Edition 4: PRmoment India RiseUp 2026 Awards Lunch
Earlier this week, after 3 months of intense competition, following mentoring sessions with PR industry leaders, and live pitching; Team Kairos from IIMC Dhenkanal emerged as the top winner of RiseUp 2026. They beat out nine elite national teams to win the gold.
Campaign Challenge by insurance unicorn ACKO
The 9 teams had to create a campaign plan for 'Unmixing Life Insurance: Making Protection Simple'. The challenge was shared by our case study partner, the insurance unicorn ACKO. All the teams put in a strong showing, with IIMC Dhenkanal emerging as the first among equals. The silver winner is the team from Jagran Lakecity, Bhopal and bronze was won by IIMC Delhi.
The participating teams included Amity, ISM&B Pune, MICA Ahmedabad, St Joseph's University Bangalore, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi and SCoRe Mumbai.
At the awards lunch the teams, joined by RiseUp partners, Kaizzen, Zeno, PR Professionals, Astrum and 80dB, the teams received cash prizes of ₹55,000, ₹30,000, and ₹20,000 for the top three finishers.
A proud moment for us
"Heartiest congratulations to Maitri and Aftab from the PGD in CCBM program at IIMC Dhenkanal for winning the PRmoment RiseUp PR contest organised by PRmoment. This is a proud moment for us. I sincerely thank PRmoment for giving our students this valuable opportunity.
I am personally very happy and proud. The CCBM program has started only this year, and our students are already doing so well. We are committed to making this a flagship program. It will stay rooted in ground realities and culture, while also embracing new technologies. Wishing Maitri and Aftab continued success.
Professor (Dr) Anand Pradhan, Regional Director, IIMC - Dhenkanal
Vineet Handa, founder and CEO, Kaizzen ( Title partner- RiseUp PR 2026) says, "The fourth edition of RiseUp, and with our previous partnerships with the PRmoment India team, it is evident that RiseUp mirrors what the communication profession actually demands. Critical thinking, collaboration, and the ability to translate insights into action are among the key skills we look for. The live case-study format, combined with hands-on mentorship, makes it a powerful learning experience for young minds. Kaizzen is proud to champion this initiative because it bridges the gap between classroom learning and real-world communications practice.”
Moushumi Dutt, RiseUp programme director, commented, "In all aspects, the 4th edition of RiseUp PR showed that this emerging PR and corporate communications workforce seems to be ready to plunge in and bring in a fair amount of innovation, creativity and credibility through their grasp of the new and the existing tools of communication. Clearly, the academic curriculum of these colleges and universities are moving in the right direction. Congratulations to all the participants of this edition and thank you once again to all our partners, participating institutes and our most valuable mentors."
RiseUp 2026 jury meet and winners lunch
If you enjoyed this article, you can subscribe for free to our weekly event and subscriber alerts.
We have four email alerts in total - covering ESG, PR news, events and awards. Enter your email address below to find out more: