Students aspiring to become entrepreneurs moved a step closer to realizing their dreams at the grand finale of the fifth edition of GENESIS 2011 – IIT Madras’s annual social business plan competition for upcoming entrepreneurs – jointly conducted by C-TIDES (Cell for Technology Innovation, Development and Entrepreneurship Support) and SIVA Group, a US$3-billion global conglomerate.
Team Aquaregia comprising students from IIT Madras emerged victorious in a fiercely contested, closed-room competition among ten teams who were judged by a jury comprising eminent industry professionals. The winning team bagged the top honor by presenting a social business plan focusing on Purified Drinking Water at low-cost for the masses
Team BAFF comprising students from Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design & Manufacturing, Kancheepuram was adjudged the runner-up for their presentation on Biofuels as Future Fuels
Winner and runner-up teams were awarded total prize money of upto INR 4 lakhs – courtesy of the GENESIS’ title sponsor SIVA Group – along with glittering citations during the felicitation ceremony held after the rigorous finals. Apart from these, all the ten finalists got a fantastic opportunity to network with angel investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs during the dinner that followed the felicitation.
“I congratulate all the participants for enriching GENESIS with their enthusiastic participation and presentation of progressive ideas and I reiterate SIVA Group’s commitment to continue nurturing socially responsible entrepreneurs and future thought leaders through this unique knowledge platform in association with IIT Madras and C-TIDES,” said Mr. P. Swaminathan, President, SIVA Group.
“Over the past five years, GENESIS has evolved from just being a competition to a knowledge eco-system that helps aspiring student entrepreneurs to convert their ideas, potential and talents into commercially feasible, but socially responsible businesses,” said Dr. Ashwin Mahalingam, Faculty Advisor, C-TIDES. “The fact that some past contestants of GENESIS have gone on to establish companies successfully is a testimony to the growing stature of the competition,” he added.
The practical format of GENESIS, spread across 7 months, enables students to experience the real-time rigor and step-by-step process involved in translating generic ideas into commercial social business plans. The ten finalists, chosen from eighty entries, were guided through a carefully-designed mentorship program, with industry professionals as dedicated mentors, which helped them to mould and refine their projects that could attract seed funding from angel investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.
Project Snapshot of the Ten Finalists of GENESIS 2011
- Providing low cost water purification solution to rural India (Team: Amrit Enterprise) - Micro Lending
(Team: Edumile)
- Purified Drinking Water at low-cost for the masses (Team: Aquaregia) - Equity in Education
(Team: EEFERO)
- Biofuels using kitchen waste
(Team: BAFF – Biofuels as Future Fuels) - Training unemployed youth as drivers in the Commercial vehicle segment (Team: Safe Train)
- Cheaper cooking fuel by setting up residential biogas plants (Team: Carbon India) - Adopt a TREE, Today
(Team: Tree Hier)
- Consumer redressal forum on “No Win-No Fee” Business Model (Team: Fishing Four) - Quality education to underprivileged children
(Team: We the Children)
Students from premier institutions such as IITs, IIMs, IIFT, BITS Pilani, TISS, JBIMS, Delhi School of Economics,
LIBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business, London School of Economics & Political Science, and University of
California, Berkeley to name a few participated in the 2011 edition of GENESIS that attracted 80 entries.
About GENESIS
About the SIVA Group (www.svl.co.in)
Established in the year 2000 by IIT Madras, C-TIDES (Cell for Technology Innovation, Development and Entrepreneurship Support) has been fostering innovation and entrepreneurship development among the students’ community by providing them a platform to progress from 'raw idea/design' to a commercially feasible 'product/service'. C-TIDES bridges the gap between budding entrepreneurs and the industry by facilitating technological research, consultancy, incubation, mentorship support and venture capital funding.
