AKA Hyderabad students win at IE University's "Venture Day Mumbai 2018"

Advait Surana and Aman Nurani of grade 12 were awarded IE University’s Venture Lab award for the best ‘junior business plan’ and won Rs.50,000 in prize money, as well as a scholarship to study any programme of their choice from IE University, Spain. Advait and Aman’s business plan centred on extracting oil from plastic. They were assisted by their classmates Nabil Patel and Rudra Aryan, who had attended the Ryerson DMZ Basecamp in Canada in summer 2018, in refining their strategy. 

Venture Day, organised by IE University in Mumbai on Sunday 23th November 2018, provided a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs from the top schools in India to showcase their ideas in front of industry experts and venture capitalists who analysed the viability of the projects and selected a winner. The aim was to foster the entrepreneurial ecosystem in India, connect the potential best startups, investors, corporations, accelerators and thought-leaders. 

“Firstly, congratulations on winning the competition!” wrote Namita Thitta, (Assistant Managing Director, IE India & South Asia Rep Office) to Advait and Aman. “It was a pleasure hosting you at the IE Venture Day Mumbai 2018. Every business plan presented was top notch as expected. Diversity, social innovation, humanities & entrepreneurship are pillars that are reflected in every area of the different schools at IE, and with your support, this was on display at Venture Day.” 

There were three categories of the competition, that awarded the best business plans submitted by undergraduate students, high school students and students from under privileged backgrounds. Students had participated in a business plan competition at their respective institutions prior, and the shortlisted winners presented at the grand finale on Venture Day. Over 200 people attended the event. 

“The reason behind our victory was mainly teamwork and exposure to the world of economics,” says Aman Nurani. “The most rewarding part of this event was not the victory itself but rather the experience. We are planning to save/invest this money in order to possibly take this idea to the next level. It just showed us that big ideas are no one’s monopoly!”