A total of 92 students participated in the University of Wollongong in Dubai’s (UOWD) first-ever Inter-University Business Pitch competition, based on the popular TV programs ‘Dragon’s Den’ and ‘Shark Tank.’
Organised by Club Impresario, the students’ entrepreneurship and innovation club, budding entrepreneurs were given three minutes to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges followed by a gruelling question-and-answer session with the judges.
Twenty-two teams from 13 universities with a total of 92 graduate and undergraduate students from different business disciplines competed for the prizes.
Edris Shabbir, Co- Founder and President of Club Impresario, said: “The aim of this competition is to provide participating teams with a platform to showcase their business ideas and to invite constructive criticism from the panel of judges, which include industry experts.”
“It also provides them networking opportunities with entrepreneurs, to share ideas and to discover more about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship and starting a small business in a fun, yet challenging setting”, he added.
The three jury members, Himanshu Vashishtha, Founder and CEO of SixtFactor Consulting; Vivek Mehta, Partner and Senior Strategist, Clay Branding and Dr Osama Al Hares, Associate Professor and business expert, judged each pitch based on clarity of the concept and creativity of the solution to the problem.
An all-women team from Manipal University, Dubai secured the first position, winning a cash prize of AED 1250, impressing the judges with their business idea of vending machines for OTC medicines, specifically targeting labour camps and other areas of high traffic. PWC Academy won the second place with a cash prize of AED 750 followed by SP-Jain University securing the third position.
This contest provided a platform for the students to get much-needed exposure and receive valuable insights from successful business people. As each team was allocated a mentor from the industry, it allowed budding entrepreneurs to learn from the expertise, experience and practical knowledge of the mentors.
“Many of these mentors are our own faculty members and alumni. The trial-by-fire opportunity will indeed help students launch their dreams into reality. It has created a network with students hailing from different backgrounds to be entrepreneurial and seek opportunity through enterprise creation”, commented Dr Ritu Sehgal, Assistant Professor and club mentor.
Club Impresario is a collaborative student-based club with the goal to build a professional network for students by organising a series of events throughout the year that allow students to meet and network with like-minded entrepreneurial students, advisory mentors, prolific entrepreneurs and successful alumni and industry experts.
