Asia’s largest maiden business model competition hosted in March 2022
Eureka!, founded by the Entrepreneurship Cell of India Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, is one of the world’s leading institutions powered by Gulf Islamic Investments.
This five-month long competition offers aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to design solid business models, gain mentorship from renowned venture capitalists and angel investors as well as avail excellent networking opportunities and educational workshops.
In the first edition of Eureka! GCC, they received more than 150 registrations and over 100 business plan ideas in October 2021. After completing the detailed questionnaires submitted by these teams, Eureka! GCC selected 32 semi-finalists.
These 32 semi-finalists went through a holistic Entrepreneurship Programme. Over a period of seven weeks, the program included 20 workshops-covering all the topics an early-stage start-up would need to grow their business plan, conducted by renowned speakers from all over the world.
Mentorship
One on one mentorship sessions, with industry leaders from the GCC, with at least two mentors assigned to each team. Q&A sessions and industry discussions with GII’s Chief Investments Officer, Amit Jain. Through this journey the 32 semi – finalists submitted their reports and business model canvases and along with the mentors’ feedback, the Top 10 finalists were then selected.
The closed pitch took place at the Indian Pavilion at Expo 2020, where the 10 finalist startups presented their business models, to a panel of an acclaimed jury, each pitch was evaluated equally considering content value, competitive advantage, presentation strength, financial data and global market attractiveness.
Jury
The judges panel list was represented by Dr. David Teece, Chairman and Principal Executive Officer, Berkeley Research Group; Dr. Arshi Ayub Mohamed Zaveri, CEO, Trust with Trade Senior Advisor Royal Family Offices, UAE; Yogesh Mehta, Founder and CEO, Petrochem Middle East and Saif Al Suwaidi, Analyst Global Special Situations, Abu Dhabi Investment Council
This event was followed up by an Open Pitch and Gala Dinner, at Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, The Palm. It was attended by more than 250 distinguished guests and representatives including the Consul General of India, Eureka! GCC finalists, CEOs, VCs and business leaders from the region.
Winners
Prizes worth more than US$100,000 were given out and the winners of the Eureka! GCC were announced:
The winners and prizes were as follows:
Winner: $25,000- My Gold Souq, Amy Vaya and Priyesh Vaya
1st Runner Up: $15,000- Tracer, Khalid Roumieh and Wassim Jaber
2nd Runner Up: $10,000- Veehive, Sathish Jeyakumar and Andrew Widera
3rd Runner Up: $5,000- Farmin, Ali AlHammadi and Abdullah Al Shamrani
“Entrepreneurship is a creative and constructive pursuit which produces positive impacts, and we are pleased to support the region’s budding entrepreneurs through such programmes,” remarked Mohammed Al-Hassan, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, GII.
“The world is facing some of its biggest challenges ever, from climate change and environmental issues to human productivity and healthcare. Entrepreneurship, collaboration, and innovation hold the keys to solving these issues,” commented Pankaj Gupta, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, GII.
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