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 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:

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.