Social entrepreneurs collaborate to find solutions for SDGs at SP Jain’s global inter-university competition

The 6th edition of IN+VOLVE, a sustainable and environment-themed inter-university competition, was hosted virtually by SP Jain School of Global Management across its campuses on March 25 and 26, 2022. The event was spearheaded by EcoYouth – a student club at SP Jain that dedicates itself to making a difference and raising awareness among the student community and global society. It was also organised in collaboration with GirlUp Sydney – another student-run club at SP Jain that focuses on gender equality.

Yash Kapasi, a second-year student of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and President of EcoYouth, shared, “The competition, which was held online as well as at SP Jain’s Dubai campus, allowed young entrepreneurs to showcase their start-up ideas in front of a panel of judges. The teams had to come up with an idea that helped towards achieving at least 1 out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by the United Nations.”

The competition invited an industry jury, including:

They shared valuable feedback and critiqued the participants based on:

The semi-finals saw teams compete in two modes – face-to-face and virtually.

The top 5 teams in the on-campus face-to-face mode were:

The top 5 teams in the online mode were:

Each team had a unique idea that targeted a different SDG. After the 12-minute time limit given to each team for their presentation, the judges asked relevant questions that allowed participants to elaborate and validate their solutions.

Among the judges, Ms Singh shared, “It is important that you believe in your idea 100%, because if you don’t believe in your idea, then the investors won’t believe in you.”

Overall, the teams performed well. We had one winner from each mode:

Face-to-Face Mode
First Place winner: Team Astitva
Members included: Harsh Surana, Pranita Boilshetty, and Athiti Subramaniam

Team Astitva bagged first place in the competition and won a cash prize of AED 500. They shared a simple yet effective idea of opening a restaurant where local artisans could display their furniture and other items for sale. Customers that come into the restaurant can then purchase items that they like. This idea of offering space to small vendors is a great way to ensure that local artisans don’t lose their jobs. Another interesting aspect of this concept is that the layout and furniture will keep changing when items are purchased. This will help the restaurant have a new look every time a customer visits and maintain the novelty factor.

In the words of Team Astitva, “The event was a huge learning experience. IN+VOLVE has boosted our confidence to give further fuel to our idea and make it a reality.”

Online Mode
First Place winner: Team Pitchers
Members included: Aadarsh Bansal

Team Pitchers proposed their product, CHImini, which effectively solves the problem of harmful cooking smoke and consumes less space in the kitchen. CHImini is especially advantageous in rural (65% of India's population) kitchens that use traditional wood-burning chulhas (stoves) for cooking. It is a portable, lightweight chimney that sucks the harmful smoke produced during cooking and filters it in a 4-step filtration process. The product has two options of installation – Pedestal Base and Wall Mounting. It is easy to use, lightweight, economical and requires low maintenance.

Former President of the EcoYouth Club, Bhavish Adwani, a final-year BBA student and co-organiser of the competition, shared, “It was a moment of joy to have our first face-to-face event on campus after two years of being online and bringing back the fun of organising and executing events.”

The organising team of EcoYouth and GirlUp gave it their all to make the event a success. Special mention to the organising team in Dubai: Bhavish Adwani, Ahanaa Vakil, Aishwarya Pandey, Kriti Chaturvedi, Kartik Koul, and Riddhi Bhadange; and online: Yash Kapasi and Mayuri Mogare. Kudos to the core team members: Krrish Jain, Ayati Kele, Gargi Asthana, Aishwarya Sivaramakrishnan, Alvin Dookhony and Geethanjali Dhanish.

EcoYouth loves to give back to society through sustainability initiatives like beach clean-ups, tree plantation drives, and spreading awareness about various social issues. Follow our social media page for updates -- @ecoyouth_spj on Instagram.

GirlUp is a United Nations effort that enables girls around the world to channel their enthusiasm and compassion into raising awareness and cash for UN programs that reach some of the world’s more difficult-to-reach adolescent females.
Follow our social media page for updates -- @girlupsydney on Instagram.

The article is written by Ayati Kele
Ayati Kele is a second-year student of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) at SP Jain School of Global Management. Her hobbies include singing, drawing, and playing with her dog. Being a marketing executive at EcoYouth has allowed her to channel her passion for the environment and animals into something impactful that can make a difference.