Entrepreneur & Investor
He is an Entrepreneur and an Investor. He is the founder and CEO at Nearbuy (previously Groupon). He did his MBA from Indian School of Business, and an MS from Michigan State University. He was included in the Fortune 40 under 40 India list in 2013 and 2014. He is one of the most prominent names in the Indian startup scene.
Ashwika Kapur
Wildlife Film Maker
Ashwika is a wildlife and conservation filmmaker. At 27, Ashwika became the youngest person and India's only woman to win the Green Oscar in a Global Category, also known as the Panda Award. She gained worldwide critical acclaim for her film Sirocco, a quirky, rags-to-riches story about the only bird in the world with a government job. Her wildlife filmmaking career has so far taken her to live and work in several parts of the world including South Africa, Kenya, Borneo, Nepal, New Zealand, India, and the United Kingdom, where this year, she got the chance to work on location with the Godfather of wildlife filmmaking - Sir David Attenborough himself. But, as a young woman in India making an unconventional career choice hasn't been easy at all. Pursuing her passion has always required immense determination and resolve to ride through the lean times.
Bijesh Amin
Co-founder, Indus Valley Partners(IVP)
Frequently sought out for his opinions and insights relating to the Entrepreneurial & Business World by leading industry publications and the financial media today, Bijesh Amin, the Co-founder of Indus Valley Partners (IVP) is responsible for IVP’s on and offline media presence. IVP is a technology consulting firm based in New York, focused on the capital markets domain. Following initial success in the investment banking and management consulting industries, Bijesh embarked on a more entrepreneurial venture co-founding IVP with Gurvinder Singh in 2000. Bijesh had previously worked with Oliver Wyman and JP Morgan in senior strategic consulting roles. Bijesh holds a BSc (Hons) in Business Administration from the University of Bath, a Diploma in International Finance and Management from École des Hautes Études Commerciales, Lille and he also graduated from the 'Building New Ventures Program' at Harvard Business School.
Bistriti Poddar
Co-founder, Paperless Postcards
“The real empowerment of any woman is having unshakable self-belief”. Such words make up the persona of Bistriti Poddar. Driven by the ideology of “positive disruption”, she’s a hobbyist turned professional content writer, manager & editor with over 7 years of experience. Co-founder of Paperless Postcards, Bistriti draws her inspiration from “life”. When not on her typewriter or planning new strategies for her content projects, she would indulge in motivating youngsters or would be engulfed into movies, Bengali being her favorite.
“Vehemence”, the gist behind her writings -
“It wasn't meant to be this way...
In majestic dark lanes...today...
I helplessly stray…”
Australian Writer, Author & Photographer
She is an Australian writer, author, and photographer. Having visited India as a tourist twice before, Sharell heard India calling again in 2005. She left her government accounting job in Australia and moved to India. Ever since she has written numerous pieces on travelling in India and told many untold stories from different corners of the country. Combined with her photography, she has provided a new perspective to watch the complex shades of this country.
Sharon Prabhakar
Theatre Actress, Pop Singer & Public Speaker
Sharon is a celebrated diva, theatre actress, pop-singer and public speaker. She found her passion in singing and riveted the audience with her mesmerising performance in the musical 'Evita' and since then continues to perform all over the world. Having numerous pop albums to her credit, she has also represented India at pop festivals in Japan, China, Mauritius, Russia, Hong Kong and Singapore. She has had lead roles in various theatres and has performed in the Opening Act for Michael Jackson when he performed in Mumbai. She has also bagged the Newcomer of the year award for her song in the film, ‘Armaan’. Not only this, Sharon is also one of India’s most respected and in-demand Corporate Trainers.
Soumitra Bhat
User Interaction & Human Interaction Design Exper
He is a User Interface and Human Interaction Design Expert. He did his Bachelor's in design from IIT Guwahati, followed by a Masters from TU Delft specializing in Design for Interaction. He founded UserINNOV in 2010. Since June of this year, he has been working as a director of the design-led customer innovation program, Ignite by Salesforce. He believes in more and more user-centric design and has worked extensively towards it. He has written multiple articles on the importance of design innovation.