Media Release
Bengaluru, May 2: Kanara Entrepreneurs (KE) in association with Indian Catholic Youth Movement announced the winners of Launch Pad, the second edition of the National Business Plan competition last weekend.
Launch Pad is an initiative to encourage Catholic youth in India to give wings to their aspirations of becoming an entrepreneur.
The second edition of the initiative started mid-Feb with announcements across churches in India for submitting their business plans. KE received 300+ applications, and after multiple rounds and careful evaluation, twenty (20) business plans were shortlisted for a qualifying round. KE extended support to the contestants with mentors to help them create a business pitch for the final round.
In the final round, the 20 contestants presented their business plans to the panel of entrepreneurs. It was a tough round to identify the top 5 with every business plan being so unique.
This event was witnessed by over 120 KE members and members from ICYM who had an opportunity to listen to the business pitch of the five (5) members before being awarded the prizes.
Rahul Alvares and Ritwik Saldanha, Dynamic Mavericks (1st prize – Rs 1 lac),
Christen Dsouza and Tarun Anand, Mandiboyz (2nd prize – Rs 50,000)
Novia Almedia, Pennywise (3rd prize – Rs 25,000)
Keerthana G, LiveIt awarded Rs 10,000
Ashwita Martis, Crossconnect awarded Rs 10,000 each
KE women members added glamour to the event by inviting weezal Furtado, Miss Teen Universal India 2023.
Seven (7) KE Women were felicitated for their significant achievements over past year with the KE Woman Entrepreneur Award. The awardees were Carol D’Souza (The Mangalorean), Charmaine Saldanha (Charm’s Homemade Goodness), Elizabeth Yorke (Saving Grains), Luvena Rangel (The Curvy Yogi), Dr Eliza Pereira (Insight), Mini Mohan (Reach Lives), and Uma Maheshwari (We-Mana Nutrition).
The board of directors, especially James Coelho, director memberships and his team were thanked for driving the Launch Pad successfully and to the generosity of the sponsors:
KE Launch Pad Competition
Platinum sponsor – Errol Fernandes (Rosetta Resorts)
Gold sponsors – Dr John Tharakan (BeIvy Education) and Anil Peter Rego (Brilliant Printers)
Silver sponsors - Nigel Fernandes (ATC Publishers), Ivan Fernandes (ATC Online), Naveen D’Souza (Souza Technology Services) & Roshan D’Silva (Tripvillas)
KE Woman Entrepreneur Awards
Anil and Rachna Rego (Right Horizons Financial Services Pvt Ltd), James Pinto (Elite Properties), Dr John Tharakan (Be-Ivy Education) and Clarence and Sara Pereira (Deccan Group of Companies)