From February 27th to March 1st 2014, on behalf of Shantou University, GreenPak, the only team from China, participated in The mai Bangkok Business Challenge ® @ 2014 Sasin, which was held by the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University and the Market for Alternative Investment (mai) under The Stock Exchange of Thailand group. After careful preparation and outstanding performance, GreenPak won The "Highest Spirited" and favor of many VCS.
【Competition Introduction】
The mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin 2014 began in 2002 as the Bangkok Business Challenge® (BBC). Sasin launched this business plan competition, the first in Thailand to be conducted in English, to celebrate Sasin’s 20th anniversary and to encourage post-graduate students in business administration programs around the country to present their business plans and compete for His Majesty The King’s Award. It has been held every year since then. For the fifth year of the competition in 2007, the Market for Alternative Investment (mai) became a co-host, and since then the competition has been called The mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin. This event is the only global business plan competition in Thailand. This year’s competition is sponsored by The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), Kiatnakin Bank Public Co., Ltd., Money Channel, and Tesco Lotus with Mc Group Plc. and The Venture Labs Investment Competition as event partners.
This year’s theme is “Seeds of Success for a Sustainable Future.” Graduate students in business administration programs from around the world will not only be competing for the prestigious His Majesty The King’s Award, but will also have the opportunity to win prizes worth over US$114,000.
【Our Team】
GreenPak team, from Shantou University, consists of five graduates and an inventor from science school, business school and engineering school who have the capacity for scientific research and market expanding. They are Hui Ling, Mingyuan Ma, Xuanzhu Chen from Business school, Rongzong Li from College of Science, Zhenyu Zhang from Engineering College. We also have experienced advisors, Kng Wu, Qiang Liang and Chanchal Singh, to guide us. This program has gained support from STU Science School and The Li Ka Shing Foundation who have generously offered a lot of help on soft and hard wares.
GreenPlus is our company. Using a dominant fungus grown in South China and common biological wastes as raw materials, it produces environmentally-friendly materials which can be used as cushion package, flower cultivation and sound & thermal insulation. GreenPak is also the name of our main product, cushion package. Its low producing cost makes it more competitive.
【Competition Experience】
This year, for the first round of the competition, a total of 48 business plans from 13 countries, across 4 continents were submitted. What makes it more impressive is that the venture plan competition has earned attention from world class universities, such as Shantou University from China, Rice University, University of Oregon and Cornell University from the U.S.A., Indian School of Business from India, Prasetiya Mulya Business School from Indonesia, Queensland University of Technology from Australia, and the Technical University of Denmark among others. Only the winning team will receive His Majesty The King’s Award, but all of the teams will compete for a variety of prizes with a total value of US$114,000. From this year, the
winning team will also receive an automatic berth in the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition at The University of Texas at Austin, in the U.S.A., the “Super Bowl” of business plan competitions.
Sixteen teams from ten countries, including Commonwealth of Australia, United States of America, Kingdom of Denmark, Republic of Singapore, Republic of India, People’s Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan), People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Republic of Indonesia and Kingdom of Thailand, have qualified for the semi-final round. Most of the business plans this year involve technology and products that are environmentally friendly and socially beneficial.
All the 16 teams were divided into the 4 groups. GreenPak was in Group B, with LumiLife Co., Inc. from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, Jeevan Dhara from XLRI Jamshedpur, India, A-76 Corrosion Inhibitors from Rice University, U.S.A. After fierce competition, Lemna Cropping System from Queensland University of Technology, Commonwealth of Australia was the winner.
GreenPak team had been benefited a lot. The mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin 2014 provided an international platform in which institutions offering graduate programs in business administration in Thailand, Asia and the rest of the world can compete, learn from each other and foster stronger relationships. Except for knowing more about the specific business planning, the
presentation techniques and the spirit of this competition, entrepreneurial spirit and sustainability, we also had a chance to understand local customs of Thailand. At the same time, the experience strengthened the interaction of our school with the international top business schools, promoted Shantou University to the world, and gained valuable experience.
Finally, we have to thank Shantou University, the Li Ka Shing Foundation, coaches, and all other people who have given us help and support.
You can find details of schedule from the following appendixes.
Video：http://tv.stu.edu.cn/mai2014video.html
