Edupreneur Quest is an initiative of in partnership with

Who are the organizers?

Villgro supports social entrepreneurs across stages of their entrepreneurial lifecycle by inspiration, mentoring, funding, and incubation – helping transform ideas into a reality. Programs include Unconvention, SEED, EIR, Incubation, Fellowship.

Central Square Foundation is a not for profit organization focused on driving improvement in the quality of K-12 education in India. The three pillars of our theory of change are entrepreneurship, networking and policy reform.

Why eQ?

India’s education sector needs new edupreneurs to use their ideas, passion, and skills to implement innovative solutions to the existing equity and quality challenges.

eQ’s vision:

• Strengthen the education entrepreneurship ecosystem by bringing new edupreneurs into the sector and encouraging the continued development of early career edupreneurs

• Identify and support effective and scalable projects to improve education for the bottom of the pyramid in India

Why participate?Edupreneur Quest gives you the opportunity to access guidance and funding that will help you make your vision for improving K-12 education a reality.

• Win up to Rs. 50,000 for an existing project or up to Rs. 30,000 for a new one

• Receive guidance on your project: online resources, feedback, webinar trainings, mentoring

• Have your idea heard• Pitch at InspirED in Delhi: share your idea with a distinguished panel of

investors, foundation representatives, and other industry professionals and an audience dedicated to improving education

• Be considered for participation in any of CSF or Villgro’s other programs subject to mutual fit

What are the program tracks?New Non-Profit

*Planning to register as a trust, society, or section 8

*Not operational – idea stage*No sales

*Demonstrable clarity of thought on idea, why it is needed, and who the beneficiary is

Existing Non-Profit*Registered or soon to register as a trust,

society, or section 8*< 2years of operations

*Some sales or demonstrable results through formal pilots

*Plan for growth and scale based on prior learnings and implementations

New For-Profit*Planning to register as private limited

*Not operational – idea stage*No sales

*Demonstrable clarity of thought on idea, why it is needed, and who the beneficiary is

Existing For-Profit*Registered or soon to register as private

limited*<2 years of operations

*Some sales or demonstrable results through formal pilots

*Plan for growth and scale based on prior learnings and implementations

What are the focus areas?

High Quality Affordable Schools

Focuses on building excellent affordable schools through innovations in curriculum, technology, tools, systems and processes

Human Capital DevelopmentFocuses on building the capacity of both

teachers and schools leaders, with an emphasis on helping children from

marginalised communities learn at grade level

Technology in EducationFocuses on improving student learning

outcomes by establishing new teaching and learning models, and strengthening the levers that will enable the integration of

technology in education

School AccountabilityFocuses on establishing structures to

promote accountability and strengthen the capacity of every stakeholder responsible for

learning

What is the process?

Who is eligible? • The project should focus on providing innovative and scalable solutions to the

K-12 education needs of the bottom of the pyramid in India. Vocational training projects are not eligible.

• Individuals or teams of up to 4 members may apply.

• An individual may only be part of one team. A team may only submit one application.

• Entrepreneurs who are already receiving funding from CSF or Villgro are not

eligible.

• Existing organizations may have become operational no more than two years prior to November 25, 2013.

• Applicants may not have raised greater than Rs. 1 crore (grants, debt, equity, etc.) towards their project.

What are we looking for? Scalability

Business feasibility

Ability to adapt and learn

Relevant skill sets of team

Commitment

Need

Execution ability of team

Passion

Clarity of thought

It’s ok if you haven’t fully proved all the answers! We want to understand your thought process and plans for getting the answers. How will you test your hypotheses and model?

Innovation

What to avoid?• Forgetting to “sell” the team: At such an early stage, we are looking for people

who can execute! Your model will change, so we want entrepreneurs who can adapt. Why is each team member crucial to the organization, and what experience can they bring to the table?

• Being too general:• The need: Be sure your answer is specific. The judges know that education

inequity exists, or that lack of teacher training is a pervasive challenge. Focus on the heart of the problem and what specifically your solution addresses.

• Customer segments: Who are all of the potential customers, and which ones will you target? “All children in India” is too broad.

• Your plans for research and implementation: Offer concrete steps for researching and piloting your idea (new projects), real examples of what you have learned through research or operations (existing projects), and achievable near-term action items.

Edupreneur Quest is an initiative of in partnership with

Further questions?

For any additional questions please contact edupreneurquest@centralsquarefoundation.org.

Remember to submit your applications by November 25, 2013.

Thank you for joining us for the webinar. Please stay in touch!

facebook.com/CentralSquareFoundation

twitter.com/CSF_India

https://www.facebook.com/villgro

https://twitter.com/Villgro