Chennai Hosts India's Biggest Startup Competition for High Schoolers with ₹18 Lakh Prize Pool

CHENNAI, India - May 3, 2025 - PRLog -- The National Grand Finale of Founders of Tomorrow (FoT), India's biggest startup challenge for high school students, was held in Chennai at the IVB Campus, Express Avenue on April 12, 2025. The event brought together eight of the country's most promising young student entrepreneur teams, selected from over 1200+ entries across 350 schools and 14 states.

Organized by the Institute of Venture Building (IVB), FoT is a first-of-its-kind platform where students from Classes 11 and 12 pitch real startup ideas, to get mentorship, funding, and hands-on guidance to help them turn their concepts into reality. The finale featured two rounds — a business pitch round, followed by a 60 second ad challenge where students had to script, shoot, and present a 60-second ad in just two hours.

A panel of renowned judges evaluated the finalists, including Mahalingam Krishnamurthy, founder of TSM Group (IIM Calcutta, NIT Trichy); Sameer Bharat Ram, serial entrepreneur and film producer (IIM Calcutta); Abhishek Srivastava, founder of MBATrek (ISB, Georgia Tech) and Ashank Bhandari, Product Manager at Foundit (ISB)

The national winner, a "tech freak" from Virudhunagar, stunned the judges with a live demo of his smart wearable for the visually impaired, taking home a cash prize of ₹5 lakh. With a total prize pool of ₹18 lakh, few other national finalists took home ₹3 lakh, ₹2 lakh, and ₹1 lakh. From fintech to fashion, agriculture to mobility — the pitches proved that India's youth is building for impact.

The jury lavished praise on the creativity, clarity, and entrepreneurial mindset displayed by the young participants. "The talent we saw on display today gives us hope that India's next generation of founders are already here", shared one of the panelists.

Mano and Amer, the co-founders of IVB, set the tone for the event with a witty and hard-hitting social pitch on why the traditional education system isn't working — and why new age colleges like IVB and initiatives like FoT are necessary. "There's a massive talent pool in India," they said. "We just need to give students the right exposure, ecosystem and the skills to build."

Following the huge success of its inaugural edition, IVB has officially launched Founders of Tomorrow – Season 2, which promises to be bigger, bolder, and more impactful. High school students across India can now register at www.buildwithivb.com (https://www.buildwithivb.com/founders-of-tomorrow)