Meet Some of India’s Most Innovative Women at Australia’s First Ever Bollywood-Style Pitch Event

The Australian corporate initiative that’s putting Indian women entrepreneurs in front of local strategic investors….

 Sydney: The Indian economy is booming and with over 5,000 new start-ups expected to be registered this year, the next generation of entrepreneurs are leading the country’s charge towards the digital economy.

But in line with the global trend, (and despite a very good success rate) women entrepreneurs are still finding it hard to raise early stage funds and investment capital, and (due to a number of historical cultural issues) this is especially so in India.

To address this issue, Sydney-based corporate advisory firm – CEO Strategic, created The Virangana Project, a nation-wide, NFP initiative that sets out to uncover some of India’s Most Innovative women entrepreneurs, pair them with high profile mentors, and then bring them to Australia to pitch to local angel investors and VCs.

Named for a famous warrior woman in Indian history, The Virangana Project will culminate in October when a cross section of finalists will be presenting their pitches at Australia’s first ever ‘Bollywood-Style’ Pitch Event, as a feature of the prestigious NSW Spark Festival.

Communications Director for The Virangana Project, Tony McAuslan, said that “India is producing some very talented start-up founders and we believe they and their disruptive ideas will appeal to Aussie investors. India is on course to be the world’s 3^rd biggest economy by 2020, and with a population of 1.3Billion, the opportunity for Start-ups to scale and create real value are much greater than here in Australia.

Australian investors who are tired of fishing in the same small pond need to lift their eyes and start looking further afar to countries like India if they ever have a hope of finding the next $100M+ unicorn. Indian start-ups are well developed and offer great value for money.”

He added that “Having sat through many a dry old pitch event, we thought we’d spice things up with a dose of Indian culture, so aside from hearing from some amazing women entrepreneurs, attendees at our pitch event can expect to see some of the colour, music and dancing that epitomizes India.”

That’s where Sukham and Anmol Saini come in. The powerhouse team have joint forces with the Virangana Project as Advisory Board Chair and members to bridge the gap between India and Australia as Indian born, Australian women. With years of combined experience across Marketing, PR, Events and Financial Services, their volunteered time and support together with their networks and Multicultural Events Production company, will be talking care of all event production and making sure our finalists feel welcomed and at home in Australia during the Virangana Project week.

The Virangana Bollywood-Style Pitch Event will be held on the 24^th October at the Sydney Start-Up Hub Theatrette, in York Street. Seats for the event are filling up fast, and tickets can be booked on the Spark Fest Eventbrite site. We encourage serious Investors to attend our pitch fest.

The Virangana Project Team are looking forward to welcoming our Indian Women Entrepreneurs!

About the Virangana Project: A not-for-profit initiative set up to bridge the gap between the Australian & Indian women start-up communities. For more information visit: https://www.viranganaproject.com/