Pavan and Rakesh Thata just added another laurel to their business plan — they stood second in Eureka, Asia’s largest B-plan writing competition, organised by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) as part of its Entrepreneurship Summit. The finals were held on Sunday. The three winners
get cash prizes of Rs5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh.

“It is not about the money. Having this accolade will help us attract venture capitalists and increases the credibility of our business plan,” said Pavan who started Array Shield Technology Pvt. Ltd. with his brother Rakesh Thata. They both are IIT alumni. Their business plan is a software which provides internet security solutions thus safeguarding from hacking. The technology is undergoing patenting process.

The competition, which started in September, received 2002 B-plans. The shortlisted ten battled it out on Sunday.

“The event is important not just from the point of view of funds that the contestants get but also from the point of view of valuable suggestions, critical analysis and networking that the contestants get from the summit,” said Vishesh Parnerkar, media manager, Entrepreneurship Cell.

The first prize was bagged by a company called No Paper Forms for their business idea of a software that will help institution’s administrative work online at all levels and bring about transparency in all processes.

Fermentech Biologics from Andhra Pradesh got the third prize.