There is no dearth of the entrepreneurial zeal among today’s youngsters. It is important to nurture this inclination to make it grow into a framework of bigger magnitude while aligning this innovative bend of passion into the right direction. Fortune Institute of International Business (FIIB), with the goal of providing a superior atmosphere and supporting the cause organized Meraki 2014- the 3rd edition of the Pan Asian B-Plan Competition on 17th and 18th January 2014. Meraki has remained a perfect platform for student entrepreneurs to win seed funding for their dream ventures.

Teams from leading Institutions like SP Jain, IIMs, IMI, FORE, IITs and more had registered and sent across their B-plans to participate in Meraki. The submitted Business Plans encompassed a mixed range of topics ranging from subjects like healthcare to music; weddings to transportation adding variety to the competition. After the preliminary selection, top ten teams representing IIM Indore, IMI Delhi, NSIT, FIIB, Jamia Milia Islamia, SCIT Pune, FORE, Goa Institute of Management, NIAM Jaipur, Army Institute of Technology, D.J. Sanghvi College of Engineering presented their plans in front of seasoned venture capitalists from Mayfield, AsiaBridge, Lightspeed Ventures and Capital 18 on 17th January 2014. This was followed by a grinding question answer session by the Panel resulting in deeper insight in every project. The eminent judges shared their valuable feedback on improving the submitted plans making them more launch-worthy. This interactive session was received well by the participants, who expressed their excitement about the takeaways from the program.

“We cannot wait to get back home and research more on our project and launch it soon. The judges helped us identify some loopholes in our project like cost estimates and lack of research and we are excited to work on the project and make it a success” – stated the members of the Team representing Goa Institute of Management.

The Winners were declared after the Judges had a tough time finalizing the Top 3. “The judges literally had a fist fight while deciding the winners. It was so difficult!” announced an overwhelmed Mr. Manish Kheterpal, Judge- Meraki 2014.

Here is the list of the 3 Winners of Meraki 2014, who were awarded fellowships worth Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 50,000 respectively.

1st Prize: Elixir Biomedical (D.J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Mumbai)

2nd Prize: Weddings R Us (Fortune Institute of International Business, Delhi)

3rd Prize: Eccentrics (Goa Institute of Management, Goa)

All the teams who presented at Meraki have been promised guidance and mentor-ship by the Judges to help launch their projects. This indeed makes FIIB Meraki a unique platform. Check out more highlights here.