ISB announces results of the global social venture competition

“With Asian markets poised to grow exponentially, the GSVC aspires to promote entrepreneurship in this region, especially entrepreneurship that is socially and environmentally responsible” said, Reuben Abraham, faculty at the ISB and Director of the Base of the Pyramid Learning Lab in India.

Winning plans:

Bio Power Technologies, Prasetiya Mulya Business School, Indonesia: The plan addresses the electricity shortage in Indonesia. It involves local farmers and communities and uses agricultural waste to create electricity, thus creating business sustainability as well as social and financial return on investment.

Defen Safety Syringe, National Chengchi University, Taiwan: It will address the issues of injection-caused diseases and improve medical safety by providing a safe injection concept. They provide easy-to-use and cost-effective safety syringes to Europe and Asia and other target countries.

SMART, Thammasat University, Thailand: The project will train 5000 economically disadvantaged young adults from coastal communities in Southeast Asia with expert diving and environmental conservation skills. Graduates of the Smart training program will lead dive tours, and provide critical environmental services for maintaining underwater reefs, which are valuable sources of biodiversity and tourism

On the inaugural day, Honourable Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh spoke on ‘Being the common man’s Commerce Minister’. Rabin Dhoble, Director, Helios & Matheson North America made a special presentation on ‘Innovative CSR – How can India Inc make a difference?’ Also, a panel discussion on ‘Financing Social Ventures: An investor perspective’ was held. On the panel were Arun Diaz of Aavishkar Venture Fund; Don Mohanlal, CEO of the Khemka Foundation; Karthik Muthuswamy, Country Head of Elliott, a large global hedge fund; Varun Sahni, Country Director of the Acumen Fund; and Priya Bery, Director of Strategy and Development at Virgin Unite, the Virgin Group’s foray into social enterprise.

The GSVC is a global forum for entrepreneurs to showcase their plans, and for investors to support groundbreaking social ventures. It began in 1999 as a student-led initiative at the Haas School of Business in California, USA. In July 2005, the ISB was invited as an affiliate, and has, since the last two years, hosted the Asia Round of the Competition. The Asia Finals at the ISB was partnered with Helios & Matheson.

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