The Students Entrepreneurship Cell ‘Venture’ of IIM Kozhikode, in collaboration with Kerala Venture Capital Fund, hosted its first business plan contest, “Idea 2006” on the 21^st and 22^nd of January at the IIM Kozhikode campus.

With Rs.2 lacs worth of prizes on offer, the competition attracted over 300 entries in the initial stage. The finals witnessed teams from ISB, IIM Calcutta, FMS, IIM Lucknow, SPJIMR, XIME and MDI squaring off against each other. The business plans were based on all kinds of themes, from incorporating the latest in digital image recognition to online tax consulting and filing, promoting branded Khadi to medical tourism.

The two-day event witnessed the teams making ‘Elevator Pitches’ (A sales pitch that’s short enough to be done while riding in an elevator with a possible VC) and presentations on the first day. Five teams were subsequently shortlisted for the second round. Plans were evaluated based on feasibility, sustainability, market potential, exit strategies and evaluation of critical risks.

With the Kerala Venture Capital Fund using the finals as a possible starting point for funding, the finals saw heated competition between two teams from ISB, Hyderabad, one team from MDI, a team from VGSOM – IIT Kharagpur and another from SPJIMR.

The winning entry ‘ALTECH’ from ISB, aimed to serve customer needs for enhanced security, identity validation and customer service by providing a product for access control, access monitoring, and customer recognition. Their product used a combination of artificial intelligence and neural networks to perform real time and non-invasive face recognition. Besides winning the cash prize of Rs. 1.5 lakhs the team shall in the near future be evaluated for venture funding by the Kerala Venture Capital Fund.

The second place entry, ‘Ecologic’ from MDI, focused on e-waste management and the need to make it safer for the stakeholders and the environment. EcoLogic offered the chance to its clients to align with global standards and distance themselves from practices like child labour and toxic dumping which can become a liability in the future.

The eminent panel of Judges included Mr. Subash Warrier, Founder and CEO, vFortress Security Pvt Limited (Which is the market leader in the IP VPN segment in India), Mr. Satish C. Dutt. Founder and President, EcommIT Inc and Dr. Saji Gopinath, Professor, IIM Kozhikode.

The event was sponsored by Kerala Venture Capital Fund, vFortress Security Pvt. Ltd and Accel Ltd.