TiE in partnership with Tata, launches a platform for inspiring women entrepreneurs

Company Brief

Mumbai, December 01, 2009

As part of its continuing efforts to strengthen the role of women in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem, TiE Mumbai, in partnership with Tata, has announced the launch of the “Tata TiE Stree Shakti Workshop and Awards”, an annual conference for women entrepreneurs. The event will be held at the Trident Hotel on 12 December ’09. This conference is part of a larger platform, ‘Tata TiE Stree Shakti’ which seeks to reflect the growing aspirational role of women in the Indian entrepreneurial eco-system and enabling aspiring business women to realize their dream of running their own enterprise successfully through educational and mentoring programs.

Conceived and driven by TiE Mumbai, and supported by various TiE chapters in India, this initiative is steered by a volunteer TiE Member panel of accomplished enterprising individuals including Shikha Sharma (Axis Bank), Rama Bijapurkar, Ireena Vittal (McKinsey), Anita Ramchandran (Cerebrus), Bharti Jacob (Seedfund), Farzana Haque (TCS), Gita Dang (Board Member, TiE Delhi), Sridar Iyengar (TiE Mumbai President) and other TiE members across the TiE Network in India.

The one-day conference, which is a launch pad of ‘Tata TiE Stree Shakti’ will recognize and celebrate women entrepreneurs who are playing an active role in building an Enterprising India and at the same time it will provide them with an opportunity to create partnerships through active networking.

The conference is structured in two parts – a seminar followed by an awards program. The seminar features sessions like the “Plenary and Inspirational session” and “Education session” which will be delivered by inspiring women leaders, entrepreneurs, education trainers and counsellors. The topics of discussion will range from ‘What it takes to succeed’ to ‘How to build a brand’, ‘Negotiating Skills’, ‘Learning Entrepreneurship’ and ‘Experiential Stories’ of successful women entrepreneurs.

The seminar will also highlight the learnings of the GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) Study conducted by the India Consulting Group. The findings of the study provide pertinent insights into the specific challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, across different stages of enterprise, and the support they need in order to succeed.

The awards program is aimed at three categories across the MSME spectrum: Micro (1Lac – 10Lacs); Small (10Lacs – 2cr) and Medium (2cr – 25cr). The winning entrepreneurs will be awarded a trophy and cash prize. TiE has collaborated with Ernst & Young, MFIs and NGOs, as process partners for the awards definition and selection process.

Says Anita Ramachandran, CEO, Cerebrus Consultants Pvt. Ltd, “Women entrepreneurs, like their male counterparts, need financial help, technical and managerial education and improved infrastructural facilities in order to be able to set up their own business. Sometimes we need role models to inspire us to take that leap of faith. The TATA TiE Stree Shakti platform takes shining examples of women entrepreneurs and involves them as role models in the initiative. We look forward to taking this endeavour into the future and inspiring more success stories, big and small, across the social strata in the country.”

According to Mr. Atul Agrawal, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Tata Services, “Tatas have always encouraged and nurtured the spirit of entrepreneurship. We believe that women are an important part of the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem and that there is a need to create an enabling and equitable business environment for them. With our association with TiE for Tata TiE Stree Shakti, we endeavor to encourage women entrepreneurship in India and create an inspirational platform for them to overcome constraints and realize their dream of running their own enterprise successfully.”

TiE Mumbai encourages Business Women to join this initiative and benefit from its regular programs like Business Guidance by other successful entrepreneurs, get inspired and learn from the experiences of many others like them and get access to investors, services, partners, advisors, customers, etc through networking.

For further information, please contact:

The PRactice

Pramod Kantak

Mobile: +91 9892736183

Email: pramod@the-practice.net