The Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Madras has chosen Unified Council as the official Outreach Partner for Education-21 and the National Innovation & Entrepreneurship Olympiad. Together, we help school students explore entrepreneurship, nurture a startup mindset and convert ideas into real-life products.
Education-21 is a flagship school initiative of E-Cell IIT Madras, designed to introduce students to entrepreneurship in a structured, easy-to-understand way. Students learn what startups are, how entrepreneurs think and how ideas can be turned into meaningful solutions.
Through engaging sessions, real-life examples and guided activities, E-21 helps school students connect classroom concepts with real-world problems, making learning more practical and exciting.
NIEO is the first gateway into the E-21 journey. It is a national-level Olympiad that assesses basic problem-solving, creativity and entrepreneurial thinking among school students.
Students who perform well in NIEO are shortlisted for the next phases of E-21, where they get deeper exposure to idea generation, market understanding and prototype development with guidance from experienced mentors and IIT-Madras students.
E-21 & NIEO give school students an early head-start into entrepreneurship. Instead of only reading about businesses in textbooks, students actually experience how ideas, teams, markets and products come together to form a startup.
Participants gain confidence, improve communication and presentation skills, learn to work in teams and get feedback from mentors. Selected students also get a chance to showcase their prototypes during the E-Summit at IIT Madras, along with recognition, certificates and exciting opportunities.
The programme is open to school students from Classes 6 to 12. Schools can encourage students across different grades to participate and discover their interest in innovation and entrepreneurship.
Students can join individually or in small teams. Working in teams helps them learn collaboration, leadership and how to combine different strengths to build a stronger idea or solution.
After NIEO, shortlisted students move through different phases such as ideation, market understanding and building a basic prototype. In each phase, they receive guidance on how to refine their ideas, understand user needs and present their solution clearly.
This journey ensures that students don’t just stop at “thinking of an idea”, but actually move step-by-step towards creating a solution that can work in the real world.
Unified Council will work closely with E-Cell IIT Madras to reach schools across India and help students access E-21 and NIEO. With years of experience in academic and talent-based Olympiads, Unified Council will support schools in understanding the structure, registration process and benefits of this unique entrepreneurship initiative.
Schools already associated with Unified Council can now offer their students an additional pathway focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, complementing their existing academic Olympiads.