What started off as a small idea to give an alternative technological solution to paint and cement industries by two students of IIT Bombay, is now taking the shape of a full-fledged venture, one that was adjudged the “best entry from IIT Bombay” at ‘Eureka’, the institute’s annual business plan competition.
“Red oxide ores used in paint and cement industries are slowly depleting. We have developed a technology which can convert naturally available yellow oxide into red oxide. We realized that it is necessary to exploit yellow oxide which is found in abundance. Our USP is that the alternative product is much efficient and it is several times cheaper than the currently available synthetic red oxide. The venture is called “Mritika”, meaning clay in Hindi,” said Aditi Mantri.
The two-member team, which also includes Rohit Nyati, has won a cash prize of Rs 75,000 and will get a direct entry to the finals of ‘E-Bootcamp’ organised by BASES, Stanford University. “Eureka has taught us to dream big. It’s a big encouragement for us. We have contacted a few dealers and have sent samples to some local industries for their feedback,” said Mantri. The duo is starting off with quarterly contract with local industries and will subsequently get into large-scale production. The finals of Eureka were held during the “Entrepreneurship Summit”, organised by the Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) of IIT Bombay. The finals saw several teams battling in “Eureka business” and “Eureka Social”.
Eureka business had joint winners — Ping Tech and Edu Edge — and each won a cash prize of Rs 4 lakh. Besides the best entry from IIT Bombay, the top three winners of the business category and top two from social category will get direct entry to E-Bootcamp.
“We work in the segment of broadcast and we create pull content or promotions within four minutes for channels or their shows. We’ve been into business for nearly 10 weeks. We want India to be seen as a global leader in providing creative solutions in broadcast,” said Huzefa Roowala from Ping Tech.
Edu Edge is a 44-page magazine which caters to tier-II cities and those between 11-17 years of age. “It’s an educational magazine which is looking at giving equal opportunities to all. While competition is a national phenomenon, children in Tier-II cities lack in awareness as they don’t have similar resources as compared to tier-I cities. We have come out with six issues in Bhopal and have 500 subscribers in six schools as a pilot. We create awareness about existing opportunities, resources available and give guidance. We will gradually take it to other places. Ours is a mix of fun and serious content,” said Gouri Nawathe, member, IIT-B team.
The winning idea of the social category with cash prize of Rs 1 lakh was “Greenway Grameen Infra (GGI)”, a social enterprise that develops product based “household energy and health solutions” for base of pyramid consumers.
“GGI combines skills in innovative engineering, natural resource management and social engagement models to design and disseminate products that have positive ‘high immediate impact’ on rural populations in a sustainable manner. Our first product, the smart stove is a single burner high efficiency cookstove designed as a modern replacement for traditional mud chulhas which pose grave health and environmental hazards. The design innovation delivers fuel savings up to 70 per cent,” said Neha Juneja.
The E-Summit also saw finals of “Pitch It” where start-ups got the chance pitch their plans before a panel of venture capitalists and angel investors. Besides workshops, the summit also gave several innovative startups opportunity to network and get feedback through a startup expo.
