The Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition

The Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competitionâ„¢ is being organized In Honour of Vice President & Nobel Laureate Al Gore, For Planet Earth & Future Generations.

It is the brainchild of Oopali Operajita, CEO, Cicero, A Trans National Advisory, a Senior Political and International Affairs Adviser to several of India’s prominent political leaders and a former Distinguished Faculty Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, USA. The competition brings MBAs, Science & Technology undergraduate (Final year) and graduate students to create new sustainable and clean technologies and market them through innovation and entrepreneurship. It invites students from India’s apex institutes of engineering, science and technology, and management, such as its fabled IITs, IIMs and NITs to come up with new and renewable sustainable technology business plans to combat climate change and fortify India’s — and, by analogy, the world’s — crucial energy security. This is a pan India event which would propel an entire generation of India’s best and brightest students into thinking of climate change mitigation and coming up with alternative energy solutions for the future of humankind on our endangered planet. Schools may send up to two representative teams to the competition.

The business plan must meet traditional return-on-investment and profitability standards, while demonstrating eco-friendliness and eco-sensitivity by increasing sustainability. Approximately eight qualifying teams will be selected to make their presentation and compete at the Finals in the host/partner institution. The panel of judges will be composed of eminent faculty, venture capitalists and industrialists. Cash Prizes of Rs.1,00,000 and Rs. 70,000 will be awarded to the winners & runners up. They will also get the opportunity to interact with top tier venture capitalists.

ASSOCHAM and IIT Kharagpur are Official Partners and Mercedes-Benz India is the official sponsor of the competition. Visit http://www.iitkgp.ac.in, http://www.assocham.org and http://www.mercedes-benz.co.in for more details.

The competition is scheduled for November 6-7, 2009, at IIT Kharagpur, India. Deadline for electronic submission of business plans is October 10, 2009. Visit the official website of the competition at http://www.cicerotransnational.com/agstvc.html. You can also follow the competition on Facebook and Twitter.