Business plans get IIT-B fillip

Saurabh Gupta, a student of Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow, whose team is working on health care solutions for the elderly, could get a good grip on how to make their plan more viable, thanks to the mentors’ meet organised by the Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) of IIT Bombay on Sunday.

The mentoring, by industry experts, was made available to the top 50 finalists of Eureka, an international business plan competition being organised by the institute’s E-Cell. “The session was held so that experts from various sectors can gauge the participants’ progress and help in refining and streamlining their business models, besides giving them an opportunity to network with leading industry professionals,” said Mayank Mangal, E-Cell coordinator.

Around 25 teams participated in the meet. The ideas are diverse and include education through cartoons in order to make learning more effective, solar energy storage solutions for corporate/malls, making biodiesel from used cooking oil, and privatising water supply by setting up desalination plants across the coastline, among others.

Amit Grover from Mumbai Angels, who mentored some participants, said while the ideas were interesting, there were certain gaps, and teams were asked to focus on market and consumer research before product development. “We told them about ways to make their plan more viable and advised them on financial modeling,” said Nilesh Gandhi, general manager, treasury, ACG Worldwide.

Eureka has a prize money of Rs50 lakh. The business plan will have to be submitted by December-end, and results will be out in January.