The “Startup Garage hackathon” designed to provide real-world exposure to entrepreneurship on April 27 and 28, 2024, co-created by IIM Calcutta, the Innovation Park of IIMC, and supported by Meity. The event saw Batch 18 actively participating over 2 days, working overnight in a lock-down mode to develop top startup ideas, participate in investor simulations, learn from mentorship sessions, and deliver final pitch to a jury of industry experts. 3 startups emerged victorious after rigorous evaluation, earning the title of Startup Garage 2024 champions. Winning Idea was Easy Toys, which even had a category web page design. The 1st Runner-Up was Insta Dine with its winning validation surveys, followed by the 2nd Runner-Up, which was Howdy.
| Name | Designation | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Subhrangshu Sanyal | CEO – IIM Calcutta Innovation Park | I believe executive MBA courses should follow experiential learning pedagogy so that the students may connect theory with real-world situations. The objective of the” Startup Garage" initiative was exactly that, and it provided students hands-on exposure to the initial phases of a startup journey. I loved the interaction as a facilitator and was astounded by the students' inventiveness and zeal. I will be very happy if some of these startup ideas make it to the market. |
 | Gaurav Kapoor | Chief Business Officer – IIM Calcutta Innovation Park | The Startup Garage hackathon was an incredible journey of collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit. Designed and executed for IIM Calcutta by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park this 36 hour non-stop initiative witnessed 80 brilliant MBA-Ex students (Batch of 2025) from IIM Calcutta come together to solve real-world challenges. The energy, creativity, and passion displayed were inspiring and a testament to the power of collective thinking. It was immensely rewarding to create an environment where ideas could transform into impactful solutions. The key takeaways for the participants were profound and multifaceted. Through the hackathon, students honed their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills while experiencing the dynamics of working in diverse teams under time constraints. They gained hands-on exposure to pitching ideas, developing innovative solutions, and receiving constructive feedback from industry experts. Most importantly, they walked away with a deeper understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset—embracing challenges, learning from failures, and transforming ideas into viable opportunities. This meaningful experience was made possible through the seamless integration of efforts between the IIM Calcutta MBA-Ex community and the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park team. By combining diverse perspectives and leveraging collective strengths, we created a platform that truly empowered the students to think big & out of the box, act boldly, and pave the way for impactful innovations. |
Here is the list of the winners:
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Winner: Lazy Toys Group members: 1. Saurabh Agrawal 2. Abha Mehta 3. Rajan 4. Saghan Agrawal 5. Rohan Sant 6. Dharam Pratap Singh 7. Santasri |  |
| 1st runner up - Instadine 1. Ranjit 2. Srinivas 3. Deepti 4. Teja 5. Namit 6. Abhinav 7. Rajat |  |
| 2nd Runner up - Howdy 1. Aryan Adya 2. Anshu Sinha 3. Ajay Thomas Matthew 4. Nikhil Kumar 5. Prateek Gandhi |  |