In India where private equity markets has taken off like anything, angel / seed or early stage investing is still at a very nascent stage despite all the talk, and these business plan competitions help to fill this space and provide much needed platform to stratups to approach investors as otherwise the only way a entrepreneur can reach a VC is by mailing his 10 MB business plan with 60 slides and 10 pages of excel sheet to info@whateverventurefund.com which is never opened as some bored secretary religiously delete these 100 mails per hour.

i2i business plan competition which stated way back in 2001 (incidentally I was involved with i2i in 2001 as a mentor to one of participating team from SPJIMR) has come a long way since in terms of scale, scope and of course prize money or say seedmoney. For more details check out http://www.iimcal.ac.in/i2i/home.htm

Some of important points related to i2i are as follows

How is i2I different from any other b plan competition in the country?

a.i2I’08 is open to students as well as working professionals, a somewhat greater chance of concepts and plans idea to transform into a start up venture.

b. i2i does not just assess the business plan but the team profile and the seriousness and sincerety to actually startup, taking away the academic nature from the contest, to usher in enthusiasm, and serious business

c. i2i does not offer cash prizes to the best business plan but seed investment to the deserving entrepreneurs. The real money comes to you only if you really start up. Entrepreneurship is serious business and i2I means business. As a partner, Seedfund may offer startup investments up to INR 1 Crore and above, to plans which have not gone even into execution mode. With their stellar track record of investments and returns hitherto, we can already see some deals all set to take place at i2I ’08.

d. Typically, in a real startup process, a complete business plan takes time to evolve and requires expert assistance. With i2I, the first and second stage don’t demand a comprehensive business plan and the finalists are coached and mentored extensively by a panel of relevant experts from different walks of life. The resources made available in terms of inputs from our jury panel about their expectations and key parameters shall help students learn to match the level of their working counterparts and stand a real chance to win in the investor marketplace.

The team actually interacts with a judging panel during its second stage, which will be a round of 10 minute presentations. This will be held across 4 cities, and will help in enabling a thorough and systematic filtering process.

Stages of i2I ’08:

Launch of the event: November 24th, 2007

Stage 1: Submission of Executive summary with team profile and statement of purpose

Deadline: December 14th, 2007

Announcement of selected plans: December 31st, 2007

Stage 2: A pitch to a panel of investors in your zone – Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Bangalore

Pitch: January 14th, 15th (in Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi)

Announcement of teams for the Grand Finale: January 16th, 2007

Mentoring: Mentoring of the final 10 teams: January 16th – January 31st.

Stage 3: Grand Finale – A detailed presentation to a panel of investors

Grand Finale: February 1st, 2008

Proto.in. an annual event which showcases startups as well as pre IPO companies to potential investors, partners, has announced nomination process for Proto.in 2007 summer edition.

If you are a Technology start-up, be it in the initial stages, seed funded or planning to go IPO, we are accepting nominations from all across Asia. Proto.in is not just about funding your start-up, rather creating Mindshare for your Products among your clients, potential partners, with industry specialists, veteran entrepreneurs and the mainstream media. The last date for nominations is June 05th 2007.

Proto.in helps startups/ companies to showcase their imagination, with a working prototype, for the world to see. It’s about increasing partnership, collaboration and mindshare among a distinguished, qualified and well-connected audience. Proto.in provides a unique platform for promising startup talent to communicate their creativity and innovation potential. As a meeting place for the smartest entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and professionals, Proto.in stands true to its mantra “Create, Contribute, Collaborate.”

Proto.in Background
During the first edition, Twenty seven companies, selected from more than one hundred nominations that came in, presented their vision and demonstrated their products to an audience which consisted of VCs, potential partners, clients and in some case even have courted potential acquirers.
There were about ten companies which presented during Proto which are courted by three VC firms on average. There were more than a handful of companies that were struggling to get clients and have signed up clients – either with someone who came for the event or with someone outside who heard about the company after Proto, have managed to establish a network of fellow and like-minded entrepreneurs, and gain valuable feedback on the business and product roadmap as they presented.

Second Edition – What’s in store?
The second version of Proto.in has expanded with participating companies from Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China to enable cross-border collaboration in technology and perspectives.

On the investor side, Venture capitalists i.e. Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, Clearstone Ventures, Canaan Partners, NEA-Indo US Ventures, Gabriel Ventures, Mentor Partners, Venture east ,Silicon Valley Bank, Plus Ventures, Matrix Partners, FootPrint Ventures, Bluerun Ventures have already confirmed apart from other Angel investors and Private Equity Firms.
International and Indian Organizations supporting Entrepreneurship and technological innovations such as IAMAI, TiE, TeNeT, ASES, TeDD, Malaysia IDA, Singapore have come forward and extended their support for Proto.in

The Asia Semi-Final of the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) is being organized by the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, on March 9 & 10, 2007. The competition has attracted over 200 social business plans from the Asia – Pacific region. The short listed plans come from countries such as China, Taipei, Singapore, Dubai and Thailand and India. The top three teams from the Asia semi-final will participate in the global finals to be held at Haas Business School in April 2007.

Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister of Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs& Sports and Development of North Eastern Region was the Key Note Speaker. Since he was not able to come; his speech was delivered through a video recording. A Panel Discussion on ‘Business Strategies for Inclusive Growth’ was also held as a part of this event. Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GoI and V Ramchandiran, Chairman, Helios & Matheson spoke during the Inaugural Session.

Talking about the ISB’s role as a mentor, Dr V Chandrasekar, Executive Director, Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurial Development said, “The ISB has been a full-fledged mentor to all competing teams, both from India and other Asian countries. Over the last two years, we have seen a significant improvement in the number and quality of social projects presented at the competition.

Many of the teams mentored by us in the last two years have won various types of resource support and are currently being implemented to make a difference in the world outside. This indicates that we have been fairly successful in sensitizing students to look at social ventures with a business perspective,”

The purpose of the GSVC is to actively support and promote the creation and growth of successful social ventures around the world. It strives to elevate the visibility for the field along with the quality and quantity of new ventures. Each year, GSVC rewards a number of social ventures that are most likely to succeed in accomplishing their financial and social missions. GSVC also works to educate and increase the pool of leaders who can start and grow social ventures.

This year’s short listed plans have a very interesting mix of social plans such as ventures for renewable energy-based community kitchens; enhancing plant and vegetable seed growth using a patented technology; improvement of socio-economic status of artisans; increasing awareness and empowering rural communities etc. The panel of judges comprises representatives from several eminent venture capital funds and faculty drawn from the partner B-Schools.

This competition offers an excellent opportunity for managers, investors and executives to acquaint themselves with highly promising social venture ideas and meet some of the most talented and creative social entrepreneurs of the future. The plans are evaluated based on the following criteria:

* Criticality of the problem
* Uniqueness / attractiveness of the solution proposed
* Feasibility of implementation of the solution
* Profitability of operations
* Social benefits for the target segment(s)
* Social indicators identified and their relevance
* Social return on investment

The GSVC began in 1999 and is a student-led initiative pioneered by the Haas School of Business, Columbia Business School, and the London Business School. The Indian School of Business (ISB) is a full partner – with responsibility of promoting the competition in business schools in Asia, mentoring the teams, and holding the Asia semi-final round. The Chennai-based, Helios & Matheson is this year’s corporate partner.

Eligible companies must:

* Be registered in India as a for-profit business;
* Have operations based in India;
* Operate in one of the following sectors:

1. Agriculture/ Organic Products
2. Clean technologies
3. Eco-tourism/ Hospitality
4. Energy Efficiency/ Renewable Energy
5. Green Building Materials
6. Rapidly Renewable Materials
7. Resources, Reuse & Recycling
8. Advance Technologies for Water Management

The first annual Call for Business Plans for New Ventures India is open until April 15, 2007. New Ventures India will select at least ten finalists that deliver innovative, environmental benefits and are financially viable. Selected finalists will receive pro bono mentoring to improve the business plan to present at the first annual New Ventures India Investor Forum, October 9-11, 2007, in Mumbai.

For more details Click here.

About New Venture India
In late 2005, WRI and the CII-Godrej Green Business Center launched New Ventures India through a Global Development Alliance partnership with USAID. New Ventures India is a center of sustainable entrepreneurship, specially designed to meet the needs of Indian sustainable entrepreneurs and help them overcome common business challenges to deliver environmental and social benefits as well as economic development and opportunity.

The details of business plan as given on IITD website are as follows :

BUSINESS FOCUS
The business/venture should focus on product development based on technological innovation or a novel application of developed/well researched technology. Social Impact of such technology is also an area that could be explored by the participants.
In brief if you are a techie with a business plan, don’t miss this chance.

Learn about various technological start-ups at IIT, Delhi.

RULES
# Each Team can have a maximum of 3 members
# One member of each team must be a student
# Team members can be from different departments, streams and level of study
# One person can be part of at most one team
# Each team can submit any number of proposals
# The proposed business plan should not be in violation of any intellectual property rights

DEADLINES
# Submission of Executive Summary : 7th February, 2007.
# Shortlist of Semi-Finalists : 10th February, 2007
# Submission of business plan : 17th February, 2007
# Final Presentations : 23rd-25th February, 2007 (Exact details to be specified later)

GUIDELINES
The cover page should contain the name of all team numbers along with their email-ids and contact numbers.

* Executive Summaries
o Maximum two pages excluding the cover page
o Font details: Times New Roman, Size 12
o Single Line spacing
* Executive Summary includes
o Description of the Business Concept and the Business
o The Opportunity and Strategy
o The Target Market and Projections
o The Competitive Advantages
o Costs
o The Economics, Profitability and Harvest Potential
o The Team
o The Offering
o Your mission/vision/objectives
* Final Business Plan
o Plans must be limited to 20 pages of text
o Font details : Times New Roman, Size 12
o Single Line Spacing and 1” margins on all sides)
o Graphs and Sheets attached as appendix must be limited to a max of 5 pages. In total any business plan must be restricted to 25 pages with plan restricted to maximum of 20 pages.
o Recommended Format for the Business Plan. Download here.
* All submissions must be in doc or pdf format and should be mailed to bplan@tryst07.com

JUDGING CRITERIA
Judges will be asked to evaluate the plans based upon their likelihood of actually becoming the basis of a viable business; or, in the case of an entrepreneurial venture, the likelihood of making a meaningful contribution to the existing business.

This consideration, will include factors such as
# The degree of creativity and innovation embodied in the basic opportunity definition and business concept
# The appropriateness of the strategy for exploiting the opportunity
# The reasonableness of the plan for financing the business
# The team’s ability to actually implement the plan.

Note that while the contest is referred to as a “Business Plan Contest,” it is really about the commercial merit of the proposed new venture. The judges evaluate the plans not as documents per se, but as visions for a potential new venture and, as such, focus on the idea, its potential for economic success and the likelihood of achieving that success based upon the team’s plan and experience. Naturally, the more concrete the plan – all else being equal – the better.

Shortlisting of teams would be on the basis of their executive summary.

PRIZES
The top three business plans as judged by the judging committee will be awarded cash prizes.

Whether you go on to implement your business plan or not, your experience will be an exciting, challenging, and rewarding one. We look forward to reading your business plans and hope that this contest will play a part in the success of any entrepreneurial venture you may be involved with during your career”