GenNext Solutions – a team of four students from the Indian School of Business (Mohali), comprised of Arjun Banerjee, Gurpreet Kaur, Jinal Sanghavi and Shreyas Grover. Took home the first prize of $10,000 in the inaugural A4S International Case Competition (A4SICC), held at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. Their winning idea – Hempcrete, presented a (naturally-derived) concrete mixture for use in the development of sustainable housing. Judges were unanimous in their praise for the team’s clear solution to a pressing problem – the need for affordable and sustainable housing.

The Indian School of Business team was one of 13 student teams from leading business schools and universities across four countries that competed in the competition. A team of Full Time MBA students from Rotman secured the runners-up prize of $5,000 for an idea focused on innovative financing models to improve energy efficiency in urban buildings.

The competition is managed and organized by Rotman Net Impact – the principal sustainability-focused student club at the Rotman School. The objective of the International Case Competition was to seek out disruptive business and financial models which would define the next generation of low carbon, urban infrastructure, to accommodate the massive increase in urban populations across the world over the next 20-30 years. The proposed solutions considered the design and delivery of financially viable, low carbon, and sustainable mobility systems, buildings, and civic services.

Following an initial application round with a short summary of their idea, 13 teams travelled to Toronto to compete in two successive rounds of judging. The first stage of presentations (on March 24) was evaluated by 3 panels comprising a total of 12 accomplished individuals from diverse backgrounds (such as finance, energy, and infrastructure), and organizations.

4 teams then advanced to the final round of presentations held on March 25. The teams presented to a panel of judges and had to demonstrate the impact and financial viability of their models.

Richard Blundell, Executive in Residence and Adjunct Professor at Rotman School of Management said, “We are very delighted to have hosted these teams from Europe, Canada and India. We think the winning team had a very impactful idea for the development of urban infrastructure and we look forward to hosting this competition in the years to come.”

Underlining the relevance of this exercise, Jessica Fries, Executive Chairman at A4S, said, “We need top talent to meet our global challenges. The participants of this competition have shown that is sustainability is a priority to the next generation of financial professionals, we will all benefit.”