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Seed for Change (SFC) Competition

STUDENTS Seed for Change Competition

An annual student competition to develop new entrepreneurial projects for India and Pakistan that aim to positively impact social, economic, and environmental issues.

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The Seed for Change competition is made possible by a generous grant from KP Balaraj MBA ’97 and Sumir Chadha MBA ‘97.

Through the Seed for Change (SFC) Program, the Mittal Institute fosters and supports the development of a healthy, vibrant ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in both India and Pakistan. Each year, the Mittal Institute holds this competition to identify and reward interdisciplinary student projects that positively impact social, economic, and environmental issues in India and Pakistan.

To bring new, substantive ventures and ideas to the region, the program prioritizes projects that are in the early stages of development, rather than start-ups that have already received financial support. Through this program, numerous entrepreneurial ventures have sprouted in Pakistan and India and continue to positively impact the lives of those who reside there.

The program has helped to build an enriching experience that provides our students with opportunities to receive mentorship from prestigious Harvard faculty, interact with esteemed entrepreneurs from South Asia, and the funding to make their projects a reality on the ground in South Asia.

2022 Seed for Change Winners

India Electric Rehri - Carts for Street Vendors Gauri Nagpal Graduate School of Design, Class of 2023

e-Rehri is working towards providing affordable, electric and modular carts for street vendors in Indian cities, making the daily delivery of fresh produce efficient for both the vendors and the consumers alike. Electric vehicle technology is retrofitted to traditional Indian street carts, creating an incremental and affordable transition to green energy. Using this method, any existing cart can be transformed into an electric vehicle while retaining its ability to function as a mechanical tricycle cart.

Electric Rehri - Carts for Street Vendors.

Pakistan Zhuu Fruits - Agricultural-tech Startup Nosher Ali Khan Harvard College, Class of 2024

Zhuu Fruits is an agricultural-tech startup that facilitates logistics, branding, packaging and online retail to ensure farm-to-table service for fruits in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Zhuu Fruits will be working with local farmers to ensure that their produce is compensated fairly, customers get the highest quality fresh fruit and there is minimal post-harvest loss. India Rehnuma - Capacity-building and Research Lab for School Principals, by Principals Jonathan Frank Mendonca Graduate School of Education, Class of 2022

Rehnuma works with motivated school principals to find simple ways that improve the quality of education in under-resourced schools by using limited resources effectively and leveraging their community. Rehnuma documents these sustainable best practices into short courses and partners with largescale NGOs, such as Teach for India, to coach and support principals from similar contexts as they implement these practices.

Scholars

Clockwise from top left:

Affiliates gather for a research presentation; Confrontations (2017) by VAF Bunu Dhungana; Ashutosh Varshney; GSA Ronak Jain at the Mittal office; Asghari Begum seating in kitchen – Peeray circa 1940 by VAF Mehwish Abid; Navneet (2020) by VAF Pragati Jain; Vidya Subramanian with STS Fellows at HKS; Sehj Kashyap with the Mittal Institute Delhi team.

Clockwise from top left:

The Mittal Institute serves as an active platform for connecting faculty and students from across Harvard and other U.S. academic institutions with scholars, public and private organizations, and governments in South Asia.

Adjust (2021) by VAF Pragati Jain; VAF alum Sunanda Khajuria presents at the Mittal Institute Delhi office; a visitor looks through VAF Mehwish Abid’s interactive exhibit; Jinah Kim; Graduate Student Associate Tina Liu’s research on agricultural fires and air pollution; a speaker at the Institute’s Bangladesh Rising Conference.

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