KOCHI:
Aspiring women entrepreneurs from across the country will converge in this city on Thursday, taking in expert tips at a landmark meet that aims to lessen their under representation in running businesses in the field of science and technology.
The ‘Women Startup Summit’ on August 1, being hosted by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in association with the Indian Women Network under the Confederation of Indian Industries, will bring together successful women leaders, startup founders, policymakers and aspiring women entrepreneurs on a common platform to share their experiences, aspirations and success stories.
The deliberations, with ‘Developing an Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem’ as the focal theme, will feature inspiring visionaries whose innovative actions are changing the world on an unprecedented scale. The event at the Integrated Startup Complex at Kalamassery will also host panel discussions, fireside chats and keynote conversations between female luminaries from a diverse range of fields such as technology, business, media and entertainment. Besides knowledge-based sessions, there will be one-on one interactions at the meet that is open for all women professionals, aspiring entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and startup founders.
The opening session will be addressed by KSUM CEO Dr Saji Gopinath. Kerala State Planning Board member Dr Mridul Eapen will deliver the inaugural address, while Teja Ventures founding partner Virginia Tanwill give the keynote speech. This will be followed by a fireside chat between motivational speaker Rashmi Bansal and author-entrepreneur Muthumani Somasundaran.
A subsequent session on ‘Women in Business’ will have Avaana Capital founder Anjali Bansal, IAN co-founder Padmaja Ruparel and Federal Bank COO Shalini Warrier, besides Tan, as speakers. Brand Circle founder-CEO Malavika R Haritha will moderate. A networking break follows.
The next session, on ‘Women in Business’, will have Teja Ventures founding partner Virginia Tan,Brand Circle founder-CEO Malavika R Haritha, Avaana Capital founder Anjali Bansal, IAN co-founder Padmaja Ruparel and Federal Bank COO Shalini Warrier. A networking break follows.
A panel discussion on ‘Inclusivity in the Workplace’ will be addressed by Naandika Tripathi (Forbes India), Anupam Nidhi (Seimens), Shelly Thakral (Facebook), Deepti Dutt (Amazon), Shrayana Bhattacharya (World Bank) and Seema Kumar (IBM). In the afternoon, Shilpa Elizabeth Abraham (WAN-IFRA), Niveda R M (Traschcon), Deena Jacob (Open Financial Technologies), Geetika Sharma (Vizara) and Jancy Jose (Strava) will be panelists for a discussion on ‘The Women Building Tomorrow’s Business’.
A subsequent session on ‘Building an Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystem’ will be addressed by Dr Eapen, Sheela Kochouseph (V-Star) and Dr Chithra S (Kerala IT Mission). Also, there will be a separate track for the selected IEDC students, besides an industry round table led by Kerala IT Secretary Mr M Sivasankar. It will beheld simultaneously with the Support of State Planning Board. Industry leaders from Kerala, World Bank representatives, Facebook, Amazon an, IBM will attend this session so as to draw up an action plan.
A session on ‘Honouring the Change Makers’ will announce the National Grand Challenge winner of ‘She Loves Tech India 2019’ and honour her. There are two other nominations for best inclusive workplace: incubators (of women startups) and for startups (with female employees). Filmmaker Anjali Menon will deliver the valedictory address.
The meet comes in the backdrop of Kerala having 13 per cent women participation in the technology startup ecosystem and the state government’s proactive steps for increasing the participation of women in the sector. The administration has implemented multiple policies and schemes, which focus on supporting the women startups. Based on the concept “Of Women-By Women-For Women”, the state government schemes can be availed by women startups from across the country. The support facilities offered by the government will be shared in the women summit.
About 20 women startups shortlisted from the “She Loves Tech” national grand challenge will be showcased in the summit.“She Loves Tech 2019 Global Start up Competition”is a worldwide platform for women entrepreneurs as well as startups dedicated to improve the lives of women.
KSUM is the nodal agency of Government of Kerala for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
