Two teams from MOP Vaishnav College win top honours at Tamil Nadu Global Startup Summit 2025

CHENNAI: Women entrepreneurs in Tamil Nadu are increasingly driving ideas that merge innovation with social impact, marking a shift in how the state’s youth engage with problem-solving and enterprise. 

Reflecting this trend, two teams from Chennai emerged as top winners for a competition formed part of the Tamil Nadu Global Startup Summit 2025 initiative, which seeks to nurture early-stage innovators and strengthen the state’s startup ecosystem by linking student ideas to industry mentorship and funding opportunities. 

The winning teams from MOP Vaishnav College received their awards during the Tamil Nadu Global Startup Summit 2025, held at the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex, Coimbatore.

The two-day summit served as a major convergence point for the state’s innovation network, bringing together over 50,000 founders, investors, policymakers, and entrepreneurs from across India. 

It featured exhibitions, panel discussions, and live pitch sessions highlighting the role of startups in advancing Tamil Nadu’s vision for sustainable development, women’s empowerment, and digital transformation.

First Prize: Mannin Mannan – The King of the Soil

Thivya Sree, 2nd year, B.Com Finance and Taxation, won the first prize and a cash award of Rs 1.5 lakh for her startup idea Mannin Mannan (King of the Soil).

Her project proposes a compact torrefaction unit that converts cotton stalk residues, commonly burnt in farmlands, into bio-coal and biochar.The innovation aims to provide Tamil Nadu’s farmers with a cleaner and more affordable alternative to residue burning, helping reduce air pollution and improve soil fertility. 

“The existing alternatives cost around Rs 20 crore and are inaccessible to small farmers,” Thivya explained to Edex.

“I wanted to design something affordable and scalable. Hence, this mini torrefaction unit brings down the cost to about Rs 2 lakh.”

She said her idea was inspired by the agricultural challenges faced in cotton-growing districts such as Namakkal, Salem, and Virudhunagar.

Second Prize: Kala Arivu – Empowering Women Artisans

The second prize of Rs 75,000 was awarded to Team Kala Arivu, comprising Smriti and Amritha Valli, third-year B.Sc. Computer Science students. Their startup idea promotes a cooperative model for women artisans engaged in weaving koodai (handwoven) bags, enabling them to access fair pricing and wider markets. 

Smriti explained, "We noticed that handcrafted koodai bags were being sold for high prices internationally, while the women who made them here were earning very little."

Kala Arivu would connect these artisans under a cooperative system where they focus on weaving, and we handle branding, marketing, and sales, Amritha added.

Their 60-second video pitch, submitted as part of the Instagram Reel Challenge, was shortlisted among 24 entries.