Eureka! is the International Business plan competition organized by IIT Bombay. It aims to create value in the ecosystem as per its belief that entrepreneurs are the ones who will take India and the world to the next level.

With a total prizes worth INR 2.4 million, legal and financial consultancy services, intensive mentoring and an online platform to provide solutions to participants’ queries, Eureka! promotes the best business ideas through various incentives. It’s not just a business plan competition, wherein people only submit their business plans and take away the prize money. It is an entrepreneur’s journey from an executive summary to an actual start-up. The competition is open to all and sees participants from different strata like working professionals, B-schools, Technological Institutes, IITs, NITs and even Medical & Law schools. » Continue reading “Eureka! Asia’s Largest Business Plan Competition”

By Deepti Chadda, Senior Associate, Intellecap

A few decades ago when Joe Madiath started Gram Vikas, he was labeled a “social activist,” a type of rebel. Today, he and other entrepreneurs have become lynchpins in the social enterprise sector. In the ’80s, social entrepreneurship was a concept in the making; now it’s at a pivotal point. Many entrepreneurs presented their visions of the sector’s future at the Villgro Unconvention 2010. » Continue reading “Villgro Unconvention 2010: The Future of Social Entrepreneurship”

We are happy to be teaming up as a media partner with Villgro for their UNCONVENTION this week in Chennai. As part of the Villgro Awards, Beyond Profit is in the running in the Media Category. We’re up against DARE and India Today for the media house that covers social entrepreneurship the best. Wish us luck!

Meera Seshadri from Villgro shares her views on the importance of building the rural development ecosystem and why the UNCONVENTION will be a pathbreaking event.

It’s quite a heavy-handed statement to call your first-ever conference the ‘UNCONVENTION.’ Talk about pressure. The expectations and hopes that lie in the details of the day, not to mention in the days that follow, are paramount. But that’s what makes Villgro so special. We’re ready to take on the social entrepreneurship and innovation sectors in a BIG way – we don’t want to take baby steps, we want to make huge efforts to shed light on the ecosystem in a way that has never been done before. And we hope we can create a revolution.

Villgro is bringing something new to the table with the UNCONVENTION. Though there have been numerous forums in India where either innovation or social entrepreneurship have been discussed and knowledge has been shared, there has been no single forum that has addressed both of these ideas – and has brought in the most important element – the rural poor. India houses 70% of her population in her villages. Villgro, with its 9 years of experience in linking innovation, social entrepreneurship, and the rural poor, realizes that they cannot be left behind in the revolution. » Continue reading “The Unconvention”