What does it take for women entrepreneurs to elevate the success they already have? It goes beyond just carving out a niche for themselves. How can women infuse entrepreneurship with fresh perspectives, untapped potential and an unwavering commitment to transformative change through their lens?
Rizing curated The Rizing Equality Summit – in partnership with the British High Commission and in association with Federal Bank, Bandhan Mutual Fund and Khaitan & Co. This event’s aim was to bring together women leaders, entrepreneurs, experts, professionals and investors from various sectors to inspire, collaborate and empower each other.
The event was held on the 23rd of February 2024 at the Radisson Mumbai Andheri MIDC in Mumbai.
AGENDA:
0900 hrs to 0945 hrs: Breakfast
0900 hrs to 0940 hrs: Registration
0940 hrs to 0945 hrs: Opening Address
0945 hrs to 0950 hrs: Setting The Stage w/ Supriya Chawla, Head – Chevening Scholarships India, British High Commission
0950 hrs to 0955 hrs: Special Address By Ajita Hathlia, Deputy Director, Trade & UK Exports, South Asia
0955 hrs to 1040 hrs: Fundraising The Bar (Panel)
This panel explored the nuances of fundraising equality, implicit biases and overt challenges that women may encounter while raising money, practical strategies to overcome prejudice and more.
Speakers:
Ashwani Singh – Managing Partner at 35North Ventures
Lathika Pai – Country Head, Venture Capital & Private Equity Partnerships at Microsoft
Rahul Gupta – Founder & Managing Partner at ValuAble
1045 hrs to 1110 hrs: Banking On Yourself w/ Manisha Girotra
Manisha Girotra, CEO at Moelis India, explored journey in the investment banking space, challenges she has come across as a leader, thriving in her role, the scope for women in the investment banking industry and more.
1110 hrs to 1130 hrs: Tea Break & Networking
1130 hrs to 1155 hrs: Women As Wealth Creators Of Tomorrow w/ Shivani Bhasin Sachdeva
Shivani Bhasin Sachdeva, Founder & CEO at India Alternatives, explored role of women as wealth creators in India, staying focused on long-term goals, underrepresentation of women investors in the Indian investment landscape, encouraging more women to enter the field of investing, empathy as an asset in investing, the potential for women to excel and lead in the private equity sector and more.
1200 hrs to 1220 hrs: When The Game Is Afoot w/ Ketul Acharya
Ketul Acharya, President at GAME (Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship) explored how women entrepreneurs can be financially empowered, what it takes to get access to formal credit and acquiring loans to develop one’s enterprise, how to develop a robust business plan, challenges along the way and more.
1225 hrs to 1325 hrs: Your Bandhan With Financial Freedom
Jignesh Dawda of Bandhan Mutual Fund explored creating an emergency fund whilst traversing the gruelling road of entrepreneurship, the importance of financial planning as a tool for women to achieve financial independence, making more informed financial decisions in leadership and entrepreneurial roles, challenges they may face in financial planning and more.
1325 hrs to 1400 hrs: Lunch Break
1400 hrs to 1420 hrs: The FemTech Future
Sonam Srivastava, Founder & CEO at Wright Research, explored the challenges and opportunities of women in tech, how tech and entrepreneurship intersect, how women entrepreneurs and leaders can harness the power of emerging technologies to drive greater equity and diversity in business and more.
1425 hrs to 1505 hrs: Breaking Barriers & Building Empires (Panel)
This panel discussion explored the journey of female founders scaling up their businesses, shining a light on the hurdles and opportunities faced within the Indian entrepreneurial environment, creating impactful businesses with the potential to reach billions, the key ingredients for elevating a company, strategies for developing products and services to cater to a diverse customer base, the unique dynamics of building a company in India, dealing with self-doubt, building the future and more.
Speakers:
Anooja Bashir – CEO & Co-Founder at FlexiCloud
Bijal Ajinkya, Partner at Khaitan & Co
Harneet Hariharan – Chairperson & Managing Director at Pace Setters Business Solutions
Rathna Mala L V – Senior Vice President & Zonal Head, Corporate and Institutional Banking at Federal Bank
1510 hrs to 1535 hrs: The Minefields Before The Milestones (Legal Workshop)
Speaker Smita Jha, Partner at Khaitan & Co, explored the legal intricacies of launching and scaling a startup, building one’s legacy brick by brick and clause, the do’s and don’ts, avoiding legal landmines, how to develop crucial legal awareness for one’s startup and more.
1540 hrs to 1655 hrs: The Rizing Equality Lounge
This session, in a presenter format, was all about empowerment, collaboration and unleashing the potential of women in the entrepreneurial world. It was showcase that explored startups that women are crafting with passion and purpose. Here’s a way to celebrate women driving change, one groundbreaking idea at a time.
Presenters:
Dr Alka Walavalkar, Founder at Resonance L Nutrition
Avani Agasti, Founder at ASK Foundation24
Bhavini Parikh, Founder & CEO at Bunko Junko
Garima Bharadwaj, Co-Founder at Enlite
Dr Sangeeta Roychaudhuri, Founder & CEO at Edudha
Satabdi Jena – Founder & Creative Director at The Strange Co
1655 hrs to 1700 hrs: Vote Of Thanks w/ Pradyumna Bora – Senior Programme & Relationship Manager at British High Commission
1700 hrs to 1705 hrs: Concluding Remarks
Meet the speakers: https://rizingtv.com/rizingher/meet-the-speakers-of-the-rizing-equality-summit/
That’s why Rizing embodies this quote by Ayn Rand: “The question isn’t who’s going to let me, it’s who’s going to stop me.”
