Explorer 9 – The Internet Explorer Blog UK". Thebluee.com. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  21. ^ "Rajeeb Dey | Enternships.com". Director.co.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  22. ^ "Real Business's 30:30 Vision". Real Business. 13 April 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  23. ^ "No. 61608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2016. p. B17.
  24. ^ "Entrepreneurs given multi million pound lift off with launch of Startup Britain | Number10.gov.uk". Archived from the original on 3 July 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  25. ^ "Monday: pick of the press – enterprise in the news". Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  26. ^ "Trustees". UnLtd. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  27. ^ "Democratic Education: Support and Promote". Phoenixeducation.co.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  28. ^ "The commissioners". Carnegie UK Trust. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  29. ^ "Rajeeb Dey". Ukibc.com. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2011.