First Edition of “The Ideators” – a National level startup business plan competition for students, ended in great style with 5 student teams emerging as winners. The Competition and Awards ceremony were held at Jansons School of Business, Coimbatore on Mar 08, 2017.

Jansons School of Business in association with Nativelead Foundation announced the “The Ideators ‘17” for students in early January this year. 50+ entries were received from various parts of the country. Out of these, 21 student entries were shortlisted for the second round (Qualifier round) held on Mar 8, 2017 at the Jansons School of Business, Coimbatore. The final round (Decider round) of the event was also held at the same venue on the same day. Participants were from many reputed institutions across India, including Aligarh Muslim University, NMIMS- Hyderabad, Great Lakes Institute of Management Chennai, IIT Madras, Amrita Coimbatore, Prestige Institute of Management Gwalior, Anna University and TSM Madurai.

A panel discussion on “What it takes to be an Entrepreneur?” was held before the valedictory function. The panel consisted of the following entrepreneurs:

   Mr.Vimal Veereshwarayya, Founder & Director – Innovspace

   Mr.Dhruv Kumar, Founder & CEO – iCliniq

   Mr.Ramesh Chandran, Founder & Director – Anantha & Bio Basics

   Mr.Suresh Radhakrishnan, Founder & Chief Tea Officer – Chaiking

Mr.Sivarajah, Founder President of Nativelead Foundation moderated the panel discussion.

The panelists shared their success stories and provided valuable insights to the budding entrepreneurs and managers. These panel members and Mr. RG Nawin Krishna, Founder – Mindwiz Techno Solutions were the jury for the competition.

Mr. Vanjinath Govindadas, Managing Director, Cotton Concepts was the Chief Guest. He addressed the crowd and shared his thoughts about the need for passion and perseverance for success in entrepreneurial journey.

The team from Great Lakes won the first prize of Rs.50,000.00. Team from Thiagarajar School of Management Madurai won the second prize of Rs.30,000.00 and the IIT-Madras team won the third prize of Rs.20,000.00. Consolation prizes of Rs.10,000.00 each were won by ICAR-NAARM Hyderabad and Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore.

Mr.T.N.Thirukumar, Vice-Chairman, Jansons Foundation presided over the event. The event was attended by Mr.S.Mohan, CEO of Jansons Institutions, students & faculty members of Jansons School of Business.