India’s entrepreneurship journey has now got global recognition: Zia Mody

She was in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express group. Ed-tech platform upGrad’s co-founder Ronnie Screwvala was the other panellist.

The entrepreneurship journey of India as a nation has got global recognition and the interest of foreign investors in domestic companies will continue to grow, said Zia Mody, Co-founder and Managing Partner of law firm AZB & Partners.

“There were 44 unicorns in 2022. We only had one or two (unicorns) in 2023, but I think our entrepreneurship journey, as a nation, has now got global recognition. The fact is that we have foreign money coming in to back young people because people have made money, it’s not that they haven’t. So I think, the interest will continue and the ability of youngsters to deliver value will 100 percent be there,” Mody said during a panel discussion at the third edition of the Express Awards for Women Entrepreneurs (or ExpressAWE), instituted by Financial Express as a joint initiative with FICCI-FLO.

When asked to comment on the challenges which four top startups – Dream11, Paytm, Byjus and Ola – are facing, Screwvala said every industrial group has gone through their highs and lows, and it would not be correct to spotlight a few.

“Governance is an issue which comes with maturity, and it also comes from the investors that come to the company. It is a two-way street,” he said.

According to Screwvala, the two things which worry him the most are the sense of entitlement among entrepreneurs and success overtaking perception of life

“We can’t be an absolute developed country unless we can have some more sense of wealth balance and some sense of income parity between people,” Screwvala said.

This year, the lifetime achievement award was given to Swati Piramal, Vice-Chairperson, Piramal Group.

The other winners included Ananya Birla as the newsmaker, Roshni Nadar Malhotra as the legacy entrepreneur, along with several other stellar winners, each of whom carved out a niche in select domains with not just an impressive footprint but also with their pathbreaking endeavours.

Deepika Padukone, Renuka Ramnath, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Meher Pudumjee, Laila Tyabji, Jyotsna Suri, Indu Shahani, Meena Ganesh, Ghazal Alagh, and Vineeta Singh were the other winners in separate categories. Avarna Jain has been chosen as a promising FICCI-FLO entrepreneur.