ISB Announces Results
of the Global Social Venture Competition
Post-event Press-release
The Indian School of Business (ISB)
announced the winners of the Asia Final of the Global Social Venture
Competition held at the ISB.
Team Bio Power Technologies
from Indonesia and Defen Safety Syringe from Taiwan were
the top-two winners of the final round. The SMART Team from Thailand
won a special prize for making a social impact.
"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.
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 South-east 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 bio-diversity 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?�.
A panel discussion on
�Financing Social Ventures: An Investor Perspective�. 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 & Development at Virgin
Unite, the Virgin Group's foray into social enterprise.
The GSVC is a global forum for
entrepreneurs to show-case their plans, and for investors to support
ground-breaking 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.
