The Indian Public School (TIPS), along with Clever Harvey, a career accelerator for teenagers, held a disruptive pitch competition, where teen innovators battled it out in Shark Tank-style. Students presented their unique ideas to win internships, mentorship opportunities and a grand prize of Rs 25,000. They showcased their skills to create real solutions to universal problems.
The winning student, Shree Akshithaa, created the Gas Assistant, an idea inspired by her experience and that of those around her. The Gas Assistant aims to optimise energy use and simplify the cooking process.
TIPS provided the “teenprenuers” with an opportunity to be innovators and they rightfully delivered and under the training of JuniorMBA by Clever Harvey, the teens let their imaginations run free and transformed their ideas into reality. They used their unique perspective and entrepreneurial know-how to bring the impossible to life with VR, AR and other emerging technologies.
Of the 260 students that undertook the JuniorMBA program, 10 finalist teams presented their ideas at the Online Innovation Summit to a jury of industry insiders comprising the secretary, E-Cell, IIT Roorkee, Ritik Singh Panwar and founder of Suprbeing and Tactyq, Partha Chakroborthy.
Talking about the pitches, Panwar said, “Young minds can be way more creative and innovative than adults. They have a different worldview and understanding and it brings surprising results. It is what we witnessed at the pitching competition. Every idea was unique and innovative in its true sense.”
Seconding Panwar, Chakroborthy added, “It was difficult to choose the winners because they all had such brilliant ideas. It brings a sense of pride to see the potential future these visionaries and industry disruptors will undoubtedly bring.”
While recounting her experience at the Online Innovation Summit, Akshithaa said, “It was a great journey and I learned a lot. The step by step guidance was really helpful, especially the mock presentations. The process has helped me come to know I should dig a lot deeper to know my potential.”
By giving their students a chance to upskill themselves, The Indian Public School prepares them to create their own paths to success, irrespective of the fields they decide to pursue. “There’s a misconception that entrepreneurship skills are not necessary for students focusing on sciences in their classrooms, but it’s important that we break that, and this initiative has encouraged our students from science, business, liberal and creative streams to believe in entrepreneurship as the need of the hour,” said Tamilarasi Damodaran, academic director- TIPS.
The institute encourages its students in the science stream particularly to try out a future in business, and this gamble paid off in the birth of some never before seen ideas that lay in the intersection of business and science. Cementing the academy’s dedication to nurturing their students into proactive individuals and successful entrepreneurs in the global sphere.
The other winners of the competition include Laharitha Palaniswamy (Class X) and Mahaa Arasi Samanithan (Class XII) whose ‘Hablet’ (a portable soap capsule) won them the first runner-ups places, while Shakthi Viviyn and Bharat Balakrishna, who represented ‘VR Open’ that offers a virtual reality shopping experience, were declared second runner-ups. All the winners were from Salem and Erode.