Imagine a set of electronics as easy to play with as Legos. TED Fellow Ayah Bdeir introduces littleBits, a set of simple, interchangeable blocks that make programming as simple and important a part of creativity as snapping blocks together.
Ayah Bdeir is an engineer and artist, and is the founder of littleBits and karaj, an experimental art, architecture and technology lab in Beirut.
Aavishkaar is a pioneer in early stage investing in the country and has been active in the space for over a decade. We are guided by the fundamental belief that investing in
early stage entrepreneurial ventures can not only deliver commercial returns, but also bring about significant efficiencies and developmental impact to rural and underserved communities. Over time, Aavishkaar has built a track record of high impact scalable enterprises in its portfolio that span across seven key sectors, namely Agriculture and Dairy, Education, Energy, Handicrafts, Health, Water and Sanitation, Technology for Development and Microfinance and Financial Inclusion.
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Omidyar Network is committed to creating opportunity for people to improve their lives and make powerful, lasting contributions to their communities. Our efforts are organized around five initiatives: Consumer Internet & Mobile, Entrepreneurship,Financial Inclusion, Government Transparency, and Property Rights.
United by the principles of individual access, connection, and ownership, we look for solutions that enable people to access credible information and resources, connect with others around shared interests, and take constructive action on the issues that matter to them.
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Our mission is to create a world beyond poverty by investing in social enterprises, emerging leaders, and breakthrough ideas.
Our vision is that one day every human being will have access to the critical goods and services they need – including affordable health, water, housing, energy, agricultural inputs and services – so that they can make decisions and choices for themselves and unleash their full human potential. This is where dignity starts – not just for the poor but for everyone on earth.
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Be! Fund invests in young entrepreneurs in India, age 18-29, to pioneer businesses that solve problems they face in their lives. From water to waste, energy to shelter and crime, we believe young people who have grown up in poverty have enterprise solutions to the problems they face; they have just never been given the chance to solve them. We invest in businesses designed and proposed by young people who live in poverty.
We ask young people to apply to the Be! Fund through our partner’s mass media campaigns: Be! Movies aired on national television each ask young people to submit their enterprise ideas to the Be! Fund by calling or sending an SMS.
Young people who fulfill our criteria are taken through three levels of interviews, and they build a business plan that is then presented to the Investment Committee. If they succeed they receive an investment (not a loan).
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Rolex Awards are given every two years. Applications have opened for the 2014 Awards, which will be exclusively devoted to young candidates. This means only those aged between 18 and 30 years are eligible to apply. The first set of Awards for Young Laureates took place in 2009 with the idea of supporting visionary young men and women at a critical juncture in their careers. Each Young Laureate will receive 50,000 Swiss francs over a period of two years. In addition, Rolex ensures all winners receive access to its network of more than 100 past Laureates, as well as the benefit of international publicity through media coverage and the Rolex Awards website. – Click Here for how to apply.
While judging the projects, they take into consideration feasibility, originality, sustained impact on people and the environment.
Indian Jury Members in 2012 are Mahrukh Tarapor, Indian born American Museum professional, S. Ramadorai, Vice Chairman – TCS and Gururaj Deshpande, global philanthropist.
Commenting on the Rolex Awards coming to India for the first time, Rebecca Irvin, Head of Philanthropy at Rolex, said: “We believe India is a thought-leader in innovation and enterprise; a concept that is very well embraced and understood in the country. By holding the Awards ceremony in Delhi this year, we are recognizing the spirit of enterprise that prevails in the country.
Date : 27 November 2012, Venue: Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi
For more than 35 years Rolex has honoured extraordinary individuals who possess the courage and conviction to take on major challenges. Each Rolex Award for Enterprise is given for a new or ongoing project anywhere in the world – one that deserves support for its capacity to improve lives, or protect the world’s natural and cultural heritage. These projects have touched all aspects of humanity by expanding knowledge or improving life on the planet.
Brought to you by MconneX (http://www.engin.umich.edu/alumni)
Converting algae to biofuel could be a sustainable solution to the need for liquid fuel in the United States, according to U-M researchers. Scientists in the chemical engineering department are working to create an effective method for converting the plant, which can be harvested continuously and grown in any water condition.
If money comes into a business, it is sales and if it goes out of business, it is marketing. This is one simple but a most important difference between sales and marketing. As an entrepreneur, I made a few mistakes within the first month of launching Nurture Talent Academy. We gave an advertisement worth Rs 20,000 in a leading newspaper, and guess what, just one person called as a response to seeing that print advertisement. That was the first and most important lesson I learned — you cannot throw money and get customers.
Click Here to read the full article by Amit Grover
I am pleased to announce the launch of ASCENT – a non-profit venture, designed as a unique and powerful ‘self-help” platform for ambitious entrepreneurs, who have already embarked on their journey and are raring to grow. ASCENT seeks to Accelerate and SCale up ENTerprises, through leveraging the power of Entrepreneur groups.
Harsh Mariwala
Harsh Mariwala founded Marico in 1990 and transformed a traditional commodity driven business into a leading Consumer Products & Services Company, in the Beauty and Wellness space.
Click Here to join this exciting group to take your existing business to new heights
THiNK is India’s most unique, thought-provoking and egalitarian platform for ideas from across the globe. THiNK brings together brilliant, cutting-edge minds from an unprecedented range of disciplines. Science. Technology. Medicine. Politics. Business. Media. Religion. Sports. People’s movements. And the Arts. Click Here for more on their website.
Rise is a call to action.
It’s the challenger spirit that leads us to tackle the problems India faces today. It means making decisions – big and small – that change the future. From being one of millions who decide to use less electricity at home, to being the one in a million who designs a revolutionary new technology, we are the ones who must take risks and innovate. We are the ones who will shape India.
This is Rise–the optimism, determination, and grit to take responsibility for a better future.
What is Tipping Point?
India: Vast, heterogenous, disparate. India: Ingenious, enterprising, innovative.
Anywhere else in the world, only one of these could ring true but in India, reality does not exist in a single dimension. There are multiple realities, multiple India’s, each as ‘real’ as the other. If there is an India where water is scarce and hunger is the norm, there is also an India where the cutting-edge is developed and new ground broken every day. There’s an India of shame, and an India of excellence.
And there is a segment of people – niche, driven, and ingenious – who are working to make these two Indias merge.
Innovators who believe there is a way to combat the challenges of India through great ideas, creative solutions and incredible commitment.
This is not ‘jugaad’. These are not stopgap or clumsy ideas to stitch patchy solutions onto a tattered canvas. These are some of the best and brightest minds in the country who have devoted themselves to becoming part of the development process; of driving change, not just enjoying it.
These are the innovators who are working to conquer some of India’s most formidable challenges. They exist in small towns and in our biggest cities. They range from the affluent to the cash-strapped. And they apply themselves to problems that affect thousands, sometimes millions of lives, using their skills and strengths to offer lasting solutions.
To us, they constitute India’s most undervalued asset and that’s where we come in – to find and share these incredible innovations, to spark change and magnify it, to provide a forum where ideas can go from hyperlocal to global; where others can have access to genius and apply these innovations to their own problems.
We’re combing the country to find examples of intelligent, scalable innovation – and we’re going to pick 20 of the best to be featured here, and on the pages of Tehelka. These are some of the most compelling and untold stories of our time – and they reflect yet another India. A country that can meet and master any challenge.
Click Here for Tipping Point
“For entrepreneurs — especially those just starting out — businesses succeed as much as they fail. I’ve seen this time and again as a mentor and entrepreneur. But statistics also suggest that the failure rate for new startups within the first five years is as high as 50 percent.
Of course, real entrepreneurs treat business failure as a milestone on the road to success. They count on learning from their mistakes, and use the experience to move to the next idea. But why not learn from the mistakes of others, without all the pain and suffering?
Here is my list of 10 top startup failure causes — and how to avoid them:
Click Here for the story from Entrepreneur
Brief, Basic and Hard Hitting – Must Watch !
Enterprisers.in 