It was a fitting finale for 234 participants- girl students and young women- not only from Hyderabad but from tier two and three cities of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh looking for encouragement and motivation to turn into entrepreneurs and launch their own start-ups some day.
All charged up at the end of the three-day Boot Camp organised by Girls in Tech India, an NGO, which concluded here on Wednesday, the young participants had an opportunity to speak their mind during a panel discussion on ‘Global Entrepreneurship Summit-2017: Unlimited Opportunities’.
The Boot Camp, organised with the support of the US Consulate General Hyderabad and the Telangana government, was an intense programme designed to help women think and act more like entrepreneurs.
Katharine Hadda, Consul General, US Consulate General, Hyderabad, said the workshop brought together talented women from across the State. They associated with GIT to support and facilitate entrepreneurship among women across the world challenged by extremism, unemployment and slow economic growth. The programme would help in promoting businesses by encouraging and inspiring young women to come out with innovative ideas and become successful entrepreneurs.
She said India agreed to host the next Global Entrepreneurship Summit-2017 and the boot camp would provide aspiring young women an opportunity to work on their ideas and present them during the summit.
Asked about the fate of immigrant businessmen and professionals from India under the new President Donald Trump’s regime, Ms. Katharine said she could not speak for the new administration as they had not spoken for themselves yet. But given the mutual strategic and economic interest between India and the US and 30 to 40 working groups between the two countries, one would only hope for relations to improve.
Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, IT, said T-Hub became a launch pad for successful start-ups on clean technology and innovative concepts with several venture capitalists funding them. Original and innovative ideas would get maximum support from funding agencies, he told the gathering.
He said Hyderabad was the strong contender for the next Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2017.
Hilary Weber, CEO, Opportu Startup Innovation and curator for the workshop said she noticed among the participants a hunger to work on their ideas and take them forward as start-ups. The workshop helps young women to collaborate and establish networks.
Sri Divya, MD, GIT, India said the focus of the Boot Camp was on building confidence, leadership and entrepreneurship skills among the participants.
