Deadline: 16 December 2021
The Tata Social Enterprise Challenge is inviting social entrepreneurs who have an early-stage venture (not older than three years) or a promising idea with a plan that could create sustainable social impact in India. In addition, the enterprise is required to demonstrate significant social impact through results or proof of concept.
The Tata Social Enterprise Challenge is a joint initiative of the Tata Group with the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) started in 2012. The Challenge (B-Plan Contest) endeavors to identify, reward & support India’s most promising early-stage social enterprises, and create an ecosystem for social entrepreneurship – encouraging sustainable, scalable, and measurable social impact.
The Tata Social Enterprise Challenge is being supported by some of the biggest Venture Capitalists in the Social Entrepreneurship space.
Focus Areas
Business plans for the competition will be invited for all sectors including the following focus areas
- Agriculture, Food and Dairy
- Healthcare, Water and Sanitation
- Technology and Development
- Education
- Housing
- Handicrafts
- Energy
- Microfinance/Financial Inclusion
Rewards
- Incubation: The teams which make it to the grand finale will be given an opportunity to apply for incubation at IIM Calcutta Innovation Park.
- Seed Fund: Teams shortlisted for the Semi-Finals will have an opportunity to pitch for Seed Funding of upto Rs 1 Crore (subject to fulfilling investment criteria and completion of final due diligence).
- Mentorship: Mentoring support will be provided to all short-listed teams through a virtual Bootcamp before the Semi-Final Round.
- Pitching Opportunity: All teams shortlisted for the Semi-Final Round will have an opportunity to pitch to some of India’s largest Impact Investors for further seed funding.
Eligibility Criteria
- They encourage teams who have an existing venture or have an idea that can create sustainable social impact to apply in the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge.
- In order to be eligible to apply and participate, all teams must meet the following criteria:
- The team can be represented in the competition by a maximum of two members
- There is no restriction on the age or background for applicants
- If the submission is an idea, a proof of concept (E.g. prototype) is required.
- If the submission is a venture, the venture must not have been in existence for more than four years
- The entries received will be recognized by the “name” of the venture/idea
- The applicants may or may not be Indian Nationals, however, the social venture should be aimed at creating social impact in India.
- Enterprises that were selected as Semi-finalists in previous year’s Tata Social Enterprise challenge will not be eligible for selection
Stages
The Challenge is held in five stages
- Application Round – In this round, teams are required to submit Impact Proposals through the Challenge website. The Impact Proposal is a detailed business plan format developed to capture the needs and the impact created by a social venture. The Top 100 Impact Proposals are selected for the next round.
- Regional Rounds – Pitching Rounds are conducted in 5 regions across the country for the Top 100 teams shortlisted from the application round. The Top 20 teams are selected for the Semi-Final round.
- International Round – An exclusive pitching session is conducted for the international teams participating in the Challenge, out of which the Top 4 teams are selected for the Semi-Finals.
- Semi Final Round – The Top 24 teams selected from the Regional and International Rounds, are invited to pitch to a panel of esteemed judges from the entrepreneurship ecosystem. The Top 12 teams are selected for the next round.
- The Grand Finale – The12 teams selected from the Semi Final Round make it to the Grand Finale and pitch to a panel of esteemed judges, consisting of TATA Business Leaders, CEOs/Founders of VCs, Social Entrepreneurs and faculty from IIM Calcutta.
For more information, visit TATA Social Enterprise Challenge.