i2I (Ideas to Implementation) is E-Cell’s flagship event. Kicked off in 2001, it is widely accepted as one of the biggest business plan contests in Asia. Even in its formative years, the contest attracted numerous plans from all around the globe, extensive media coverage and venture funding for the finalists.
Year 2008 saw i2I being implemented on a scale grander than ever before, taking the original business plan competition to a different league of its own in terms of scale, scope and seriousness. The event organized in collaboration with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), National Entrepreneurship network (NEN), and Seedfund, witnessed a new leap in its popularity as hoards of budding entrepreneurs flooded in their entries in a bid to vie for the final prize of funding to the tune of 1 crore!
In its new avatar, i2I moved away from the traditional contests, focusing not only on assessing the business concept, but the team profile and seriousness as well, with investor pitches in 4 zones being used for short listing, and then space for extensive mentoring by an investor as well as an expert from the relevant industry. The top 10 teams from all over the nation were mentored by industry experts and the event culminated into a grand finale on February 1st, 2008.
Taking forward the legacy this year, i2I'09 set the benchmark higher by a few points by covering the entire spectrum of the investing community right from angel investors to growth stage investors. We had partners like Canaan Partners, Indavest Partners and Indian Angel Network to provide mentoring and funding to our participants. Sponsors like UK India Business Council and Tata Administrative Services lent a truly global stature to the event. The event saw the top 50 teams making a preliminary investor pitch in the zonal rounds and the top 9 teams pitching to a panel of investors on January 9th, 2009 at Kolkata.
i2I'09 was a huge success - Our legacy
- 250+ business plans received across India. Zonal finals held in Bangalore , Delhi , Kolkata, Mumbai.
- The cause of Entrepreneurship- 4 out of 9 national finalists from i2I'08 ( Pothi.com , Travacco, Tempostand, Efensys Technologies) and one from i2I'09 (HelloDoctor24x7) have started their firms and are doing well.
- The process we pioneered last year has been a huge success and has been implemented by the likes of SIBM, NITIE and IIM Indore this year.
i2I is a process spread over 100 days involving 1000 budding entrepreneurs, 75 Jury members ( including VC's, Academicians and corporates) and about 300 B- Schools and colleges in India .