Press Release : TATA Group : Mumbai:28 Dec 2012 :12:54 pm PST
Teams who either have an early stage venture (not older than three years) or a promising idea with a plan that can create sustainable social impact, can submit their business plans online at www.tatasechallenge.org. The applicants may or may not be Indian nationals; however, the social venture should be aimed at creating social impact in India. The ventures will be judged on three parameters – business model, social impact and sustainability. There is no restriction on the business model and it can be for-profit, not-for-profit or even hybrid, but it necessarily is required to demonstrate significant social impact through results or proof of concept. Impact Proposals (detailed business plans) are invited in the areas of education, health, agriculture, energy, technology, housing, handicrafts and microfinance, among others. The last day to submit the Impact Proposal online is January 20, 2013. The challenge also invites people to nominate social enterprises they know about through the initiative’s website.
Rewards
Mentorship
Three week mentorship support will be provided for all the teams shortlisted for the semi-finals, including three days at the IIMC campus.
Funding opportunity
All teams shortlisted for the semi-finals and finals will have an opportunity to pitch to India’s largest social venture capitalists for seed funding.
Incubation
The teams which make it to the grand finale will be given an opportunity to pitch for incubation at IIMC.
Cash awards
The top two winners of the competition will win cash awards of upto Rs2 lakh to be invested in their ventures.
The challenge will have three rounds.
1.Round 1 – Teams will need to submit Impact Proposals online in the format specified.
2.Semi-final round – A maximum of 20 teams selected from Round 1 will go through a 3-week mentorship programme that includes mentorship at the IIMC campus. These teams will pitch to a panel of esteemed judges consisting of social venture capitalists, social entrepreneurs, Tata leaders and faculty from IIMC.
3.The grand finale – From the semi-finalists, a maximum of ten teams will be selected for the grand finale. These teams will pitch to a panel of esteemed judges, consisting of business leaders from Tata group, CEOs / founders of social venture capital funds, social entrepreneurs and faculty from IIMC.
According to Atul Agrawal, vice president, corporate affairs, Tata Services, “The Tata group is known for pioneering ventures, and continuously endeavours to foster leadership and entrepreneurship through various initiatives. In line with the group’s ethos of commitment to society, the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge is a new initiative to recognise promising ventures in the field of social entrepreneurship and provide them with a platform that offers them an opportunity to grow.”
Prof Ashok Banerjee, dean, new initiatives and external relations, IIMC, says, “Responding to societal needs is one of the core institutional values of IIMC. IIMC has always encouraged its students to pursue their interest in entrepreneurship in the social sector and take up the role of flag bearers for innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. The institute expects this initiative to serve as an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to engage themselves in socially-relevant initiatives and also familiarise themselves with the work that various organisations are doing in the social sector in a sustainable manner.”
The challenge will culminate in February 2013 with a summit on social entrepreneurship at IIMC, where the winners will be felicitated. In addition to mentorship, investment opportunities, incubation opportunities and cash awards, during the course of the initiative, the finalists of Tata Social Enterprise Challenge will receive continued support from IIMC, through cells on campus, including the entrepreneurship cell (mentorship support) and INCA (pro-bono consulting).
Tata Social Enterprise Challenge is a unique initiative, undertaken jointly by an educational institution and a business group, to promote the spirit of social entrepreneurship in India. It is being supported by some of the biggest venture capitalists in the social entrepreneurship space like Ennovent, Yunus Business Fund (through Grameen Creative Lab), Acumen Fund and Ankur Capital amongst others.
For more details and updates on Tata Social Enterprise Challenge, log on to: www.tatasechallenge.org/
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