What happens when you bring 8,000+ of India’s brightest young minds from 600+ unique colleges to share disruptive ideas on how Swiggy can become the ultimate go-to food companion on campus?
Swiggy’s inaugural Student Case Study Competition- Food For Thought Challenge (FFTC) 2025, an initiative focused exclusively on college students, was designed to achieve that.
The Challenge: Beyond Food Delivery and Dining Out
Food is the heartbeat of campus life. It’s what keeps on going and brings everyone together- during late-night exam prep, hostel bonding sessions, and spontaneous weekend dine-outs. The Food for Thought Challenge was our way of asking thousands of students across campuses to reimagine these moments with fresh, disruptive ideas that could transform Swiggy into a trusted companion for every student during the campus years.
The Response from students across colleges
The response was overwhelming: 2,600+ submissions from 8000+ students representing 600+ colleges. The Food For Thought Challenge saw high engagement from students across top-tier institutes with around 30% entries coming from IIMs, IITs, NITs, and leading B/Engineering schools.
All submissions underwent a multi-stage evaluation; submissions were graded on a 4-point framework (innovativeness, impact on growth, execution feasibility, cost effectiveness.)
From the massive pool, the competition came down to the top 8 teams for the semi-finals, who were evaluated by Swiggy top executives. The final four teams traveled to Bengaluru for the Finale. This wasn’t just a presentation; it was a chance to be in the boardroom with Swiggy Food Marketplace’s CEO- Rohit Kapoor, as well as other senior leaders.
And the Winner is…
IIM Lucknow was crowned the Winner for their innovative ideas engineered to spark more meaningful student engagement for food delivery and dining out. The team was rewarded pre-placement interviews and a cash prize of ₹1,50,000.
IIM Indore ranked First Runner Up and was rewarded with a cash prize of ₹50,000.
Our Commitment to Campus
At Swiggy, we encourage disruptive ideas and it was heartening to see the spirit of innovation in today’s students. The FFTC is part of our broader mission to partner with the student community, fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders.
To all the participants: thank you for bringing your “A” game. The future of food-tech looks incredibly bright.
