IIM Lucknow wins the 3rd Edition of MakeMyTrip’s Young Business Turks Challenge

• Over 2,600 registrations and 1,200 submissions mark the biggest season yet of MakeMyTrip’s innovation-led campus challenge

Gurugram, October 15, 2025:   MakeMyTrip, India’s leading online travel company, has concluded the third edition of its flagship campus program “Young Turks: The Business Challenge” reaffirming its commitment to engaging and empowering emerging talent to solve real-world challenges in travel and technology. Designed to move beyond conventional contests, the challenge gives students a platform to work on live business problems drawn from MakeMyTrip’s own ecosystem, blending creativity, strategy, and technology to reimagine how millions of Indians travel.

Speaking about the initiative, Yuvaraj Srivastava, Group CHRO, MakeMyTrip, said, “The Young Turks Challenge gives students an opportunity to step into our world, solve problems drawn from real scenarios, and show how their ideas can create impact at scale. It’s a platform where innovation meets application, helping us build a pipeline of future-ready talent aligned with MakeMyTrip’s purpose and growth ambitions.”

Launched in July 2025, Season 3 was the most successful edition yet, drawing 2,660 registrations and 1,249 final submissions from leading B-schools across India. Students tackled two case studies focused on building innovative mobility solutions and strengthening product design capabilities, each rooted in real business challenges from MakeMyTrip’s fast-evolving travel ecosystem.

From AI-led shortlisting of over 1,200 submissions to cross-functional jury rounds involving senior product, business, and tech leaders, the competition showcased how scale, innovation, and fairness can come together in talent discovery.

The Grand Finale, held at MakeMyTrip’s Gurugram headquarters, saw six finalist teams present their ideas before Co-Founder & CEO Rajesh Magow, Group COO Mohit Kabra, and other CXOs from across product, business, and technology.  After an intense day of presentations and deliberations, Dakshina Rajah, Ankit Yadav and Akshay Saini from IIM Lucknow were declared the winners, followed by Meenakshi R, Gokul S and Karthick PS from IIM Mumbai, and Devam Kamal Gada, Khushi Katyal, Siddhi Setia from ISB Hyderabad as runners-up.

For MakeMyTrip, Young Turks is more than a competition, it’s a strategic platform to engage future leaders, celebrate diversity of thought, and turn bold student ideas into scalable solutions. As the program evolves, MakeMyTrip continues to strengthen its connection with campuses across India, positioning itself as a preferred destination for young professionals who want to innovate at the intersection of travel, technology, and design.