Hyd a strong contender for the next Global Entrepreneurship Summit: Jayesh Ranjan

Sheela Mamidenna

This was no ordinary bootcamp, but a hall full of tech girls, would-be-entrepreneurs, designers, tech students and graduates, with dreams and aspirations to make it big and different in the world. A total of 234 young women had gathered to take part in the final day of the tech bootcamp organised by the non-profit organisation Girls in Tech (GIT). What was commendable is that around 40% of them had come from Tier II and Tier III cities of Telengana and A.P., breaking the thought that technology and digital literacy is only prevalent in cities and metros.

The 3-day bootcamp titled, Power Tools: Confidence, Leadership and Entrepreneurship was organised with the support of the US Consulate General, Hyderabad and the Telengana government. 

Katherine Hadda the new Consul General of Hyderabad said the US Consulate General associated itself with GIT, as it believed in supporting women entrepreneurs across the world challenged by various social, economic and political factors. She was happy that such programmes would help women to take stock of  their inner capabilities and show the world their innovative and entrepreneurial skills. When asked about her impressions of Hyderabad, she said she was happy to be in a city that is helping and promoting women entrepreneurs. Since the Indian government has agreed to host the next Global Entrepreneurship Summit- 2017, Hyderabad has pitched in and is a strong contender for the same. 

Needless to say when asked about the proclaimant by the President-in waiting, Donald Trump regarding immigrants, and if there was a cause for concern for businesspersons from Hyderabad and other parts of Telengana, Katherine said, “ I cannot speak for the new administration as they have not spoken for themselves yet. But given the  mutual strategic and economic interests between India and the US and 30 to 40 working groups between the two countries, one would only hope for relations to improve.” 

Speaking on the occasion and addressing the excited participants, Principal Secretary, IT, Jayesh Ranjan, said, Hyderabad and T-Hub have become launch pads for successful start-ups on clean tech and innovative concepts with several venture capitalists ready to fund them. He was confident that Hyderabad will be chosen to host the next Global Entrepreneurship Summit of 2017 as it is a strong contender for the same. 

Hillary Weber, the CEO of Opportu Startup Innovation said, “I notice a hunger in the participants to work on their ideas and implement them as start-ups.” Workshops such as these are primarily to help young women collaborate and establish networks. 

Sri Divya, MD, GIT, India said, “the primary focus of the Boot Camp was to build confidence, leadership and entrepreneurship skills among the participants.”