Search for India’s promising social enterprises

The Tata Group announced the commencement of the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2015-16, a joint initiative with the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) on Monday, to find India’s most promising early-stage social enterprises. Teams who either have an early stage venture (not older than 3 years) or a promising idea with a plan for sustainable social impact, can submit their plans online, by logging onto www.tatasechallenge.org.

The ventures will be judged on three parameters - Business Model, Social Impact and Sustainability. Atul Agrawal, vice president, corporate affairs, Tata Services said, “We are pleased to launch the fourth edition of the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge, which has become a unique initiative in the social entrepreneurship space.”

Speaking on the significance of the initiative, he said, “Through its multiple platforms–regional seminars, roundtables and online resources – the initiative aims to promote the ethos of giving back to society. The enthusiastic response received has motivated us to expand the initiative continuously in order to encourage enterprising minds in their journey of creating positive social impact.”

Some of the qualifying ventures of the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge, which have been incubated at the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) are ‘Doctors For You’, ‘SwitchON-ONergy’, ‘Edwell Solutions’, ‘Bodhi Health Education’ and ‘Ultrasafe Ultrasound’.Tata Social Enterprise Challenge first started in the year 2012 to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship and has received about 500 entries till date for this year. It is being supported by some of the most prominent Venture Capitalists in the social entrepreneurship space.