ISB iDiya 2012 Offers Funding for Ideas that have Social Impact

The Indian School of Business (ISB) announces ISB iDiya 2012, a nationwide idea competition for working professionals interested in setting up ventures that have the potential to create social impact.  Started by students of the Net Impact Club at the ISB, iDiya has  become a platform for social entrepreneurship with participation from professionals from diverse backgrounds, leading VCs, and some of the best minds from the social sector, since it was launched in 2009.More Support, More Funding

ISB iDiya has been witnessing a steady growth with around 1700 teams registering for the event over the last three years. Encouraged by this growth, institutions such as NABARD, Upaya Social Ventures, Ckinetics, Villgro and Ennovent have committed to provide funding support to these aspiring entrepreneurs. As a result, the total investment opportunity for the ideas selected through ISB iDiya this year has increased to Rs. 1.725 crores.

Every year, the winners have been funded and mentored by some of the prominent names in the industry such as Acumen fund, Intellecap, Unitus capital, Grey Matters Capital, Mumbai Angels, India quotient, Seed Fund, Canaan Partners, Dasra, Unltd India, GVFL, Venture east, Bharti Foundation, Edelgive Foundation, Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at ISB, SONG Advisors and Caspian Advisors.

Ideas that made a Social Impact

The competition seeks to promote scalable and sustainable businesses in the fields of agri-business, health, education, energy, environment, women’s empowerment, disability etc. Last year’s ISB iDiya Challenge winner was ‘SMV Wheels’, a venture based in Varanasi that helps rickshaw pullers to fulfill their dreams to become self employed.

Inviting entrepreneurs aspiring to make a Change

Participation for the 4^th ISB iDiya Challenge is now open. Interested professionals can submit their ideas online at www.isb.edu/iDiya. The last date for submitting the applications is September 30, 2012.

The evaluation of ideas will be based on three main criteria –

• Measurable quantitative and qualitative social impact
• Ease of implementation and economic feasibility of the idea
• Scalability and sustainability of the idea.

The best ideas will be chosen by a panel of venture capitalists, industry leaders, entrepreneurs and ISB faculty. The competition culminates into a fully paid week-long boot camp in the first week of December 2012 at the ISB – an event designed to mentor and refine business plans of the winners, addressing challenges they face and also allow a networking opportunity with VCs and other funding institutions.

This year’s ISB iDiya Challenge is being organised by students of the Class of 2013 at the ISB. The Class comprises of 767 professionals from diverse backgrounds - educational, geographical, ethnic, cultural and social.