It was a confluence of some of the best minds in Ahmedabad, when The A-League, ‘Ideathon 2015’ was held at CIIE (Centre of Innovation, Incubation, and Entrepreneurship) on September 13. The ‘A-League’ is an inter-institutional initiative with members from top institutes in Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar, like IIM-A, IIT-Gn, DA-IICT, NID, EDI, NIRMA and a few GTU institutes, taking part in it. The initiative aims to facilitate inter-institute collaboration on social, cultural and entrepreneurial fronts, with their ‘One Campus’ mission.
How it worked — speed dating!
One unique aspect of Ideathon was the prerequisite it had for participation — that all teams must have members from at least two different institutes. For this, the A-League organised ‘speed dating’ session for people from various colleges to meet, share ideas and come up with some collaboration.
After they received 60 applications, 10 teams were short-listed, and the final presentation was what was held on September 13, at CIIE. Teams had to pitch their ideas in front of an experienced panel, that comprised of professors, incubator heads and industry veterans, such as Prof Naresh Jadeja (GTU), Prof Anish Mathuria (DAIICT), Prof Rakesh Basant (Chairperson, CIIE, IIM-A), Dr Vikram Singh Parmar (CEO, National Design Business, Incubator - Ahmedabad, and Associate Sr. Designer, NID), Prof Chelvakumar (Visiting Professor, IIT-Gn and former President EPIR Technologies Ltd), and Nitin Gupta (Founder, Sickle Innovations).
The judges seemed pretty impressed by the ideas that were put forth. Speaking on behalf of others at the panel, Prof Rakesh Basant said, “We got a lot of innovative ideas today and many of them are very promising. Since teams consisted of students from two or more institutes, their pitches became stronger. It was difficult for us to choose winners, and we hope that these ideas turn into successful businesses.”
And the prize goes to…
The two teams fashing a smile after being declared winners
Winners were awarded cash prizes worth ₹120,000 and other benefits. Disconnect pitched the idea for an online flea market for creative and quirky products, while Freighttrackers presented an online freight tracking application. Pee-Gloo presented a unique solution for public urination, while Stomper Pi/21 pitched for affordable electrical guitar and other music apparatus. Checklist pitched an innovative idea for wedding gifts planning. Team Disconnect has already begun working on their start-up, and plan to host “Disconnect — The Marketplace” at IIM Ahmedabad on September 19 and 20 as a way to better understand the sector.
Participants too seemed happy at the exposure they received. “Ideathon gave us a very nice platform to present our ideas and know our flaws. Had we been given more time, we could have pitched better,” said Ajay Gaur from one of the winning teams. All participants are encouraged to develop their ideas further and take them to launch stages.
To be continued
The A-League plans to organise more events through which students from different institutes can socialise, find the correct skilled people they require, and establish partnerships. “We are planning many social and cultural events to increase interaction between students from different colleges, and promote A- League’s mission of ‘One Campus’”, says Prakash Danny Sagar of IIM Ahmedabad.