TIE, Canaan Partners launch business plan competition for entrepreneurs

The Indus Entrepreneurs, an organisation formed to nurture entrepreneurship, and Canaan Partners, a venture capital firm, have jointly launched TIE-Canaan Entrepreneurial Challenge, a business plan competition open to early stage entrepreneurs from across India. The last date for submission of the business plan applications is May 12, 2008.

According to TIE, entrepreneurs from across the country will have an opportunity to compete for business mentoring, access to early stage investors and recognition in the second edition of this unique business-plan contest.

“We saw a great response when we introduced the challenge in 2006, and have incorporated feedback from those participants, jury members and partners towards making this year’s challenge more engaging and useful for the participants,” Alok Mittal, managing director, Canaan Partners, has said.

“We strongly believe that initiatives like the TIE-Canaan Entrepreneurial Challenge will act as catalysts for aspiring and early stage entrepreneurs to come forward with their business ideas and be provided strategic insights by experts to enable them to grow,” Alok Mittal has added.

During the competition eight teams will be shortlisted based on their potential scale of the business, the strength of the team and sustainable differentiation in the business model. In June 2008, the shortlisted applicants will be invited to participate and present their plans and ideas in detail to an eminent jury of the country’s leading entrepreneurs and corporate heads.

The jury members include Sanjeev Bikhchandani, co-founder and CEO, Naukri.com; Mahesh Murthy, partner, Seedfund; Alok Mittal, managing director, Canaan Partners India; Pramod Bhasin, CEO and president, Genpact; Raman Roy, chairman, Quatrro BPO Solutions; and Saurabh Srivastava, president, TIE Delhi.