Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2016-17, a joint initiative of the Tata group and the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C), entered its 5th year. This programme celebrated India’s most promising early-stage social enterprises, which could bring about long-term solutions to India’s social needs. This year’s edition received over 600 registrations from across India, out of which 214 met all the eligibility criteria and moved to the next round of the competition. The winner of this year TSEC is Pentavalent Bio Sciences Private Limited from Bangalore , the 1st runner up is Arogya Medtech Pvt. Ltd from Kolkata and Bombay Hemp Company Pvt. Ltd (BOHECO) from Mumbai emerged as 2nd runner up. The receiving prize money are Rs. 2.5 lakh, Rs. 2 lakh and Rs. 1.5 lakh, respectively.

As per Tata Spokesperson, Mr. Atul Agarwal and CEO of IIM Innovation Park, Mr. Subhrangshu Sanyal, all the 20 finalists will get the mentoring support. All teams shortlisted for the semi-finals and finals are given an opportunity to pitch to India’s largest social VCs for seed funding. The top 20 teams will be given an opportunity to pitch for incubation at IIM Calcutta.