LoT Awards & Conclave: Thought leaders unleash India’s entrepreneurial spirit 
In the past one decade, Leaders of Tomorrow (LoT) has nurtured the entrepreneurial landscape in India and empowered small businesses, startups, MSMEs and SMEs with the right conversations and insights. Keeping the entrepreneur at the centre stage, LoT has served as a platform to showcase the million possibilities that are available for India’s entrepreneurs and how they can turn their dreams into reality. Keeping this in mind, Season 9 of Leaders of Tomorrow Awards and Conclave kicked off with a special panel discussion from the glittering awards ceremony. Experts such as Ashish Chauhan – MD & CEO, BSE, Naina Lal Kidwai – Former Country Head, HSBC India and Mahesh Gupta – Chairman, Kent RO Systems gathered to unleash India’s entrepreneurial spirit and decode the financial challenges of India’s small businesses.
Moderated by Sunanda Jayaseelan, the discussion touched upon the financial concerns of the entrepreneurs and trends in the stock market.
Talking about how the way forward is looking like for the stock markets, Ashish Chauhan said, “Stock market means different things to different people. The society needs to invest and invest for the long-term. For the first time, India is in a situation where it has demographics in its favour, is technologically advanced, and technology is what creates wealth. India, for the first time is ahead of the curve and ready to compete with the rest of the world. The next 50 years will see more wealth created for the world than the last 10,000 years have seen.”
Decoding the financial challenges of India’s small businesses, Naina Lal Kidwai said, “Challenge remains on the finance side, but the number of companies that are making it through the gate because of offshore equity financing is encouraging. The good news is that we have a growing band of local angel funders for equity. So, equity financing is key and the health of our equity markets helps the entrepreneurs.”
Presented by ET NOW in association with IDFC FIRST Bank, Leaders of Tomorrow Awards and Conclave Season 9 not just celebrates the spirit of India’s entrepreneurship but also aims to empower and enable the startups, MSMEs, and small businesses that constitute the backbone of the economy.
