Piyush Goyal was one of the most sought after guests of the evening.
AgenciesPriya Krishnan (L), founder of Klay Schools and ET’s Woman-Ahead trophy winner, was ecstatic at meeting Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (R).
When bosses came face to face with their role models, they let their guard down and let out the fan within. The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA) 2019, held at The Leela Palace in Bengaluru on Friday, offered startup achievers a chance to get up, close and personal with their role models. Priya Krishnan, founder of Klay Schools and ET’s Woman-Ahead trophy winner, was ecstatic at meeting Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. Since the two were among the earliest to arrive, the London Business School alumnus made good use of the time to walk up to Mazumdar-Shaw to introduce herself.
About her fan-girl moment, Krishnan said, “Kiran ma’am is a posterchild for entrepreneurship. Events like these get us out of our day-to-day rut and get us to meet people doing wonderful work across industries. She has created something indigenous in a category that is fairly tough. Since we work in a similar R&Dfocused space in childhood education, it was an honour to meet her.”
Piyush Goyal was one of the most sought after guests of the evening. The Union Minister of Railways & Commerce and Industry was surrounded by startup bigwigs like Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl and Portea Medical’s Krishnan Ganesh. While most of the conversation was about fintech, Social Enterprise trophy winner and Sirona Hygiene (PeeBuddy) co-founder Deep Bajaj managed to kickstart a grassroots chat with the minister. He believes the interaction could prove to be a gamechanger for his initiative.
Piyush Goyal (R) was one of the most sought after guests of the evening.
“It is access you don’t usually get,” Bajaj said. “I told Mr Goyal how our portable urination kits can help women travelling by rail. He instantly informed his colleagues to see if it can be scaled. If that happens for us, everything will be worthwhile.” Bajaj handed out the kits to Goyal, Infosys’s Kris Gopalakrishnan and TV Mohandas Pai.
Nandan Nilekani too found a fan in Tricog Health Services founder and Top Innovator trophy winner Charit Bhograj. Speaking to Nilekani, Bhograj was heard saying, “This award is all about you. You have inspired a generation.” Whatsapp India CEO Abhijit Bose and Sameer Nigam of PhonePe were seen at the bar having a business catch-up with others over a drink.
Agencies
Nandan Nilekani (L) was clicked with Britannia's Varun Berry (R).
Charit Bhograj (L) was spotted clicking a selfie with Krishnan Ganesh (M) and Gaurav Gupta (R).
The Indian dinner spread, also celebrating the evening’s theme of Bharat with dishes like Rajasthani Gatte ki sabzi and Kashmiri Rajma Masala, became a conversation starter for many top guests. Bajaj’s wife Rashi, a carpet manufacturer, spent her time talking to Health Vista’s MD Meena Ganesh over the sitdown dinner.
Agencies
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