Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) is one of the largest and most prestigious India focused economic and business conferences in the world. The Wharton India Startup Competition (WISC) is a hallmark of WIEF, giving startups from India the opportunity to present in front of an esteemed panel of judges in India. It is an annual competition that is in it’s fourth year as of 2016-17.

Eligibility:

Applications are open to any early-stage entrepreneur, in any industry, from anywhere in the world with business ideas focused on a product and/or service targeting the Indian market. They accept only early-stage startups by which they mean

• You are in product development stage; or
• You have rolled out a beta product; or
• You have sought and collected data on customer validation (beyond conducting surveys); and
• You don’t exceed $1M in equity-based investment or $1M in annual revenue

Deadline: Towards the end of October

Organizer: Wharton India Economic Forum

Tags/Categories: Entrepreneurship

Region: National

Competition levels:

• Competition entries will be pre-screened by a panel of experts including top entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and investors. This panel will select semi-finalists.
• Shortlisted semi-finalists will be provided with 15-minute time slot to present their ideas to the judges (via teleconference) based on which finalists will be selected.
• Finalists will pitch to top Indian entrepreneurs and venture capitalists on January 6, 2017 in Mumbai. The pitch will consist of a 5-minute presentation and a 3-minute Q&A               session

Prize/Benefits:

• Winners of the Startup Competition will be taking home cash prizes of over $25,000.150 hours of free legal advice.
• Unparalleled mentorship of upto 4 months from some of the most renown names in the industry on strategy and funding.
• Beyond prizes, the winners will have the opportunity to connect with investors and be featured at international level by media partners such as CNBC-TV18.

Website Link: http://www.whartonindia.com/startup.html