Aditi crowned top entrepreneur

Student ready to turn her business plan into reality

A YOUNG STUDENT from the SP Jain Centre of Management in Dubai Academic City has been named the winner of the third Big Start student entrepreneur competition.

Aditi Sen’s idea of a social enterprise to provide animal-assisted therapy for psychologically ill patients took top honours in the contest.

She is now set to receive full funding, mentoring and support to establish her business in partnership with contest organiser Al Tamimi Investments (ATI).

Competing against 78 other submissions, Aditi spent the last nine months developing her idea into viable and comprehensive business plans.

The Big Start programme tested the students’ business acumen and entrepreneurial aptitude through a series of evaluations that included conducting feasibility studies, writing business plans, one-on-one mentoring sessions and presentations.

Aditi is pursuing an MBA specialising in contemporary marketing at the SP Jain Centre of Management. She beat fellow finalists Nur Amer and Maher Jabri, from the American University of Sharjah (AUS) and Middlesex University Dubai, respectively.

“This is a dream come true!” said Aditi. “The last nine months have been exhausting. I have been juggling an intensive one-year MBA course between Dubai and Singapore as well as working hard to put together a viable plan for my business idea. It’s really exciting to see all this hard work pay off finally.”

To find out more about The Big Start competition, visit www.thebigstart.ae.