Heroines At The Helm

FICCI FLO Bangalore hosted an interactive event for and about women entrepreneurship -“Heroines At The Helm” . The event was in collaboration with FICCI FLO, RBIH and MySaltApp.

FLO Bangalore has over 1200 entrepreneurs, professionals and thought leaders.
The organisation strives to Empower women through learning programmes, workshops, skilling and industry interaction amongst others. As part of this initiative FICCI FLO collaborated with RBIH & MySalt App to conduct a pan India deep dive research into understanding women entrepreneurship, the finances, the social issues and support systems required and has released the findings in a white paper that draws attention to the details. The launch was held at an event
The event was on 2nd May 2024 , held at Falcon Towers ,Bangalore brought together entrepreneurs, policy makers, financial institutions and mentorship platforms to the discussion board.

The event was flagged off with a note from Guest of Honour Immediate Past President Sudha Shivakumar who set context to the whitepaper which was launched today.
Ms Shivakumar talked about the study and the research that showcased the gender gaps with keen insights on entrepreneurs in middle India.

The key note address was delivered by chief guest Mr Rajesh Bansal – Reserve Bank Innovation Hub CEO who stressed on his own experiences with women entrepreneurs, the ability and opportunities available to entrepreneurs and commending the role of organisations in bridging the gaps and providing support systems. He especially highlighted the role of women entrepreneurs in the India growth story further elaborating on opportunities in fields like fin tech.
The event also saw panel discussions with
Two power packed panels .

Panel Discussion 1 :

This panel focussed on the economics of entrepreneurship with women and the panel debated the gender biases in the VC community, the risk aversion of women entrepreneurs and the structure of finance and microfinance environments.

This panel was moderated by Shilpa Rao – Gender and Finance lead of Reserve Bank Innovation Hub

The panelists –
Bindu Ananth – cofounder Dvara Holdings
Anuradha Ramachandran – managing partner TVS Capital Funds
Geetha Manjunath – founder and ceo Niramai Health Analytix

Panel Discussion 2 : The panel comprised of three entrepreneurs and their journeys – who have walked the talk and were able to capture their own personal challenges in a transparent manner.

This panel was moderated by
Shinjini Kumar – author of the White Paper Policy and co founder of mysaltapp .

The panelists –

Deepa Muthukumaraswamy – founder of First Spoon
Paroma Chatterjee – CEO Revolut india
Shraddha Jindal – Joint Managing Director Jindal Saw limited

The audience interaction brought out many revelations from FLO members’ own journeys and challenges and their mantras to overcome them. The white paper highlights many relevant datapoints from the study conducted and is a wake up call to the road to equal opportunities and empowerment.

This event was also attended by past chairpersons of FLO Bangalore : Ms Shuba Kulkarni, Ms Yashodhara Shroff and Ms Shruti Mittal & FLO Bangalore Members & some of Bangalore’s finest entrepreneurs .

Attendees 200+ women

Collaboration RBIH& My Salt App & FICCI FLO