Opportunity brief
About the Event
Organized under Incub8, NITK's flagship Innovation & Entrepreneurship Fest, this business and strategy case competition by ACM Kaaryavarta challenges students to tackle real-world business bottlenecks. Participants will step into the shoes of strategic consultants and founders to dissect a core problem statement, evaluate market dynamics, and deliver an actionable strategic roadmap to an executive jury.
Eligibility & Team Composition
- Target Audience: Open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students. First- and second-year students are strongly encouraged to participate.
- Team Size: 2 to 3 members per team.
- Cross-Year Teams: Allowed.
- Inter-Specialization / Cross-Department Teams: Allowed.
- Inter-College Teams: Allowed (all members must hold valid college ID cards).
- A participant cannot be part of more than one team.
Competition Structure & Stages
Round 1: Strategy Deck Submission (Online Preliminary Round)
- Release: A detailed real-world business case / problem statement will be shared with all registered teams on the Unstop portal.
- Deliverable: Teams must submit a 3 to 5-slide presentation (excluding title and appendix slides) addressing the problem statement.
- Submission Format: PDF only (.pdf). File naming convention: TeamName_Round1.pdf.
- Evaluation Criteria: Problem diagnosis, analytical logic, depth of market research, feasibility of the proposed solution, and deck clarity.
- Shortlist: The top 20 teams will qualify for the Grand Finale.
Round 2: The Final Pitch & Boardroom Defence (Offline Grand Finale)
- Format: Live offline presentation before an esteemed panel of industry experts, venture capitalists, and faculty judges at NITK Surathkal.
- Pitch Duration:
- 5 Minutes: Pitch presentation.
- 3 Minutes: Q&A / Jury cross-examination.
- Deliverable: Teams may refine their Round 1 deck or bring an expanded pitch presentation.
- Evaluation Criteria: Persuasiveness, defense under scrutiny, implementation feasibility, and unit economics/impact potential.
Rules & Code of Conduct
- Submission Window: Late submissions will strictly not be entertained past the specified Unstop deadline.
- Originality: Plagiarism, copying frameworks verbatim from external sources, or submitting uncredited work will result in immediate disqualification. Generative AI tools may be used for preliminary research, but solutions must reflect original strategic reasoning.
- Team Roster: No changes to team composition are permitted once Round 1 submissions close.
- Offline Presence: Qualifying teams must ensure all registered members are physically present for the Round 2 Grand Finale at the designated campus venue.
- Decisions: The decisions of the organizing committee (ACM Kaaryavarta) and the judging panel are final and binding in all circumstances.