Ideas sprung up galore at the global social venture competition recently organised by the ISB. In all, there are 18 ideas looking for support from venture captalists (VCs).
Consider these cases in point. One team suggested using laser beams to change the traffic signal in real-time to save time and fuel; another suggested setting up a digital bridge to convert text messages into sign languages to communicate with the differently-abled; and one team felt hygiene could be promoted by supplying low-cost sanitary napkins. Another team saw a business opportunity in managing the databases of NGOs and others.
Lighting Lives, a concept from ISB students to market LED lamps, which incidentally won a prize money of $1,000 (around Rs 50,000) based on the votes from the audience, predicts a social return on investment (SROI) of $2.14 for every $1 invested. Prathiba Venkatesan, one of the team members of this project, says the product would be marketed through NGOs and self-help groups. The business would be funded through an initial investment of $2,20,000 (about Rs 1.1 crore) and would be self sustaining. According to her, the project would have an NPV of $1.4 million over a five-year period. Another team from ISB is proposing to use social networks to create a mobile-based platform to connect people in real time for sharing transportation. It promised to increase the capacity utilisation of personal cars, taxis and cargo. According to Amit, one of the team members, it would start its operations in Hyderabad and soon extend its footprint on the global map.
The participants not only included students from the Indian School of Business (ISB), but also some from BITS Pilani, and a few from as far as China and Taiwan.
ISB, on its part, plans to nurture select ideas into business propositions by offering mentoring services and access to resources. For instance, a team from Hong Kong University proposed to use the play pen for lifting water from the borewell. This would come in handy as there is no need for power to lift water. Parchi Saini, a team member, says the swing and the sea-saw are twice as efficient and the users would save about 3-4 hours a day and that would translate into 24 per cent increased earnings. And more importantly they substitute the expensive diesel pumps.
Likewise, students from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai want to promote bicycle usage in Mumbai metropolitan region by starting a high-end bicycle rental network for short distances in closed communities.
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The venture would need about Rs 14 lakh investment. The rentals from the bicycles and revenues from the advertisements put up on the bicycles make the project self-sustaining.
Director of Student Projects at the ISB, Subramania Sarma, says some venture capitalists (VCs) are keen on financing some social ventures. The ventures would give professional touch in executing otherwise simple ideas. "The idea may not be new but the teams promise to take their implementation to a new level''.