iDiya – ISB’s national social venture competition
8 years ago Shalini B
The Indian School of Business has been taking an initiative towards the betterment of the society since 2009 via a beautiful national competition called “iDiya”. This is a promising platform for dynamic entrepreneurs with a social bent, from around the world to showcase their ideas to enthusiastic partners.
2015 marks the 7th edition of this competition and ISB announces it open for participants to get themselves registered. This year, iDiya will be held from October 12th 2015-October 16th 2015. The event is open and announces a big shout out to all the dynamic entrepreneurs with a social bent, from around the world to showcase their ideas to enthusiastic partners. The year 2015 will see the stakes get higher as the competition opens up to the SAARC region. The 10 best ideas get a five day all-expenses paid training at a boot camp where they will meet industry leaders, venture capitalists and business mentors. The social entrepreneurs are put through a rigorous 5-day boot camp that helps them grasp the foundation of a great business while interacting with various partners who guide them.
Every year ISB gets varied partners for this event, who are actively involved in the competition. These partners not only mentor the entrepreneurs during the boot camp held at ISB but also help them with the one resource most entrepreneurs feel holds them back in making their idea big – Funds.The 2014 event witnessed Bharti foundation, EdelGive foundation, Gujarat Venture Finance Limited, UnLtd India, Upaya social ventures, Venture East and Impact Law ventures to be the mentoring partners.
The main aims of this competition are:
- To encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the social space
- To create a platform for showcasing commercially viable, self-sustaining social business ideas in India
- To provide mentoring, access to evolution and angel funds to convert the ideas into reality
iDiya is mainly on a look out for those professionals in India who have the potential to come up with smething big and better for the society. You can come in teams of 2 to 4 individuals. All the teams are asked to submit an executive summary of their business ideas and plans, which are evaluated by student evaluators, faculty, investors and social VCs and social entrepreneurs. Submissions are evaluated on various parameters, including measurable social impact, the social need being addressed and sustainability of the enterprise.
The top selected ideas are invited to ISB for an intensive five day boot camp where industry experts, ISB faculty and local and national entrepreneurs help them train for challenges they would face in bringing their ideas and ventures to comprehension.
If your idea manages to attain a position in the top 10 list, you are invited to the boot camp, and you would be entitled to:
- A five day all-expenses paid boot camp for the top 10 teams where you will meet industry leaders, venture capitalists and business mentors
- The top 10 teams will receive mentoring support after the competition. The mentoring board comprises of high-profile businessmen and organizations which will help you commercialize your idea.
In addition to the above by participating in the event, you might get a chance to:
- Avail mentoring from industry experts in round 2 of the competition
- A place on the iDiya website for the top 20 participants.
Cash rewards for the top 3 winners are:
1st Place – Rs.2,00,000
2nd Place – Rs.1,25,000
3rd Place – Rs.75,000
A short feedback to the top 50 participants on their idea will be provided by industry experts.
You can participate by registering here on the website.
Once you login and submit the business ideas by uploading in the template that is sent during the registration process, you will be directed to an online gateway where you can pay Rs. 2,500/- as application fee via credit card or net banking.
Submission Deadline: August 16, 2015 at 23:59hrs.
So, if you think you have the right idea to develop the society, grab your team and get yourself registered today. If you are looking fr more details, please visit the iDiya website .
