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Social Entrepreneurship is considered one of the best forms of entrepreneurship where the purpose of business is not the sole profit but to benefit the community as a whole.
Here is the list of top Social Entrepreneurship competition:
Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC):
The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) empowers the next generation of social entrepreneurs by providing them with mentoring, exposure, and over $80,000 in prizes to transform their ideas into ventures that address the world’s most pressing challenges. Teams from across the globe learn how to design scalable models through a process that emphasizes stakeholder discovery, business innovation, and social impact assessment.
Founded by MBA students at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1999, the GSVC has evolved into a global network of premier business schools, universities, and programs in the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Each partner school and the program is supported by a network that includes other universities and organizations, judges, mentors, and investors focused on social impact, innovation, and entrepreneurship. In 2017, GSVC received over 600 entries from 65 countries. GSVC has helped launch successful social ventures such as Revolution Foods, d.light, Husk Power, Ethos Water, Sanergy, and World of Good.
ARAB startup competition:
MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition (ASC) is a yearly competition initiated by the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab since 2006. This annual competition is designed to empower entrepreneurs and foster an eco-system of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Arab Region. ASC pits entrepreneurs in three different tracks: Ideas, Startups and Social Entrepreneurship Track. The winning teams are awarded 120,000 USD in equity free fund and benefit from a range of other activities including top tier trainings, mentorship, coaching, media exposure and great networking opportunities.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
- Each team should have at least two members
- The team should have a working product/service addressing a social challenge with a For-Profit model
- The startup should be legally registered in an Arab country or Registered abroad and operating in an Arab Country
- The startup should be generating yearly revenues
- The startup should not have raised funding above 1,500,000 USD
- The startup should be in any Tech or Digital industry.
Tata Social Enterprise challenge:
The Tata Social Enterprise Challenge is a joint initiative of the Tata Group with the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) started in 2012. The Challenge endeavors to find India’s most promising early-stage social enterprises, and create an ecosystem for social entrepreneurship – encouraging sustainable, scalable, and measurable social impact.
The Business plan contest (B-Plan Contest) invites social entrepreneurs who have an early stage venture (not older than three years) or a promising idea with a plan that could create sustainable social impact in India. In addition, the enterprise is required to demonstrate significant social impact through results or proof of concept.
The Tata Social Enterprise Challenge is being supported by some of the biggest Venture Capitalists in the Social Entrepreneurship space.
The B-Plan Contest has Four stages:
- Impact Proposal Round – In this round, teams will need to submit an ‘Impact Proposal’ through our website. Impact proposal is a detailed business plan format that we have developed to capture the needs and the impact created by any social venture.
- Regional Rounds – This year we have introduced one more phase in the selection of the Top 20 teams, where we will first shortlist the Top 100 teams and then conduct Regional rounds (in 4 zones) with pitching sessions to identify the Top 20 semi-finalists.
- Semi-Finals – On clearing the pitching at the regional rounds, a maximum of twenty teams will be invited to pitch to a panel of esteemed judges consisting of Social VCs, Social Entrepreneurs, and faculty from IIM Calcutta.
- The Grand Finale – A maximum of ten teams will be selected for the Grand Finale and will pitch to a panel of esteemed judges, consisting of TATA Business Leaders, CEOs/Founders of Social VCs, Social Entrepreneurs and faculty from IIM Calcutta.
European Social Innovation Competition:
The European Commission asks competitors to solve a challenge they announce each year for the competition.
Hult Prize:
“The Hult Prize is a start-up accelerator for social entrepreneurship which brings together the brightest college and university students from around the globe to solve the world’s most pressing issues.” The annual initiative awards up to $1M of funding and the opportunity to meet President Bill Clinton.
iDiya:
iDiya is ISB’s Social Venture Competition. It was conceived in 2009 at the Indian School of Business by the Net Impact Club of ISB. Within six years, iDiya has come up as a promising platform for dynamic entrepreneurs with a social bent, from around the world to showcase their ideas to enthusiastic partners. Our 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. 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.
To get an idea on how iDiya is helping in shaping up the future of the world, please take a look at the past success Stories.
What’s it about?
iDiya’s main objectives are:
- Encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the social space
- Be a platform for showcasing commercially viable, self-sustaining social business ideas in India
- Provide mentoring, access to incubation and angel funds to convert the ideas into reality
European Social Innovation Competition:
A €150,000 challenge prize by the European Commission to solve a specific challenge announced each year.
TFF Challenge:
A challenge to develop projects addressing impending world food shortages. Winners can receive “up to $25,000 in cash prizes, and maybe selected to participate in the TFF Bootcamp, an intense, 10-week startup training which culminates at the TFF Global Summit.”
Each one has different rules and eligibility requirements, but you’ll likely find one appropriate for your needs and venture.
BeChangeMaker 2018:
The finalists of the competition are invited to the live pitch finale in Amsterdam. Top ranking teams receive seed funding.
Duke Competitions:
This is a resource to find multiple competitions Duke offers such as the Duke Start-Up Challenge and the ChangeWorks competition.
Competitions can help you not only if you win or place in some way earning you funding, but also beneficial because of the friendships and networks you can build while participating in these events.
Eureka!:
Courtesy: link
- Organized By: IIT Mumbai
- Primary Motive: It bridges the gap between innovation and entrepreneurship.
- Eligibility: Start-ups with less than two years of their establishment are eligible. There are few other eligibilties too.
- Procedure: 4 rounds; Online Registration, Questionnaire Round, Business Model Round and Pitching Round.
- Prize: Rewards the winners with prizes worth INR 5 Million with incubation opportunities. Provides excellent networking in India and the Silicon Valley. Mentorship and a large variety of consultancy services to be offered.
- Website: http://www.ecell.in/eureka/
It is Asia’s largest Business Model Competition which has been accredited by reputed companies like Thomson Reuters and CNN. This B-Plan Competition has supported many startups with the motive of bringing a bright revolution in the society, one such social enterprise is Greensole.
Cloud Social Investment (CSI) Challenge 2016:
- Organized By: ARUN
- Primary Motive: To solve social issues across Asia by promoting investments from Japanese companies.
- Eligibility: Social start-up (can be for-profit or hybrid) within 5 years of operation. Religious/political organizations or scholarships/research-based projects are not eligible.
- Procedure: 4-phase; application period, document selection, online presentation session and final selection. The winner will be announced on the website.
- Prize: Up to $50,000 investment and mentorship from ARUN’s partners and investors.
- Website: http://arunseed.jp/en/csi_challenge_2016
ARUN is an organization funded by Japanese and corporate partners. It aims to build “meaningful money” so, that poverty rate can be reduced. This challenge focuses on sectors like health, water, agriculture, energy, gender and education, etc.
New Venture Competition:
- Organized By: Harvard Business School (HBS)
- Primary Motive: To support Harvard graduates who carry ideas which can bring positive change inthe society.
- Eligibility: HBS MBA student/current Center for Public Leadership Fellow / Full-time Harvard graduate enrolled in specific courses as mentioned on the website
- Procedure: Register online, develop your idea during the course with the help of feedback from judges and attend the finale.
- Prize: $50,000 to the winner, $25,000 to the runner-up and the rest in kind.
- Website: http://www.hbs.edu/newventurecompetition/Pages/default.aspx
It is a Harvard Business School’s annual competition which is sponsored by HBS’s Rock Centre for Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise Initiative. The Social Enterprise Track is a competition under which Harvard graduates come up with Business Plans which can bring revolution in the society. For more information, you can view the profile of the 2014 winner, Saathi.
Wharton India Startup Competition:
- Organized By: Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF)
- Primary Motive: To promote entrepreneurship in India among startups with a business idea or business model featuring products and/or services targeting the Indian social market.
- Eligibility: Pre-seed, Seed, Early-stage/ growth startups can apply.
- Procedure: Competition entries will be pre-screened by a panel of experts, followed by shortlisting of semi-finalists and ultimately, finalists.
- Prize: Cash prizes of over $25,000 along with 150 hours of free legal advice, as well as the mentorship of up to 4 months and exclusive media coverage by channels like CNBC TV18.
- Website: http://www.whartonindia.com/startup.html
The Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) is one of the largest and most revered business and economic conferences in the world. The 21st Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) is hosting the prestigious Startup Competition for the fourth year in a row, not specifically to promote just social entrepreneurship but all kinds of entrepreneurs in general. Ketto was declared winner of 2016.
Masterplan:
Courtesy: link
- Organized By: IIM Ahmedabad
- Primary Motive: Masterplan promises not to leave any great idea unexplored.
- Eligibility: Existing companies and startups, as well as those teams with a unique idea for a business enterprise or a social venture.
- Procedure: 4 rounds; Executive Summary, Video Pitch, Business Plan and Final Presentation.
- Prize: Prizes haven’t been clearly mentioned for 2016 but you can draw a rough idea from the prize money of Masterplan 2014 which was Rs. 5,00,000 for the winners.
- Website: http://iima-masterplan.in/
Vishishth:
Courtesy: link
- Organized By: IIT-Delhi
- Primary Motive: Aims to encourage the spirit of “ideate, innovate and implement”.
- Eligibility: Idea stage startups by students mostly, with atleast one team member being enrolled in any educational institution of India.
- Procedure: Participants shall submit executive summaries initially and shortlisted few shall deliver presentations, after being mentored by an expert panel.
- Prize: Not mentioned!
- Website: http://www.edc-iitd.org/
IIT-Delhi’s Entrepreneurship and Development Cell is quite active in promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship among students, especially so with its flagship Business Plan Competition “Vishishth”.
Conquest:
- Organized By: BITS Pilani
- Primary Motive: To help startups raise funds and pitch their ideas in an interactive session with potential investors.
- Procedure: Networking and Pitching takes place in the venue, after which finalists are decided.
- Prize: The investors connected to the competition are readily willing to pay upto Rs. 40 million.
- Website: http://conquest.org.in/
The E-Cell of Birla Institute of Technological Science, Pilani invites students to submit their unique startup propositions in their annual start-up challenge named Conquest.
Eximius:
Courtesy: link
- Organized By: IIM-Bangalore
- Primary Motive: To provide a platform for launching yourself and get started on your path to glory.
- Eligibility: Students pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate degree as well as startups in the initial stages.
- Procedure: Three rounds comprising of an elevator pitch, B-plan presentation and the final selection.
- Prize: The winners take home up to 40 lakh rupees of funding in the form of equity investment and certificates along with exclusive media coverage.
- Website: http://eximius-iimb.com/
Among the top management schools in the country, IIM Bangalore boosts of one of the most active entrepreneurship cells. Eximius is their annual festival that covers various facets of entrepreneurship while Next Big Idea is their business plan competition that aims to create a community of students who become job providers rather than job seekers in India. This year, IIM-B has partnered with Colours Infinity and NSRCEL.
There are many other Business Plan Competitions which are organized every year. To know more about different kinds of competitions, visit BPC. You can also visit Impactpreneurs to explore social enterprises working across different sectors.
If we are missing some good competition in our list feel free to comment below so that we can add in our list to benefit every social entrepreneur in the making.
Cheers!
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