Over 150 social entrepreneurs to compete for Social Entrepreneur of the Year India Award 2015

MUMBAI: Over 150 social enterprises across India will be vying for the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) 2015 award, the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship announced on Tuesday.

The majority of the candidates are from the education sector (55%), followed by the health sector (51%). Education, health, rural development, environment, water and enterprise development are the top six sectors in order of their ranking.

56% of the applications have on-ground experience of more than 10 years. Only 1% of the applications received are 1-2 years old. This indicates that 99% of the applications demonstrate large scale impact in their fields.

This time around, 59% of first round applicants for the SEOY India Awards 2015 nominations are first-time applicants. The west region leads the nominations with 35% applications, followed by North and South with 24% each and the East with 14% nominations. Maharashtra and New Delhi accounts for 23% of the nominees, followed by Gujarat with 8%.

The Jubilant Bhartia Foundation partnered with the Schwab Foundation in 2010 to conduct the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) Award in India. 2015 marks the sixth year of partnership to recognise promising and successful social entrepreneurs, with excellence in large-scale, system change models.

This award provides a platform for the winner to interact with leading global & Indian social entrepreneurs, build global networks and meet industry leaders at the World Economic Forum events. The winner will be announced on November 3.