Innovator …. the new synonym for problem solving.
Tamil Nadu Student Innovator (TNSI) is the annual innovation challenge for college students organized at state level in all five regions. To select the top innovator and reward the top 25 teams with a prize of INR 1 lakh and its innovation. The event is creating entrepreneurs by scaling up the student ideas into minimum viable product and so far it has been conducted last four years.
1. Tamil Nadu Student Innovator Award (TNSI 2021)
The Fifth edition of Tamil Nadu Student Innovator Award for the year of 2021 is planning to organize all over the state in 5 regions (Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli & Madurai regions) for Innovator across Tamilnadu.
- Chennai region will be coordinated by Anna University, Guindy Campus, Chennai,
- Trichy region by Anna University Regional Campus, Trichy
- Coimbatore region by Anna University Regional Campus, Coimbatore,
- Tirunelveli region by Anna University Regional Campus, Tirunelveli
- Madurai region by Thiagaraja College of Engineering, Madurai.

Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Institute (EDII-TN) is embarking on a novel idea of reaching out to a million beneficiaries under the banner ‘Project One Million Ideas’. Since the current student population provides the pipeline of innovator and entrepreneurs in the years to come, it is proposed to target the youngsters in academic institutions by providing them awareness and motivation to kindle their minds, bringing out the best of ideas from them, handhold them and convert their ideas into prototypes and businesses, and extend the support of various schemes of the Government to eligible candidates. This is the golden ooprotunity for Innovator.
2. Stages
- Entrepreneurship Awareness programmes
- Ideation (IDEA) Camp- (Design Thinking, Business plan preparation)
- Boot Camp
- State Level Pitch
- Fellowship/Prototyping
Due to COVID 19 situation ,EDII TN has planned to organize TNSI 2021 Awareness programmes and Ideation stages has Digitized through EDII portal.
3. Awareness Creation
Innovator are the problem solvers. The Entrepreneurship awareness program has been digitized and Each & every hub will be coordinated with spoke colleges for the enrollment and completion of the program modules through Online. The program consists of seven modules and it will be implemented through online by igniting young minds through brief inspirational stories, by defining entrepreneurship, introducing entrepreneurship support system available, motivational student startup testimonials etc.,
The objective is to acquaint the students on the entrepreneurship community, government efforts & initiatives, the stakeholders, the journey from an aspirant to an entrepreneur, startup steps. A website has been developed in house for registration of Ideas. From the ideas registered in the website, 50-60 ideas from each region will be selected and the student teams will be requested to attend the Idea camp to shape up their ideas. It will be organized in all hubs. Real Innovator will get benefits out of this programme.
4. Ideation Stage
The shortlisted good ideas taken into the second stage of the contest and their ideas catalize by organizing Design Thinking workshops and Business Plan preparation. It aims to validate ideas to make them better by breaking thought patterns, understanding customer needs, the process of generating ideas for products & services in various situations & environment, and also challenging them to resolve real-time problems.
Each and every IEDP Hubs will organize the programmes to train the selected teams. From these ideas, 25 teams will be selected for
participation in the Boot Camp to be organized by the Zonal Hub.
5. Innovator Boot Camps
The 3-day boot camp (Each zone will have a boot camp) promises the aspirants to lead them in the right direction. The boot camp is expected to have 25 teams in a region (approx. 60 participants) who will have the firsthand experience from domain experts. The participants will be exposed and coached in the areas of problem-opportunity analysis, elevator pitch, business model canvas and identifying MVP criteria. Selected start-up ideas will be given an opportunity to pitch in front of mentors. The boot camp is
designed to provide the expertise needed by the participants to launch and scale their innovative business ideas. The boot camp will motivate the participants’ vision in launching and scaling a business as well as the ability to inspire investors.
The selected teams for the boot camp have to register in the respective regional hub with a registration fee of Rs.350/- per head who are need accommodation. Each team may have at most 3 members. The process will be repeated in all five zones. Each zone will shortlist and nominate 8 teams for the state-Level Pitch to be held at Chennai.
6. State level Pitch
The innovator selected from the 5 regions will participate in the State- Level Pitch to be organized by EDII at Chennai. The top 2- 5 teams from each region will be awarded Re. 1 lakh as fellowship award to convert their idea into a prototype. The teams can choose the registered incubator of their choice which has the capacity to mentor them in building their prototype.
The TNSI 2020 Grant may be given in two installments to the selected innovator. The first installment of Rs.50,000/- released upfront for the TNSI winners and the second installment of Rs.50,000/- may be released in a period of three to six months after first installment upon satisfying at least three to four of the following criteria:
- Selected teams/ innovator may submit detailed project report
- Selected teams/ innovator may showcase a Minimum Viable Product/Prototype.
- Selected teams/ innovator may submit Validation through accreditation Lab
- Selected teams/ innovator may get Certification through accredited or registered institutions.
- Selected teams/ innovator may set up the company as a startup
- Selected teams/ innovator may complete registration in GEM portal
- Selected teams/ innovator may apply patent for their innovation
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