Her Circle Bizruptors: An Empowering Award For Women Entrepreneurs By Reliance Foundation-Jio

The event aimed to honour the remarkable accomplishments and contributions of women in the entrepreneurial and corporate space across diverse domains. There were two sets of awards accorded at the event: One, was for icons who are authorities in their specific domain; the others were the Bizruptor awards via a nationwide hunt of India’s foremost Bizruptor through the process of public voting and jury selection.

The women icons who were felicitated at the event are known to have marked historic firsts, shattered stereotypes, questioned the status quo and, in turn, played an instrumental role in inspiring a whole generation to tide over societal challenges. The Bizruptor awardees, on the other hand, hold the promise of changing the startup landscape with their focus on sustainability, scalability, innovation and social impact. The evening was a rare gathering of some of the finest minds and most successful women entrepreneurs in India who are trendsetters, innovators and trailblazers.

The Bizruptor awards category is distinctive as the winners have been selected by an independent jury comprising industry icons such as veteran fashion designer, Anita Dongre, venture capitalist, Tarana Lalwani, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Ankita Vashistha and CEO Her Circle, Tanya Chaitanya. Over 7 women entrepreneurs across categories were recognised and honoured at the first edition of the awards. These women entrepreneurs have transformed their kitchens into studios, living rooms into classrooms, and passion into prosperity. The winners were selected from an initial pool of 1,027 entrepreneurs from across the country.

Below, we present the list of Her Circle Icons:

1. Zainab Patel, Founder, The Trans Café & The TransFormation Salon
2. Dr. Jaishree Sharad, Dermatologist, Director, Skinfinitii
3. Schauna Chauhan, CEO, Parle Agro Pvt Ltd
4. Anshuka Parwani, Founder Anshuka Yoga
5. Vaishali Shandangule, Designer, Founder, Vaishali S
6. Preeti Jhangiani, Actress & Co-Founder Swen Entertainment
7. Deanne Panday, Health Coach, Author & Wellness expert
8. Brinda Miller, Hon. Festival Director, Kala Ghoda Arts Festival & Chairperson, Kala Ghoda Association
9. Lavanya Nalli, Vice Chairperson, Nalli Group of Companies
10. Rashi Narang, Founder, Heads Up For Tails

Below, we present the list of Her Circle Bizruptors across different categories, each representing excellence and achievement in their respective fields:

1. Her Circle Bizruptor of the Year Award for Innovation – Bhavini Parikh, Founder, Bunko Junko
2. Her Circle Bizruptor of the Year Award for Sustainability – Anisha Shetty, Founder My Thrift Baby Loot
3. Her Circle Bizruptor of the Year Award for Social Impact – Dr Srimathy Kesan, Founder, Space Kidz India
4. Her Circle Bizruptor of the Year Award for Scalability – Akanksha Sharma, Founder, CITTA
5. Her Circle Bizruptor of the Year Award Editor’s Choice – Akanksha Arora, Founder, Barker’s Dozen
6. Her Circle Bizruptor of the Year Award Editor’s Choice – Arundhati, Founder, Beej
7. Her Circle Bizruptor of the Year Award 2024 – Bindi Patel, Founder & Director, ECOrrect Pvt Ltd

Commenting on the occasion Ms Tanya Chaitanya, CEO, Her Circle said, “Her Circle Bizruptors is not just a nationwide hunt for women entrepreneurs with a will and disruption skill. It is a discovery of innovative, inclusive and sustainable businesses that may end up helping our planet. The overall Her Circle Bizruptors Grand Finale celebrates the winners who have gone through the rigours of initiating and steering a start-up in the competitive entrepreneurial landscape. And now just any start-up but one with a purpose. We also applaud the icons in a separate category—established veterans from their areas of expertise who are torchbearers for change, front-footers all the way. Her Circle Bizruptors 2024 is a spirited, charged and inclusive take on women and their will to be the change.”

Commenting on the occasion Schauna Chauhan, CEO, Parle Agro Pvt Ltd said, “My father often compared challenges to the video games that I used to play. I kept playing to win. Just like a video game when you lose, you play it again and again until you overcome every obstacle and ultimately succeed and get to the next level. Life is also the same – try and try until you find a way.”

Lavanya Nalli, Vice-Chairperson, Nalli Group of Companies commenting on the challenges faced in her journey said, “It’s been around 18 years working at Nalli and I think our biggest challenge is that our reputation precedes us. Our brand is so known to be associated with weddings, so  when we try to introduce new product lines and come up with new designs, it is difficult for people to believe that it is from the brand. Maybe with the current generation of customers it’ll happen and they’ll believe that an elephant can also dance.”

Anshuka Parwani, Founder, Anshuka Yoga while advising aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make their mark in the wellness space said, “While starting in the wellness space, do not chase quick money. I used to be a pilot and I was immobile due to a near-fatal motorbike accident. At that time Yoga came to me like magic. I do what I do today because I want to share the magic of yoga and the recovery it gave me. When you are in the wellness world, you have to just focus on your well-being. Success will just follow.”

The awards not only showcased exceptional entrepreneurs but also shed light on the many challenges – social, cultural and structural – that women have to overcome to start and grow a business. Women make up only a third of entrepreneurs worldwide. The Her Circle Bizruptors 2024 brought together a constellation of remarkable women, each shining brightly in their entrepreneurial endeavours. As the curtains closed on this power-packed event, the stage was set for a new chapter in the narrative of women’s empowerment and innovation.

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