ISB to groom social entrepreneurs

The Indian School of Business (ISB) will groom the winning teams from China, Thailand and Singapore for the international finals of the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC).

The Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship (WCED) at the ISB will mentor them to strengthen their business plans by revising their strategy, refocus on the plan and network with people in the relevant industry.

Teams "Doctor Seed" from China and "Verdacure" from Thailand were announced as the winners at the recent Asia Semi Final of the GSVC at the ISB. The competition had 215 registrations with a total of 118 business plans sent in from 25 schools in China, Taipei, Singapore, Dubai and Thailand including India.

"We are proud that the ISB plays an important role in grooming these talented and creative social entrepreneurs of the future", WCED executive director, V Chandrasekar, stated in a press release.

The plan submitted by the Chinese team was on deployment of a plasma seed processor that would result in higher germination rate, resilient plants and higher yields of crops.

The Thai team proposed a project for the production of high quality affordable medicines developed from herbs available in Thailand with an oral care product being the first to be developed.

The award for the most innovative "Social Return on Investment" (SROI) analysis was given to the team from Singapore "Sarvodaya" for its proposal of facilitating cultivation of Aloe Vera in marginalised lands through self-help groups and NGOs, setting up processing facilities, thereby ensuring viability of model and increased income for marginalised farmers.