India-wide release, August 2023: After its success last year, entrepreneur and angel investor – well-known as the founder of Shaadi.com – Anupam Mittal has announced the return of the unique social-media-driven DreamDeal initiative to not only ignite an entrepreneurial spirit amongst the Indian youth and the less privileged sections of society but also give further impetus to it. Through the second iteration of this initiative, Mittal seeks to empower aspiring entrepreneurs of any genre with grants and funding up to ₹ 1,00,000/- as well as provide invaluable mentorship to them and support their ideas to take flight.
DreamDeal is a first-of-its-kind platform that aims to boost India’s prolific start-up culture and democratise entrepreneurship by unlocking opportunities for the masses to explore their entrepreneurial ideas and see them come to fruition. In its second edition this year, the DreamDeal Reel Challenge gives participants as young as 13 years of age a chance to pitch their creative and fresh business ideas in a 30 seconds Instagram reel. They also have to illustrate the X (what is the idea?), Y (why do they want to do it?) and Z (how will they utilise the grant) in their pitches.
The ideas pitched will be evaluated based on novelty and innovation as well as their potential impact, alongside the likes and engagement the reel receives. Ten of the best ideas will be selected out of the entries received. And from the selected pitches, the 1st place winner will receive a grant of ₹ 1 lakh with mentorship from Anupam Mittal. The runners-up in the 2nd and the 3rd place will receive ₹ 75K, respectively, along with mentorship, while the remaining seven selected participants will be a part of a group mentorship session.
Talking about the initiative, Anupam Mittal – Founder & CEO of People Group, said, “The sheer talent that came forward to pitch their ideas through DreamDeal last year left me amazed. It is no secret that India is teeming with enthusiastic and talented young individuals passionate about positively impacting society at large with their entrepreneurial pursuits. By bringing back DreamDeal, my goal is to extend micro-grants and mentorship to more people and inspire and empower them to take their first steps in their entrepreneurial journeys.”
The previous edition saw over 200 entries cutting across more than 20 sectors, including Agriculture, FinTech, Automobile, Biotechnology, Robotics, Childcare, Construction, Real Estate, Sports, Pharmaceuticals, and Tourism, amongst many others. The winners of last year’s edition were – Mohammed Anees, who envisioned creating an affordable, user-friendly drug delivery device for wart patients, Jatan Wani and Manas Koli, a biotechnologist duo proposing to make 100% biodegradable mushroom leather and Dhaval Nai, who aimed to create a chai glass washing machine and supply it to restaurants, vendors and cafes across India to resolve their time, hygiene and cost-related issues.
A ‘shark’ of Shark Tank India, Anupam was always keen on supporting entrepreneurs of any genre and helping them explore various entrepreneurial avenues. And he had brought forth the DreamDeal initiative to encourage and nurture the entrepreneurial talent present in every nook and corner of India and provide their ideas with fertile ground to take root.
