KU Idea Hunt 2016 – Let your idea change the world!

Everyone of us go through a situation when we have a brilliant idea in our mind which we believe can succeed. Some of us  work on the idea and end up launching a startup to change our dream to a reality. While some ideas who had the potential to a million dollar business remain untapped. There can be various reasons for those ideas not to be implemented like lack of financial support, expert guidance, support from experienced professionals etc.

So, if you have an idea which has the potential to launch a startup, then KU Idea Hunt is the perfect event for you. KU Idea Hunt is a program that is organized by KU team for the students of Kathmandu University to identify innovative business ideas with the potential to be launched as a StartUp business. This program is organized with the intention to promote innovative thinking and entrepreneurship among the students.

There are three stages to this program.

Stage 1 (April 14th, 2016)

Announcement notice for submission of innovative business ideas: Clear guidelines for idea submission shall be provided along with the last date for submission.

• Last date for business idea submission is May 5th, 2016
• Any interested teams or individual candidates from Kathmandu University and affiliate colleges (i.e. NCM, LACM, etc) can submit their ideas.
• Maximum 20 ideas shall be selected for the next stage.
• Idea selection committee shall consist five members: Two experts from industry and Three from University.
• Students will have to come up with innovative ideas to solve social or business related problems. The ideas can be from any sector/industry.

Stage 2 (May 8th, 2016)

Evaluation Stage: Out of all the submitted ideas, 20 ideas will be shortlisted, selected and provided with the workshop for idea pitching.

• The result shall be published on May 8th, 2016
• One day workshop on Idea Pitching on May 12th, 2016

Stage 3 (May 20th, 2016)

Idea Pitching, Evaluation and Award distribution: This is the final stage of KU Idea Hunt 2016.

• An event shall be conducted where the shortlisted teams will pitch their business ideas.
• Business leaders, entrepreneurs, academicians will be invited.
• A team of experts shall be assigned for final evaluation.
• Award shall be provided to the top 5 best ideas. Certificate for all the shortlisted ideas.

We had talked to Rupesh Krishna Shrestha, Head of Idea Studio KUSOM to know about the event in detail. This is what he had to say:

Q: What are the criteria to participate in this program?

A: Idea Hunt is for KU students and alumni. It is a university wide program, so students from any discipline and affiliated colleges can take part in the event. To register, students can apply from www.ku.edu.np or www.kusom.edu.np. They just need to fill up a form. No fee is charged at any stage of the program.

Q: What is your expectation from this program?

A: We want to promote entrepreneurship and business culture among students of Kathmandu University. We want to help students to launch a startup and if they have any innovative idea which can help society at a large they can submit their ideas.

Q: How can students exploit and take the benefits from Idea Hunt 2016?

A: Through the program they can get a seed fund, mentor-ship, training, networking to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills, get managerial, technical and legal assistance. They also get a chance to participate in Idea Studio season 2 program that will broadcast in TV.

Top 5 ideas will be incubated in KUSOM Idea Studio to help launch their Start Ups. Regular Start Up consultations & mentoring during the business incubation period of 1 year will be provided to the teams. A seed fund of NRS. 20,000 will be provided to the top 5 team to launch their venture.

Cofounder of General Electric, Thomas Edison once said “The value of an idea lies in the using of it.“. So, you may never know the limit of your idea’s reach and potential until you have decided to give it a go. And besides, the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg started their now multi-billion dollar company when they were students. And you’re not different from where they were.

To submit your idea click here.