The fifth edition of iDiya,one of India’s biggest social venture competitions, was unveiled recently at the Hyderabad campus. The event was inaugurated by M N Rao, former MD and CEO of Tata Business Services Ltd. Speaking on the occasion, Rao pointed that initiatives like this would inspire aspiring entrepreneurs to address social issues through their business models.

iDiya, an annual student initiative, offers a platform for dynamic social entrepreneurs, where they can receive mentorship support and access to incubation funds from a diverse set of partners. The objective is to promote profitable business models with measurable social impact. 

In the last five years iDiya has been a launchpad for numerous budding entrepreneurs with innovative, self-sustaining and commercially viable social ventures. Prominent companies such as Nabard, Upaya Social Ventures, Ckinetics and Villgro have funded and mentored previous winners.

Among the past winners, many have set up and sustained their business successfully. One such successful company is Source Pilani, which was the winner of the first iDiya challenge. Source Pilani has successfully taken, “BPO to the BOP” - bottom of the pyramid. This village-based BPO leverages rural talent and low-cost infrastructure available in rural India to provide BPO/back office services at a low-cost to corporations and governments.  

Through this annual event, the School encourages social entrepreneurship amongst youth in India amid optimism that new age business models will change the social sector scenario in the country. 

For more information, please visit the iDiya homepage http://events.isb.edu/idiya/