Marico’s ASCENT Foundation Concludes its 2nd Edition of ASCENT Conclave 2017 to Celebrate Growth-Ready Entrepreneurs

ASCENT Foundation, a not-for-profit, peer-to-peer learning platform for entrepreneurs, hosted its second edition of ASCENT Conclave on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at St. Regis, Mumbai. The full-day event brought together some of India’s most inspiring and recognised leaders who shared their entrepreneurial journey over the years, failure and success stories.

The event commenced with a welcome note by Harsh Mariwala (Founder, ASCENT Foundation and Chairman Marico Ltd.). Sajjan Jindal (Chairman, JSW Group) was the keynote speaker who shared interesting insights on how he was able to successfully build a billion dollar enterprise.

Piyush Pandey (Co-Executive Chairman and National Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather India and Vice-Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific) and Siddharth Roy Kapur (Erstwhile Managing Director, The Walt Disney Company India, Founder, Roy Kapur Films) engaged in a panel discussion moderated by Roopak Saluja (Founder and CEO, The 120 Media Collective and Sooperfly) on the importance of brand-building as an essential business requisite.

The Conclave saw two fireside chats, one on business growth and the second on the art of ‘storytelling’. The business growth fireside chat saw the participation of Ameera Shah (Managing Director, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd) and Menaka Doshi (Managing Editor, BloombergQuint) who discussed ‘Scaling-up and Growth by Design’. The ‘Art of Storytelling’ fireside chat had Prasoon Joshi (CEO, McCann World Group India and Chairman, McCann (Asia Pacific) and Atul Kasbekar (Indian Fashion Photographer, Bollywood Film Producer and Entrepreneur) discussing the importance of storytelling for entrepreneurs.

A panel discussion on leadership was conducted by Vikram Bhalla (Senior Partner & Managing Director, The Boston Consulting Group) that saw the participation of Kunwer Sachdev (Managing Director and Founder, Su-Kam), Radhika Aggarwal (Co-founder, ShopClues), Vineet Rai (Co-Founder and Chairman, Aavishkaar and Intellecap Group) and Pratap Nambiar (Founder and Chairman of Thought Perfect Pte. Ltd.).

Audiences were left much inspired by the entrepreneurial growth stories of Devendra Shah (Parag Milk Foods Pvt. Ltd.), Tarun Mehta, (CEO and Co-Founder, Ather Energy)and Kanika Tekriwal (Founder and CEO JetSetGo), Sweta Mangal, (Director, MUrgency Inc.) and Roopak Saluja. These sessions were moderated by Shruti Mishra, (Assistant Features Editor, CNBC-TV18).

Lastly, the grand finale saw Tanmay Bhat (Co-Founder, All India Bakchod) like never told before. Tanmay shared the growth story of AIB – the inception of the venture, how AIB has grown over the years and how the brand has been able garner international visibility and recognition. Motilal Oswal Private Wealth Management was the lead partner at ASCENT Conclave 2017.

Harsh Mariwala, Founder, ASCENT Foundation and Chairman, Marico Ltd. commented "ASCENT Foundation’s vision is to create and enable a platform for entrepreneurs, to scale-up their enterprise and enrich their entrepreneurial journey. This year’s Conclave has proved to be yet another success with insightful content by industry leaders and experts. Their stories were perceptive, relatable and inspirational to the attending entrepreneurs. I am truly proud of the new-age breed of diverse, innovative and dynamic entrepreneurs in India who are constantly reinventing themselves."

ASCENT, with EY as the official Tabulator, announced the winners of the ASCENT Awards 2017 recognising its members in 4 categories:

1.       Innovation of the Year Award: Shilpi Kapoor, BarrierBreak Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

2.       Entrepreneur of the Year Award: Abhishek Goel, Cactus Communications

3.       Growth Strategy of the Year Award:

                     I.            (Early) Growth Strategy of the Year Award: Siddharth Hegde, Ethinos Digital Marketing

                   II.            (Mid) Growth Strategy of the Year: Avinash Godkhindi, Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services Pvt. Ltd.

                 III.            (Mid) Growth Strategy of the Year Award: Punit Thakkar, Shivaami Cloud Services Pvt. Ltd.

4.       Young Achiever of the Year Award: Ankit Mehta, ideaForge Technology Pvt. Ltd.