The Mayo Alumni Association, Delhi (MAAD), a chapter of the Old Boys Society, Ajmer which originates from its prestigious alma mater Mayo College, Ajmer, organized a first of its kind “Mayo Alumni Summit on 30th March 2019” at The Lalit, New Delhi. The themes of the first annual summit compromised of two special sessions, i.e. Startups (“Angel Investment Perspectives”), Foodpreneurs (“Business of Food”) and a talk on Healthcare (“Healthcare Today for Tomorrow”).
The Summit entailed Panel Discussions, Startup Presentations, Annual Talk, Business Exhibition and Networking opportunities. The purpose of the Summit was to provide a unique platform for all Mayoites within India and overseas to come together and analyze real-world business scenarios, stimulate meaningful discussions, deliberate ideas, exhibit and showcase products/services and network amongst each other.
Harmeet Singh, President – Mayo Alumni Association Delhi (MAAD) shared the importance of connecting alumni across industries, geographies and more importantly across business stages from entrepreneurs to established business houses.
Charu Sharma (Mayo Alumni) – star Commentator, Compere & Quizmaster compered the evening and kept the audience is splits sharing interesting anecdotes from the world of cricketing anecdotes. He narrated stories and incidents on the power of networking and how initiatives such as these were critical for the growth of any alumni community.
The first session, Startups (“Angel Investment Perspectives”) comprised of eminent panelists like Ambarish Raghuvanshi, Ex- CFO, Naukri.com Advisers; Padmaja Ruparel, Co-Founder, Indian Angel Network; Pankaj Karna, Managing Director, Maple Capital Advisors; Siddharth Bindra, Managing Director, BIBA Apparels; and Uday Jhamb, Co-Founder & C.E.O., Roadhouse Hostels. The panellists covered a range of topics from how accepted starting up is today to who to go about funding and importance of picking the right sectors.
The second session, Foodpreneurs (“Business of Food”) saw industry stalwarts like Jiggs Kalra, Author, Gastronome & Food Consultant; Kabir Advani, Managing Partner, Berco’s; Rahul Singh, Founder & CEO, The Beer Café; and Goumtesh Singh, Partner, Eminent Entertainment (Raasta), taking the centre stage. The speakers deliberated on the transformation taking place in the food industry, thanks to the growth of food aggregators.
The final session of the evening was the Annual Talk on Healthcare (“Healthcare Today for Tomorrow”) which was addressed by Ameet Kishore, ENT-Head, Apollo Hospitals Nutri Health; Ashish Gupta, CTO and Business Head, Policybazaar; Rachna Khanna Singh, TQIW (The Quantum Institute of Wellness); and Shikha Sharma, Founder & Managing Director, Dr. Shikha’s.
Besides these panels, there were presentations by six start-ups by Mayo founders. Of these two were in the space of social entrepreneurship, two in technology and the rest two in Food. In the social entrepreneurship, Pradyut Voleti, Founder, DribbleAcademy.Org shared his story on establishing an initiative that helped underprivileged kids excel through basketball.
Kirit Javali, MAAD Committee Member, ended the evening with by thanking sponsors such as IIFL, Cox & Kings for the support in the initiative.
