RAIPUR: IDEATHON 3.0 business plan competition organizedby the Faculty of Commerce and Management at Kalinga University Raipur CG concluded successfully On 06 January 2024. This flagship event has been an annual tradition since 2021 and it took place in a hybrid mode this year on January 5th and 6th 2024. 

The jury for this prestigious business competition included prominent entrepreneurs from Chhattisgarh including Ms. Namrata Yadu (Director, Chhattisgarh Mushroom), Amandeep Singh Bhatia (Founder of Gift Kya De), Ms. Namrata Tatiya (Founder of Acculegal), Abhijeet Sharma (Business Manager, IGKV RKVY), Atul Pradhan (Founder of SAAR Agrivate Consultancy), Somesh Sharma (Co-Founder of AugtechNextwelth IT Services Ltd), Mrs. B Shirisha (Quality Head, AugtechNextwelth IT Services Ltd), and Rajat Jain (Automation Lead, AugtechNextwelth IT Services Ltd). The internal judges from Kalinga University were Dr. R Shridhar, Vice Chancellor, and Dr. Byju John, Director General.

On January 5th, the program began with the lighting of the lamp and a warm welcome to all guests. The Guests of Honor, Ms. Namrata Yadu and Amandeep Singh, shared their perspectives with the participants. The Vice-Chancellor and Director General of Kalinga University also shared their perspectives on entrepreneurship.Teams presented their business ideas over the next two days. 

The competition was held in two categories: School and College, with cash rewards of Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 15,000 for winners and runners-up, and Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 for 2nd and 3rd runners-up in each category. Fifty-five teams from prestigious institutions and schools across India presented their innovative business ideas.

In the Valedictory Ceremony, Somesh Sharma, the Guest of Honor, shared his valuable thoughts, and guest speakers Abhijit Sharma and Atul Pradhan provided insights into the technicalities of the business plan competition. The winners of the competition in the School category were: Team Algorithm Alchemist (St. Francis School, New Delhi) won the 1st prize and Team Inno Vision (KPS Naya Raipur) won the 2nd prize. In the College category, the winners were: Team VacSaver (Trinity College, Pune) secured the winning prize as Winner, Team Pip Install (St. Joseph College, Chennai) was 1st Runner Up, Partha Majumdar (Kalinga University) was 2nd Runner Up and Team Stylin (NIT Agartala) was 3rd Runner Up.

During the Valedictory Ceremony, Somesh Sharma, the Honorary Guest, shared his valuable thoughts, while Atul Pradhan and Abhijit Sharma gave insights into the intricacies of the business plan competition.

Ram Girdhar, the event’s Co-convenor,presented the overall IDEATHON 3.0 report, while Ms. Shinki K Pandey, the event’s Convenor and Head of the Faculty of Commerce and Management, expressed gratitude and officially concluded the event. Tushar Barik, Satvik Jain, Ms. Shivangi Makade, Ms. Nishtha Sharma, Dr. Nidhi Goenka, Ms. Deepti Patnaik, and Ms. Dharna Agrawal led the team in organizing this significant event.