ISB Hosts Asia Semi Finals for Global Social Venture Competition

                                    Six Asian Countries Register for the Competition

Hyderabad, January 27, 2006: The Indian School of Business (ISB) is hosting the Asia Semi Finals for the prestigious Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC). GSVC is a business plan competition that provides a global forum for student entrepreneurs to showcase groundbreaking social ventures. The Semi Finals for GSVC this year will be held for the first time in Asia, at the ISB on January 28, 2006.

The GSVC began in 1999 as a student-led initiative at the Haas School of Business in Berkeley, California, USA. The partners who run GSVC are the Haas School of Business, the Columbia Business School, the London Business School, and the Goldman Sachs Foundation. Last year, the ISB was invited to be the International Affiliate of GSVC. This unprecedented partnership works to bring together the academic and financial worlds to support the creation of sustainable social ventures.

The Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurial Development (WCED) at the ISB has promoted the competition in the Asian countries, in the run-up to the event. Professor V Chandrasekar, Executive Director of WCED said, “We have received as many as 66 registrations from various Asian countries such as the Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Australia, and India. We are proud to be the International Affiliate for GSVC, and are delighted to host the first-ever Asia Semi Finals for the competition this year. We plan to carry this forward, and host this event every year.”

After a preliminary evaluation at the ISB, 16 business plans have been short listed for the Asia Semi Final of the GSVC.  The short listed teams will present their projects before a distinguished, international panel of judges. The panel of judges includes Sara Olsen (SVT Consulting), who first took the initiative to launch GSVC as a Haas student.

The projects will be evaluated based on two important criteria:

-       Clear and quantifiable social objectives and impact

-       Financial sustainability, i.e., being profitable and self-supporting  through revenue generation

“We want to create a new generation of social entrepreneurs. We want these chosen leaders to understand that a social enterprise can benefit society, and be professionally and personally rewarding as well,” said Professor V Chandrasekar. At the Semi Final evaluation, the judges will select 10 teams for the Finals to be held at the Columbia Business School. The WCED at the ISB will provide mentoring and nurturing support to the selected 10 teams, to prepare them for the Finals. The mentoring workshop commences at the ISB from January 29, 2006.

About the ISB

The Indian School of Business is a research-oriented independent management institution that grooms future leaders for India and the world. Its association with the Kellogg School of Management, The Wharton School, and London Business School make it one of its kind in Asia. The School offers a one-year Post Graduate Programme; short-duration, high-powered Executive Education programmes for CEOs and senior executives; and a two-year Research Fellowship Programme. The origins and distinctive research of our faculty members ensure that our programme content is contemporary and global in its perspective, and develops our students’ understanding of modern management opportunities and challenges.

Contact:

Ms. Bhuvana Ramalingam,  Director – Communications

Indian School of Business,  Tel: 9394568016,  email: bhuvana_r@isb.edu

 www isb.edu