Top 32
Teams

About

SmartIDEAthon is a student pitching competition of ideas built on themes that are currently relevant to our nation and with the aim to create sustainable and resilient communities.

In the year 2022, SmartIDEAthon-22 collaborated with Startup India, Invest India, Northeastern University Center for Emerging Markets, Boston and Northeastern University Center for Entrepreneurship Education (NUCEE), Boston and with an overwhelming response from all Indian States, it had received 1200+ applications. The cash and grant prizes were worth up to 30 Lakhs. Several Entrepreneurs like Prashant Warrier, Jitendra Sharma and others were a part of the event.

SmartIDEAthon program includes providing personalized coaching and grooming students’ ideas with bootcamps and coaching sessions for shortlisted candidates conducted by internationally trained venture coaches.

Sponsors

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Grey Quest
Thinking Forks
COEMPT
Moschip
Global Tree
Nutrify Today

Partners

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Ecosystem Partners

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Industry Partners

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Timeline

  • 17

    MAY

    17 MAY, 2023

    Call for ideas

  • 25

    JUNE

    25 JUNE, 2023

    Idea Submission Deadline

  • 3

    JULY

    3 JULY, 2023

    First Round Selection of ideas

  • 9

    JULY

    9 JULY, 2023

    First Bootcamp for selected ideas

  • 15

    JULY

    15 JULY, 2023

    Submission of Updated Pitch Decks

  • 21

    JULY

    21 JULY, 2023

    Second Round Selection of ideas

  • 23

    JULY

    23 JULY, 2023

    Advanced Bootcamp for second round

  • 24

    JULY

    24 JULY, 2023

    Final submission of Pitch

  • 24

    AUGUST

    24 AUGUST, 2023

    Semi-Finals

  • 25

    AUGUST

    25 AUGUST, 2023

    Grand Finale

SmartIDEAthon 2023 Themes

  • Food & Health
    Food & Health

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  • Toys For S.T.E.M
    Toys For S.T.E.M

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  • Sustainable fashion
    Sustainable fashion

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  • Frugal Innovation
    Frugal Innovation

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Eligibility

  • The competition is open only to current students of undergraduate or postgraduate programs who are enrolled in Full Time courses in recognized universities and also who will be graduating in 2023 or later.
  • Indian citizens studying in India are only eligible for participating in SmartIDEAthon - 2023
  • Teams in the advanced Ideation, prototype or research stage will be eligible.
  • Founder/Co-Founder are only eligible to apply and represent in the SmartIDEAthon - 2023.
  • Founder/Co-Founder both should adhere to the criteria number 1
  • During the application process,the students should submit their bonafide certificates and photo based student identification card (ID card).
  • In the event of suspicion of candidature, SmartIDEAthon - 2023 team has all the rights to ask for any other additional documents.
  • If all members of a team are from the same institute, one joint letter is acceptable.

The Process

All student ideas and their student ID proof are to be submitted using a registration link which will be provided at the time of registration.

  • A one-minute video pitch and a pitch deck should be submitted.Guidelines will be attached to the form.
  • Submitted ideas will be reviewed by a panel for completeness, relevance and innovation.
  • Shortlisted teams from Round 1 will be notified via email.

  • Up to 100 Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an online bootcamp session conducted by entrepreneurship practitioners to help enhance their ideas and develop their pitching deck.
  • Shortlisted teams will also be provided coaching sessions by the trained venture coaches.
  • A presentation/Pitch deck (up to 10 slides max) should be submitted after the bootcamp.
  • As part of Round 2 submission, the team would also need to submit a bonafide letter from the college/ Student ID cards identifying them as students/alumni (2023 or later graduates).
  • Submitted ideas will be reviewed by a panel for completeness, innovation, scalability and impact.
  • 32 Shortlisted teams from Round 2 will enter the Semi-Final Round and will be notified via email and by phone.

  • All teams and their constituent members (founders and co-founders not exceeding two per team) qualified for the Semi-Finals round will be invited to an advanced online bootcamp session.
  • Each Semi-Finalist team will be assigned a personal venture coach to help prepare for the semi-final and final rounds.
  • Each Semi Finalist team has to submit their final pitching deck of max ten slides and their video pitch , one week before the Semi-Finals.
  • The Semi Finals and the Grand Finale will be organized at GITAM, Hyderabad campus.
  • The 32 participants will be provided 3-tier AC travel, accommodation and food in GITAM student hostels on a twin-sharing basis. They are expected to make their own travel arrangements (which will be reimbursed) to check in at GITAM ,Hyderabad campus on the designated day to participate in the Semi-Finals round in-person ONLY.
  • Teams will get ample opportunity to network with industry experts, entrepreneurs and other prominent guests throughout the event.
  • In the Semi Final round, each team will be provided 15 minutes (10 min pitch, 5 min Q&A) to pitch their deck of a max of 10 slides. The pitches will be closed door to a panel of judges and a small team of venture coaches and observers.
  • 8 teams will be shortlisted for the Finals which takes place on the day after the Semi-Finals
  • Final pitches (10 slides, 10 minutes to present and 10 minutes for Q&A) will be to a live audience on stage in an auditorium setting.
  • The Semi Finals and Finals will be judged by a panel of national and international experts.
  • Grand Finale celebration will include a keynote by a VIP guest followed by an awards ceremony.

Prizes and Accolades

SmartIDEAthon-2023 Winner

  • INR 2,00,000 cash prize
  • Fully sponsored two weeks trip for two members (Founder and co-founder ONLY) to Boston worth INR 6,00,000). Includes visa fee, roundtrip economy airfare, food, stay and local transportation.
  • Goodies worth INR 20,000
  • Access to Northeastern University’s NU-IDEA Ready-Set-Go Structured Venture Development Program and one on one coaching from VDC venture coaches worth INR 3,00,000

SmartIDEAthon-2023 Runner-up

  • INR 1,00,000 cash prize
  • Partly-sponsored two weeks trip for two members (Founder and co-founder ONLY) to Boston, worth INR 3,00,000. Includes visa fee, food, stay and local transportation.
  • Goodies worth INR 20,000
  • Access to Northeastern University’s NU-IDEA Ready-Set-Go structured Venture Development Program and one on one coaching from VDC venture coaches worth INR 3,00,000

Best Social Impact Business Idea

  • INR 50,000 cash prize
  • Fully sponsored two-week trip for one member (founder or co-founder ONLY) to Boston worth ₹3,00,000. Includes visa fee, roundtrip economy airfare, food, and stay and local transportation.
  • Goodies worth INR 10,000
  • Access to Northeastern University’s NU-IDEA Ready-Set-Go structured Venture Development Program and one-on-one coaching from VDC venture coaches worth ₹2,00,000.

Best Woman-led Entrepreneurship Idea

  • INR 50,000 cash prize
  • Fully sponsored two-week trip for one woman (Founder or co-founder ONLY) to Boston, worth ₹3,00,000. Includes visa fee, roundtrip economy airfare, food, and stay and local transportation.
  • Goodies worth INR 10,000
  • Access to Northeastern University’s NU-IDEA Ready-Set-Go structured Venture Development Program and one-on-one coaching from VDC venture coaches worth ₹2,00,000.

Leben Johnson People’s Choice Award

  • INR 50,000 cash prize
  • Selected on the basis of voting by the audience during the finals
  • All finalists are also eligible to participate in NUCEE’s Ready-Set-Go venture development coaching program for one year, worth INR 3,00,000 each. Access to the modules is online with individual personalized coaching for each module.
  • All semi-finalists and finalists will receive a certificate of recognition, jointly issued by GITAM University and NUCEE, Boston, USA.
  • Cash awards are assigned to the team lead, and it is the team's responsibility to decide how the award is shared amongst themselves.
  • Distribution of awards will be through a Cheque/DD or online transfer to the team leader's bank account after any TDS deductions.
  • Decision of the judging panel and the organizers final and binding and should not be contested under any circumstances.

Summary of SmartIDEAthon - 2022

SmartIDEAthon aims to promote, identify, nurture, and boost the most innovative student entrepreneurs and innovators from different parts of India. As part of this year’s edition of SmartIDEAthon, we aimed to reach out to 5,00,000 students studying in HEIs and interlace GITAM’s entrepreneurial ecosystem with other national-level startup programs. We have achieved our goals and surpassed them by leaps and bounds.

  • Number of applications received - 1,205
  • Number of students reached - 10,00,000+
  • Total number of phone calls made - 15,000+
  • Number of emails sent to colleges and universities – 10,000+
  • Total cash prizes plus grants awarded - INR 30,00,000 approx.
  • The number of states and UTs represented - 28 and 3, respectively.
  • Total number of panellists, speakers, Jury & Master Class - 22
  • Social media footprint - 6,00,000+ impressions
  • Total number of Tracks/ Events - 6
  • Total number of school students impacted – 600+
  • Total number of presenters in the Innoverse- 36
  • Total number of students volunteers- 300+
  • Total number of student clubs involved- 6
  • Total number of attendees for the carnival- 1,200+
  • Total number of workshop attendees - 21

Prof. Greg Collie

Prof. Greg Collier

Prof Ravi Ramamurti

Prof Ravi Ramamurti

Sadhguru

Sadhguru

Suresh Garg

Suresh Garg

Sameer Desai

Sameer Desai

Prashant Warier

Prashant Warier

Piyush Verma

Piyush Verma

Raktim Chattopadhyay

Raktim Chattopadhyay

Bharath Kumar

Bharath Kumar

Malini Parma

Malini Parmar

Muralidhar Nayak

Muralidhar Nayak

Praveen Dorna

Praveen Dorna

President Address - SmartIDEAthon 2022

Vice Chancellor Address - SmartIDEAthon 2022

Hygienity Solutions Pvt Ltd Testimonial

Fleetwings Testimonial

Fleetwings Testimonial

Band Ranga performance at SmartIDEAthon 2022 Concert Night