IIM Calcutta hosted the second edition of its flagship event Converge 2.0. The entrepreneurship event, themed Transforming GenZ to job creators from job seekers’, aims to inspire and influence an entire generation of budding entrepreneurs, the institute said. IIM Calcutta brought together entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and angel investors, for the event on November 29 and 30.
The keynote speaker for the event was IIM Calcutta alumni from 34th batch, Ganesh Rangaswamy, co-founder, Quona Capitals.
IIM Calcutta’s Entrepreneurship Cell received over 50 applications from across the country for their start-up competition ‘Ideas 2 Implementation’. There were 14 teams in the fray. The judges unanimously declared Yogitha Biofarming Private Limited as the winners. Nuimance Phytovigyan Pvt Ltd were the first runner-up while Vixplor Analytics stood third.
Conducive environment
Talking about their winning idea, the team said: “The objective of the start-up is to double the income of farmers by 2022 by linking the small and marginal farmers of remote areas to commercial farming.” The winners received ₹ 70,000, while the first and second runners-up received ₹50,000 and ₹30,000.
The jury comprised Vishal Kumar, Founder, Learning while Travelling; Arijit Bhattacharyya, Founder and CEO — Virtualinfocom; Vikram Duggal, Managing Partner — Ekcle Ventures & Ekcle Advisory Services; and Md Zafar, Chief Manager, Gail.
Converge 2.0 is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to interact with investors, mentors, industry experts, and start-up founders; and also receive constructive feedback to fine-tune their ideas by participating in business plan competitions and hackathons.