It was a glittering evening of woman power and positivity at the Digital Women Awards by SheThePeople.TV, presented by Axis Bank together with Google, on Sunday. The event saw India's top digital start-up stars came together to celebrate the finest women entrepreneurs who risked everything to launch a new enterprise by leveraging the power of digital.
Women entrepreneurs are breaking new ground with creative technologies, new innovation and ideas and bringing solutions to problems India needs to solve.
Among the awardees was a woman who is using digital to take Madhubani art and artisans to a great online market, one who leveraged the power of digital to create a thriving bee keeping business as well as to empower the girls in her village to use the internet productively to women using blockchain to create solutions for farmers, as well as a woman using digital to help the elderly with age-related mental health issues.
The Jury was led by a panel of strong industry names such as Ankhi Das, Regional Public Policy Director at Facebook, Mohandas Pai, Investor and former MD of Infosys, Akila Urankar, President Business Standard, Devita Saraf of Vu Televisions and Shaili Chopra, Founder of SheThePeople.TV. Each application goes through a rigorous evaluation.
The packed audience comprising powerful women achievers, supporters of women’s enterprise, corporate personalities and social influencers, saw compelling panel discussions on subjects like how technology will enable the next billion, amongst others. This year’s awards brought together champions of women such as Chief Guest Priyank Kharge, IT & Tourism Minister from Karnataka, Dr Mukund Rajan, Chief Ethics Officer of Tata Group, Rajiv Anand Executive Director of Axis Bank, Sapna Chadha, Head of Marketing Google India and Southeast Asia, performer Monica Dogra and many more.
You will be surprised to know that most of the biotech companies we have funded in the state are driven by women entrepreneurs. -Priyank Kharge
Stated Priyank Kharge, IT & Tourism Minister from Karnataka,"In the state of Karnataka, we have reserved seats for women in all our incubation centres. We have allocated Rs 10 Crores seed fund for women Entrepreneurs. You will be surprised to know that most of the biotech companies we have funded in the state are driven by women entrepreneurs. We have facilitated interactions of women entrepreneurs in Karnataka with countries like United States, Czech Republic and other European Countries where they have been able to network with other women entrepreneurs for business opportunities." He added, “We are trying to get women back in the game at their workplace with new technologies and avenues."
"We have seen a fundamental shift among women on Digital Media." -Rajiv Anand
Rajiv Anand, Executive Director of Axis Bank shared that women achievers are at all levels of entrepreneurship. “We have a million women who work with us on micro loans and their talent and insights are invaluable.”
“Our focus is to create simple and accessible products to help get women online”, stated Sapna Chadha, Head of Marketing, Google India and Southeast Asia on stage. "We have seen a fundamental shift among women on Digital Media."
“Women who hadn't touched a smartphone, are now making a living off the internet”, says Neha Barjatya, Head of Business Marketing, Google India about the #internetsaathi initiative.
"The Digital world is giving free rein to their talent, creativity and vision unrestrained by any context. In this new world they are thriving and taking leadership." - TV Mohandas Pai
Now in its third edition, the energetic event was partnered by Facebook and Lufthansa both of which are committed to startups through the several programs they run. TV Mohandas Pai, founding member of Infosys, Chairman of Manipal as well as an active investor in start-ups states about women in the digital space, "The Digital world is giving free rein to their talent, creativity and vision unrestrained by any context. In this new world they are thriving and taking leadership."
All these women applicants are not just achievers but an example of breaking the glass ceiling and leading their organisations, leading from the front.
Said Supriya Paul Founder of Josh Talks India, and a winner in content creation, “When we started the Josh Talks the greatest challenge I faced was getting people to take me seriously, because I was this 19-year-old going around, pitching this idea. This award is a validation of all we believed in.”
D Roopa, IPS, winner in the category of Digital Leadership stated, “We need to get a lot more women to come online and adopt the digital space wholeheartedly. It is through initiatives like these that will help us spread the benefits of going digital not just to the urban women, but also women in semi urban and rural centres who can also benefit from going digital.”
Digital Women Awards gives women in the Digital space a much need platform to have their stories reach out to the world. -Siddhi Trivedi
Siddhi Trivedi, who had come down all the way from the UK to collect the Disruptor in Digital award said, “It is wonderful to see so many women doing such interesting and innovative work. And the Digital Women Awards gives women in the Digital space a much need platform to have their stories reach out to the world.”
SheThePeople.TV, India’s largest storytelling platform for women is the force behind Digital Women Awards. Founder Shaili Chopra stated, "This is a proud moment for all women start-ups. Women are great examples of leadership, excellence and entrepreneurship, all of which SheThePeople.TV stands for. Our mission is to continue to build this platform for future leaders who will shape the Indian digital eco-system and the Digital Women Awards are just one of the steps in achieving that goal."
Also Read: This Is How Digital Women Awards Empowers Entrepreneurs
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