IMPunjab incentivises future entrepreneurs through its Monthly Innovation Challenge held at Amritsar

Amritsar, September 9, 2022: Innovation Mission Punjab, a unique private-public partnership that aims to build, empower and act as a catalyst for local startup communities in Punjab, conducted an open idea pitch at GJCEI Incubation Centre, Guru Nanak Dev University. The open idea pitch challenge had 20 shortlisted participants who showcased their potential ideas to the jury.
 
The Mission of the challenge is to build a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship while creating a helpful platform for young entrepreneurs based in Punjab. The participants were given the opportunity to pitch their ideas and discuss their potential plans with the jury members. Through this event the participants also had a chance to network with the members of the community including various stakeholders, mentors and investors from the industries.
 
This edition of MIC witnessed an increase in applicants with startups based on  Social Impact centric Ideas, highlighting a push towards a better future. Waste management was one of the interesting topics. Ideas to manage different types of waste in an efficient and sustainable manner were presented. There were multiple edtech and skill development oriented ideas.
 
The jury for the event consisted of industry experts and a mix of entrepreneurs and startup enablers from the region including Dr.jasveen kaur , Associate professor , University Business School , GNDU, Amritsar, Kanav Kapoor ,Amritsar founder , Dr.Aman Mahajan (Associate Professor, Physics Department GNDU),Gaurav Sharma
 
Out of the hundred applications that were received, top three winners of the open challenge were Manoj & Dhanush Founder & C0 Founder Smart Chest Belt, Aashish Trikha & Arjun Mehra Founder PWISE & Kanav Anand Founder Digi Mall They were granted a cash price of INR 10,000/- each. Sneha Pandey Founder TeaBis was given the best woman entrepreneur award and won a cash prize of INR 10,000/- as well.  All the winners will get an opportunity to be part of the IMPunjab community and have access to the guidance of mentors and incubators. Other than this, the winners are also getting an opportunity to train under pre-existing startups and receive other incentives.
 
Talking about the initiative, Somveer Anand, CEO & Mission Director, IMPunjab said, “ Punjab has abundance of young talent that has a risk-taking spirit in them. IMPunjab is trying to give them an opportunity to present their ideas along with a platform to seek help from world-class mentors and global investors. These entrepreneurs are leveraging different available resources to solve local problems. We are excited to see how these ideas are going to scale up. ”