Deadline: 31-Mar-23
Applications are now open for the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge, a joint initiative of the TATA Sons with the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C).
The Challenge (B-Plan Contest) endeavours to identify, reward and support India’s most promising early-stage social enterprises, and create an ecosystem for social entrepreneurship – encouraging sustainable, scalable, and measurable social impact.
The Challenge invites social entrepreneurs who have an early-stage venture (not older than three years) or a promising idea with a plan that could create a 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 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 & Skill Development
- Housing
- Handloom & Handicrafts
- Energy
- Microfinance/Financial Inclusion
Award Details
- Cash Reward
- Cash reward upto Rs. 10 Lakhs for the winner, 1st and 2nd Runner-ups
- 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 Final will have an opportunity to pitch for Seed Funding of up to Rs 1 Crore (subject to fulfilling investment criteria and completion of final due diligence).
- Capacity Building Programs, Mentoring & Business Support
- Knowledge sessions, mentoring, pilot/market connect and collaboration opportunities will be provided to all shortlisted teams for the Final Round.
- Pitching Opportunity
- All teams shortlisted for the Final Round will have an opportunity to pitch to some of India’s largest Impact Investors for further seed funding.
Incubation Support
- The finalists of the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge would be eligible for Incubation at IIM Calcutta Innovation Park. IIM Calcutta Innovation Park is a Section 8 company established under the aegis of IIM Calcutta to promote Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The mission of IIM Calcutta Innovation Park is aligned with the mission of IIM Calcutta to “develop innovative and ethical future leaders capable of managing change and transformation in a globally competitive environment and to advance the theory and practice of management”.
- IIM Calcutta Innovation Park provides both physical and virtual incubation. The incubation programme offers the following facilities/benefits to the incubatees:
- Dedicated Mentorship: IIM Calcutta Innovation Park’s mentor pool comprises IIM Calcutta Alumni, Faculty. Entrepreneurs and investors with expertise in different domains.
- Funding Connect: IIM Calcutta Innovation Park endeavours to connect incubatees to various funding sources including funding schemes floated by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (in association with investors), funding partners, Government seed/venture funds, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park aims at organizing seed funding for all it’s incubatees and ensuring successful exit in an 18–24-month time frame.
- Plug and Play workspace: IIM Calcutta Innovation Park offers a plug-and-play office facility including an internet, printing and conferencing facility for its incubatees.
- Support Services: IIM Calcutta Innovation Park facilitates Legal, Secretarial, IT Infrastructure support, HR & Payroll, and Travel and Logistics services provided by competent service providers at preferential rates.
- IIM CALCUTTA Student Support: IIM Calcutta Innovation Park facilitates engagement with IIM Calcutta students for its incubatees who help entrepreneurs in solving some of the challenges faced by them.
- Knowledge Sessions: For its incubatees, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park conducts free Training programs on various aspects of entrepreneurship at the IIM Calcutta campus.
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 of 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 a social impact in India.
- Enterprises that were selected as Semi-finalists in the previous year’s Tata Social Enterprise challenge will not be eligible for selection
- International entries will not be qualified to pitch for seed funding and incubation support
Judging Criteria
The Judges will review and evaluate the Impact Proposals of all the teams using the following criteria:
- The Business Model
- Innovation and uniqueness offered by the business model
- Clarity of the business model
- Financial feasibility of the business model
- The Social Impact
- Nature of the metric used for measuring social impact
- Quantifiable potential and social impact created (if applicable)
- Empowerment of stakeholders involved
- Sustainability
- Scalability of the business model
- Feasibility of implementation plan
- Clarity of vision, social and financial objectives
- Quality of the management team
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 4 regions across the country for the Top 100 teams shortlisted from the application round. The Top 20 teams are selected for the 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 Finals.
- Seed Round- The top 20 selected entrepreneurs from the Regional Round pitch to the TSEC Seed Committee Members and the impact investors from the startup ecosystem.
- The Grand Finale – The 20 teams selected from the Regional Rounds 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 Sons.