Eureka is one of the most commonly used words in our lives. Now let’s think of what comes to our mind when we hear this word “Eureka”? Well, some people may say that some physics principal came into their mind, some people may say it’s a Greece word which means “I have found it”, some people may say that a picture of an old man sitting in bathtub came into their mind and some will start laughing after listening to this word as a scene where an old man running naked on the streets of ancient land of Greece comes to their mind.
For us, it means a completely different thing. Eureka! is the one of the most popular International Business Model competition held by entrepreneurship cell of IIT Bombay. Eureka’s inception dates back 17 years ago. In all of these years of exponential growth of the popularity of Eureka, the competition has grown from 50 teams competing for INR 50,000 to a competition which now sees over 8800 entries competing for prizes worth INR 5 million at stake with excellent networking opportunities in India and Silicon Valley.
Eureka! as a competition has changed the outlook for the startups significantly. It now provides a startup the opportunity to incubate and come up with flying colors. Needless to say, the winners of Eureka every year have all gone on to be successful startups, to name a few are:
Einfinitus Technologies (Winners 2001)- A research-oriented routing tech venture founded by an IIT Bombay alumnus. It received an initial funding of INR 1.5 crores and was later sold off to CISCO systems for INR 250 crores.
SocialCops (Runners-up 2013)- Aims to bridge the gap between the policymakers and the observations of the people who are affected by their decisions every day. SocialCops went on to secure a funding of $320,000.
Greenway Grameen Infra (Winner 2012)- Develops innovative solutions for rural consumers based on unique heat transfer technology. Greenway’s products enable the consumers to utilize sustainable resources effectively. Their customers are predominantly women of rural areas.
Thus, Eureka is something which every startup also looks up to. They try and make a mark in the industry using Eureka as a platform to express their ideas. Over the past few years, Eureka has been a huge success and people both in industry and startups, have been looking up to the competition.
As for Eureka 2017, there are going to be prizes worth INR 5 million up for grabs along with excellent networking opportunities in India as well as Silicon Valley. The winners of Eureka 2017 would also get a direct entry into Wharton India Startup Challenge hosted by the Wharton India Economic Forum. If you think even that is not enough, Top 80 Semi-finalists of Eureka! 2017 Business Model Competition will get complete access to Startup Course (normal retail price Euro 390 per course at INSEAD). This program comprises of modules which help take a startup from ideation to funding stage through online videos, which have successfully helped founders from over 60 countries raise money from investors. This course is run by Professors of Entrepreneurship at the INSEAD Business School. The graduates from this course “Startup Bootcamp” have gone on to collectively raised almost $1 billion dollars in funding.
Eureka prides itself on providing a 360 degree, holistic experience in the 5 month period that it spans. If you feel that your Idea is the best and funding is all that’s needed to turn your idea into reality. Then why don’t you let the same Idea win money for you. And so, register with E-Cell IIT Bombay as soon as possible to get going. And who knows, you might be the next best thing in the market. Register your idea at www.ecell.in/eureka