Ed-tech startup ‘Skill Before Degree’ won the first prize in ‘CEO Challenge’ organized by business school Masters’ Union. The startup founded by 18-year-old Divyanshi Gupta, a student of Adarsh Jain Dharmik Shiksha Sadan, Delhi, was awarded by Ashneer Grover, former MD, BharatPe.

According to an official release, Divyanshi has been operating her educational technology startup for the past year, allowing teachers to instruct students in grades four to 10 in Vedic maths and logical reasoning. Her SAAS-based model has served more than 350 teachers and 50 students, and it has so far brought in more than Rs five lakh with profits of Rs 4.5 lakh.

“Congratulations to the Masters’ Union for developing the CEO Challenge—it is a great concept and far more effective than classroom lectures. I think it’s important that more schools and B-Schools create such platforms that add real value to the students,” Ashneer Grover, former MD, BharatPe, said.

The pan-India ‘CEO Challenge’ saw participation from over 6,500 students from more than 500 schools across 30 plus Indian cities. The competition was spread over six weeks, where high school students submitted their applications to be part of the ‘CEO Challenge’. In the first round, students participated in a 7-day-7-minute marathon that had an online MCQ-based tech and business simulation. This was followed by a four-hour-long Virtual Case Study Competition Internship, which culminated in a face-to-face round with Ashneer Grover. The top 18 applicants from across India presented their final business ideas to the Former Shark Tank India Judge Ashneer Grover, at the Masters’ Union Gurugram Campus.

“Our aim is to enable students across the country to dream beyond textbooks. Hence, our vision is to teach business by doing business. We believe that only by running a business and delving deeply into the subject matter can one learn the nuances of business,” Pratham Mittal, founder, Masters’ Union, said.

The innovative ideas in the final round involved topics like financial literacy, protecting the environment, advancing sustainable fashion, and encouraging energy conservation. Ten students have been selected to shadow CEOs of reputed companies for one day in order to gain hands-on experience in decision-making, strategy development, and other important skills.

The other winners in the top three included Raghvi Ajmera from Rockwoods International School, Udaipur, for her customized social platform “Uni-Connect”, and Adya Chouhan from Shikshantar School, Gurugram, for her FinTech startup idea “Marham”.