KPMG Ideation Challenge 2022 Comes To A Grand End With We School Mumbai Team Shining Bright

KPMG in India is one of the leading providers of risk, financial and business advisory, tax and regulatory services, internal audit, and corporate governance having a domestic client base of over 2700 companies. Guided by their passion and purpose of assimilating innovative approaches and expertise to deliver remarkable outcomes, KPMG envisions to make a real difference across business ecosystems. And when it comes to protecting the Earth, KPMG aims to drive the younger generation to bring new ideas that could change the world for the better.

With its Ideation Challenge, KPMG provided a unique experience to students to stretch their limits and foray into the uncharted areas. Here is a peek into the Grand Finale of the KPMG Ideation Challenge 2022. Let's first take a quick review of the competition structure.

Stages and structure of KPMG Ideation Challenge 2022

KPMG Ideation Challenge 2022 invited disruptive solutions focussed towards ‘carbon neutrality’ from teams consisting of members from diverse disciplines i.e STEM and Business. All the students pursuing full-time undergraduate/bachelor’s degree/post-graduate programs with at least one year remaining of their studies were eligible to participate.

At the outset, 14,041 students across disciplines registered for the event which tapered down to 461 teams that made their way into the first round (Virtual Prelims) after the screening stage that was the Team Introduction Video Submission Round. To assess the merit in the ideas of the students in a stepwise manner, the competition consisted of the following rounds:

Rounds	Name of the Round	Details
Round 1	Virtual Prelims	Qualified teams were required to elaborate on their idea for the problem statement and submit a presentation in the designated format. Submissions were screened by a panel from KPMG in India and the shortlisted teams made their way to the semi-finals. Bonus: The first few entries were eligible for early bird prizes from KPMG in India. 17 teams were shortlisted for the next round.
Round 2	Virtual Semi-Finals	The 17 shortlisted teams were mentored by professionals from KPMG in India for presenting their idea to a KPMG jury. Winners of the semi-finals proceeded to the final round. 7 teams made it to the Finals.
Round 3	Virtual National Finale	Teams worked closely with KPMG in India professionals to further hone their idea. This was followed by a final presentation of their finished prototype to the Grand Finale jury.

Esteemed Jury Panel of the Grand Finale

After the two heart-thumping and thrilling rounds, it was time for the grandest of all -The Virtual National Finale. The event started with a welcome note and a quick overview of the competition by Yogja Singh, Campus Recruitment Lead, KPMG India who passed on the mike to the members of the esteemed jury for their introduction. The jury consisted of :

Ramendra Verma, Partner, India Global
Ritesh Tiwari, Partner, Forensic CCS
Anuj Kumar, Director, Digital Lighthouse
Aditya Rath, Partner, Transformation C&O
Karan Marwah, Partner, CFO Adv-Finance Advisory
Anish De, Partner, Global Sector Head, Power & Utilities at KPMG
Biswajit Das, Director, Digital Lighthouse
Ashish Ranjan, Associate Director, ESG

Get Set Go!

The seven teams that made it to the finale put up their best performances and presented their path-breaking ideas to the jury. Every idea opened up new ways to bring down the CO2 emissions and transit towards a healthier earth. The seven mind-blowing teams were:

Team Name	Name/College
ALJKAS	Abhishek Bhujabal, Lipilipsa Harichandan, Jeevan Bikash Dash, Kiran Kannan, Ladi Amarnath Patro, Shalini Bhalla. Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai (WeSchool)
CARBON 6	BS Meghma, Anurag Bhattacharya, Ayush Tripathi, Ayush Sharma, Ayush Kumar Jha, Hritwik Ranjan-IIT (ISM) Dhanbad
Carbon, Abhi Baaki Hai Mere Dost	Sarthak Sharma, Samarth Gudwala, Namrata Kamat, Drishti Bhasin(IIT Roorki); Sarthak Solanki (Hindu College, DU), Krishna Wadhwa (IIM Bangalore)
K-2	Mrinal Kumar, Harsh Kumar Tomar, Garima Sachan, Vivek Manchala-IIM Kozhikode
No_Team	Gaurav Chanchal, Atul Bola, Ikshita Agarwal, Priyank Mundra, Tanisha Panda, Shriyanshu Sinha-IIT Kharagpur
Santana	Gaurav Jagdish Aswani (Hassaram Rijhumal College of Commerce and Economics,Mumbai), Arjun Seal (Mukesh Patel School Of Technology, Management and Engineering Mumbai), Ronal Matai (IIT Bombay), Mausam Modi (Hassaram Rijhumal College of Commerce and Economics,Mumbai)
Transformers	Dhrumin Patel, Pratik Sawant, Kumar Pallav, Devashish Sharma, Shreya Ishani, Saumya Agarwal-NMIMS Mumbai

The teams put forward their presentations which was followed by a comprehensive 10 minutes Q&A round. To make the grand finale session even more exciting, it was peppered with engagements such as Rapid Fire questions with jury members by the participants and an informative session on Personal Branding and Consulting Skills.

And the final announcement……

After an engaging session, the final results were declared and Team ALJKAS from Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai (WeSchool) swooped to the top of the tally. They pitched an idea regarding 3D printed floor tiles made from carbon black recovered from discarded tyres that would reduce about 100 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Team Carbon 6 from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) (ISM), Dhanbad stood second. Their idea was about introducing a carbon-currency and establishing a carbon-credit economy in years to come.

The top two teams received cash prizes worth INR 8 lakhs and guaranteed internship with KPMG in India. National champions also got a chance to attend a virtual celebratory and global networking event and will represent India at 2022 Global KPMG Ideation Challenge.

KPMG Ideation Challenge provided wings to ideas that solve pressing real-world issues

KPMG Ideation Challenge 2022 provided an interesting opportunity for future leaders to make a substantial difference in the world we live in. Sunit Sinha, Partner and Head – People, Performance and Culture, KPMG in India said,

“As part of our commitment to lifelong learning, the KPMG Ideation Challenge is also an opportunity for KPMG to provide future leaders with a unique and highly valuable learning experience and make them business-ready professionals and see first-hand how we cultivate a culture of creativity and collaboration. This Challenge is a unique platform that encourages the students to think out of the box and suggest innovative and result-oriented technology solutions that solve pressing, real-world issues facing business and society. We continue to be inspired by the excellent potential and talent each team brings to the KPMG Ideation Challenge.”

He conveyed his heartfelt congratulations to the winning team from WeSchool, Mumbai for their brilliant performance in this competition and wished them the very best for representing the country at the 2022 Global KIC event.

Shreeya Thakur

Sr. Associate Content Writer at Unstop

I am a biotechnologist-turned-content writer and try to add an element of science in my writings wherever possible. Apart from writing, I like to cook, read and travel.

Updated On: 21 Apr'22, 06:00 PM IST