SPARK x MGA Shark Tank – Open Innovation Challenge

is designed to empower students, innovators, developers, and early-stage founders to develop impactful real-world solutions and present them in a competitive, Shark Tank-style environment. About the Competition This challenge emphasizes innovation, execution, validation, and presentation. Participants are encouraged to move beyond mere ideas, demonstrating actual implementation, robust problem-solving abilities, technical understanding, and clear market potential. The competition offers invaluable exposure, validation, pitching experience, technical feedback, networking opportunities, and a chance to cultivate founder-level thinking. Who Should Apply This competition is open to all students and early-stage innovators. Both individual and team participation is allowed, with interdisciplinary, inter-college, and inter-specialization teams highly encouraged. Participants from any institution, specialization, domain, or background are welcome to join. Themes / Domains Participants can submit projects across a wide range of innovation domains, including but not limited to: AI & Machine Learning Robotics SaaS FinTech Healthcare IoT Sustainability Automation EdTech Social Innovation Open Innovation Solutions Competition Format The competition comprises two distinct rounds: Round 1 – Submission & Evaluation: Participants must submit an 8–10 slide pitch deck, a maximum 2-minute project video, and detailed information covering their problem statement, proposed solution, tech stack, current progress, future roadmap, and contact details. A GitHub repository link is mandatory for software projects, and a live deployed demo/website/app link is highly recommended if available. Teams will be evaluated on innovation, practical implementation, technical depth, feasibility, clarity of presentation, real-world impact, and scalability. Approximately 15–20 selected teams will advance to the final round. Round 2 – Final Shark Tank Pitch: Shortlisted teams will pitch live before a panel of judges. This round includes a live presentation/demo, a Q&A session with judges, and a comprehensive technical and business evaluation, including product validation and assessment of execution capability. Judges may ask in-depth questions about technical implementation, chosen solution approaches, system architecture, validation efforts, challenges faced, differentiation from alternatives, scalability, business models, and future milestones. Participants must demonstrate genuine involvement in building their projects, as AI usage is permitted only as an assistant tool, with full understanding and explanation required from the participants. Eligibility & Rules Open to all students and early-stage innovators. Individual and team participation is allowed, with a maximum team size of 4. All submissions must be original work; plagiarism, offensive content, or false claims will lead to immediate disqualification. Participants retain ownership of their intellectual property. Organizers reserve the right to modify timelines or formats for smooth execution. How to Apply A one-time participation fee of ₹500 per team is applicable. Registration closes on June 20, 2026. Apply via the official Google Form link provided.

encouraged.