Bangkok, 6 November 2015 – GrabBike, the app-based motorcycle service powered by the GrabTaxi mobile app, invites university students in Thailand to enter the “GrabBike Campus Challenge – Make Your Plan. Make It Happen”, from now until 18 November 2015. GrabBike Campus Challenge is part of GrabTaxi Thailand’s efforts to champion youth development and entrepreneurship in Thailand.

Students can form teams to develop a business and marketing plan on “How to increase the usage of GrabBike on university campus”. This business plan competition aims to help Thailand youth develop leadership and business skills, so that they can contribute to Thailand’s economy in the longer term.

“We want to encourage youth in Thailand to challenge themselves and apply knowledge learnt in class to real-world business problems. University students already commonly use GrabBike, as it’s convenient and affordable. By setting a topic around a service they are familiar with, we hope to give them the opportunity develop feasible business plans that they can implement – to give them real-world experience that will develop their skills and prepare them for their futures,” said Pachara Lawjindakul, Head of GrabBike/ GrabExpress Thailand.

Student teams will submit proposals and twenty teams will be shortlisted to pitch to a judging panel. Ten finalist teams will receive 20,000 baht funding to implement their business plans, and will be mentored by GrabBike business leads and other leaders in the Bangkok startup scene in a masterclass workshop, where they can learn about solving real-world business and marketing challenges. Finalist teams will also win cash prizes.

GrabBike Campus Challenge is the only business plan competition where results will be tracked in real-time, providing immediate metrics to student teams on the viability of their plans. This enables them to constantly re-evaluate what is working well, giving them the experience of how the startup and business world operates. Winners will be judged based on the metrics mapped out in their business plans.

The judging panel comprises Juthasree Kuvinichkul, Founder of GrabTaxi Thailand, Pachara Lawjindakul, Head of GrabBike/ GrabExpress, and Pavarisa Chumvigrant, Head of Marketing at GrabTaxi.

Taking part in GrabBike Campus Challenge

Registration process for students:

1. Form a team of 3-10 persons
2. Register at http://th.grabbike.com/campus from today to 18 November 2015
3. Submit a proposal on “How to increase the usage of GrabBike on university campus”

Competition timeline:

1. Today until 18th Nov 2015 – Application process and proposal submission
2. 20th Nov 2015 – 20 shortlisted teams will be announced
3. 23rd Nov 2015 – 20 shortlisted teams will pitch to the judging panel
4. 25th Nov 2015 – 10 finalist teams will be announced
5. 27th Nov 2015 – One-day workshop for 10 finalist teams, who will receive funding to implement their business plans and cash prizes
6. 30th Nov until 17th Dec 2015 – Marketing plan implementation and evaluation
7. 18 Dec 2015 – The top three winning teams will be announced and will win cash prizes

Conditions:

1. The participants must currently be studying for a Bachelor’s Degree at a university in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan or Nakornpathom
2. A team may consist of 3-10 persons from the same university. Students can be from any faculty
3. One participant can only join one team
4. After the 20 shortlisted teams are announced, the team members cannot be changed
5. Proposals should be submitted as a PowerPoint presentation (pdf file), no longer than 15 pages
6. All participating teams agree that the copyrights, ideas, marks or other rights attached to the proposals submitted for the competition shall be exclusively and irrevocably assigned to GrabBike.
7. GrabBike reserves the right to record the proceedings of the competition and the participating teams hereby release their rights with respect thereto and agree that GrabBike shall be entitled to make use of the recordings or part thereof for any purpose whatsoever without any reference to the participants.

For more information, please visit http://th.grabbike.com/campus/.

About GrabTaxi

Founded in July 2011, GrabTaxi’s mission is to revolutionize the taxi industry in Southeast Asia. Since the app was launched in 2012, over 156,000 drivers have been using smart phones equipped with GrabTaxi sophistication to accept bookings in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Available in 28 cities across 6 countries, GrabTaxi began as a taxi app but has diversified its product offering to include GrabCar and GrabBike; available via the GrabTaxi app. GrabCar is a private hire vehicle service currently available in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam. GrabBike is a motorcycle service that was launched in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. The GrabTaxi app has been downloaded for more than 8.7 million times and is the market leader in Southeast Asia.

For more information on GrabTaxi, please visit http://www.grabtaxi.com or https://www.facebook.com/GrabTaxiTH.