EO Announces GSEA National Winner - Sapan Kadakia will represent India in GSEA World Finals in USA

The national winner will advance to the 2011 GSEA World Finals in NYSE, New York for the opportunity to engage with world class entrepreneurs, receive media exposure, win cash prize and share over $150,000 in donated business services.

30 National winners from around the world will compete for the title of Top Student Entrepreneur in the World at the New York Stock Exchange on November 17th 2011. To get there, the finalists have surpassed more than 1,800 nominees who participated in National finals in over 40 countries around the world.

“The EO - GSEA India finals is the first big scale event organised to recognise undergraduate student entrepreneurial spirit and help propel its growth”, Vikram Mohan, President of EO Coimbatore Chapter, which organised the premier event said. “The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards offers our student generation a tremendous opportunity to showcase not only their academic excellence but also their business insight. It represents the greatest hope for our economy and society. These students are leveraging their own creativity and innovation to bring new ideas into the marketplace and create new jobs.”

“We were overwhelmed to find hundreds of inspiring student entrepreneurship stories cutting across various sunrise sectors such as in Science, Technology /IT, Engineering, Media/Advertising, Sports Manufacturing, Finance and in Education/Consulting businesses vying for the top slot before we shortlisted and choose the winner from 30 finalists.” Vikram Mohan added.

Sapan Kadakia, MCO marketing, from Ahmedabad, Suraj Krishnan Mark & Make from Pune, Mohammad Asif, Jazaa Financial Advisory from Delhi, Durgesh Nandan, Automotion Ads, Lucknow, Animesh Sarangi, Amazing Youth from Orissa, emerged as top five student entrepreneurs by afternoon.

The top five had a tough round to show case their business potential. Along the winner Sapan, first runner up Durgesh Nandan of Automotion Ads, Lucknow and Second Runner up Animesh Sarangi of Amazing Youth, Orissa were also declared..

The judges were Anil Sivadas, Chairman Enventure Technology Services, Anupam Thareja, Founder and Managing Director of PHI Advisors, Ashok Bakthavathsalam Managing Director K G Informations Systems, Jayadev Galla, Co-Founder Amara Raja Group,Kavitha Varadaraj, Managing Director Primero Intimates & Sr VP FICCI Ladies Organisation, Manav Goyal, Executive Director, Adyar Gate Hotels, Padmaja Nair, GM FIBU (SBI), Vikram Ramakrishnan Managing Director, Thinking Palm, & Founder Linkstreet Learning.

In 2010, nearly 2000 students from 44 countries were nominated to the GSEA. Over the course of 5 months, the students participated in rigorous regional competitions that brought the field down to the top 30 “dorm room entrepreneurs.” These students converged at the GSEA Global Finals at the Kauffman Foundation during Global Entrepreneurship Week in Kansas City, MO last week. Spanning all industry sectors, these student-run companies earned annual revenues ranging from $20,000 to $3 million.