A historic day of recognition and inspiration for India’s MSMEs

“When you can plan your processes, you can get out of the clutches of just being local.” - CP Gurnani, CEO & MD, Tech Mahindra. In that single statement,  CP Gurnani encapsulated the transformative role of technology in helping Indian MSMEs make leaps in their scale and ambition. It perfectly fitted the occasion of The Challengers Awards – organized by Dell Technologies in collaboration with Network18, powered by Intel, on August 25th in New Delhi. The event was organized to recognize MSMEs who #StopAtNothing and have set new benchmarks in tech-enabled growth. Along with a glimpse into the future of India’s thriving MSME sector, exemplified by the winners across 10 award categories, audiences and viewers were also treated to high-profile discussions.

The evening was kickstarted by Chandra R Srikanth, Editor – Technology, Start-Ups & New Economy, Moneycontrol, who took to the stage to welcome the audience and recapped the journey of the first-ever Challengers Awards. She spoke about the significance of the MSME sector as a source of mass employment and how this has been reflected in several Government schemes that provide MSMEs with the necessary capital and expertise to grow. Some of these views were echoed by Swati Mishra, Director & GM, Small Business, Dell Technologies She highlighted the symbiotic bonds that have developed between large technology firms and legions of entrepreneurs across the country. Swati recounted how technology has been instrumental in helping small businesses emerge stronger after the pandemic.

This set the stage for the Chief Guest, Shri Narayan Rane, Union Minister of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, to share his thoughts with the audience. He commended Dell Technologies for their efforts to facilitate socio-economic development before laying out a vision of how modern IT tools can help achieve the dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). “We believe we can bring the world’s best technologies to India and introduce our youth to the new ways of business”, said the Minister. At the awards night, Shri Narayan Rane felicitated the winners in the special categories of ‘Digital Innovation Of The Year’ and ‘Innovative Business Of The Year’, which were awarded to Enphase Solar Technology and Cellworks Research India Pvt. Ltd., respectively. He also handed over the ‘Emerging Tech Leader’ Award to Harsha Jakkanahalli Vishnukumar, MD & CEO, AKPTL India Private Ltd.

Erik Day, Senior VP of Global Business at Dell Technologies, was then joined by Rajkumar Rishi, VP, APJ Consumer & SB Global Channel Sales, Dell Technologies, at the award ceremony, to discuss the prevailing context around ‘Small Business and Big Opportunities’ with Chandra R Srikanth. “We have to make technology accessible” was one of their key recommendations for a successful small business. Erik Day also spoke at length about the scale and cost benefits that technology can deliver. Rajkumar Rishi explained how the size of India’s domestic market presents a great opportunity for growing enterprises, provided they can bridge gaps in diversity and tech adoption.

The audience was then given an overview of the main award categories and winning criteria through an audio-visual presentation. Pragya Shrivastava from Ernst & Young, also a Jury member for The Challengers Awards, further explained the multi-layered and rigorous selection process that was followed to pick the most worthy applicants for the final round. This was followed by presentations by the finalists, post which the Grand Jury selected the winners.

The Challengers Awards had witnessed 200+ guests and many more watched the ceremony virtually. A special panel discussion on the ‘Heroes of the Indian Economy’, anchored by Chandra R Srikanth was also organized that evening. The discussion featured Sunitha Natarajan, Partner, Ernst & Young, Animesh Saxena, President, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), and Ajay Thakur, Head, SME & Start-Ups, BSE Limited, also a member of the Grand Jury. The panelists discussed key trends observed in the MSME sector, as illustrated by the nomination and selection criterion followed in selecting the winners for The Challengers Awards. The winners for The Challengers Awards 2022 were Truminds Software Systems in the IT/ITES & Telecommunications category, Visics ATG India Private Ltd. in Energy OEM/ Industrial Products, BH Innovative Equipment Slk in Textile & Garment, 3R Zerowaste Pvt. Ltd. in Waste Management, Travotel.com in Travel, Logistics & Supply Chain, and Medicvisor Pvt. Ltd. in Healthcare & Life Sciences categories respectively.

The evening was concluded by the host, Ruchiraa Sharma, who paid a heartfelt ode to a new generation of Indian MSMEs and expressed hope that the first ever Challengers Awards organized by Dell Technologies would inspire a legacy of growth and innovation within the MSME sector, thereby bringing in more inspirational tech-enabled success stories in the near future.

“When you can plan your processes, you can get out of the clutches of just being local.” - CP Gurnani, CEO & MD, Tech Mahindra. In that single statement,  CP Gurnani encapsulated the transformative role of technology in helping Indian MSMEs make leaps in their scale and ambition. It perfectly fitted the occasion of The Challengers Awards – organized by Dell Technologies in collaboration with Network18, powered by Intel, on August 25th in New Delhi. The event was organized to recognize MSMEs who #StopAtNothing and have set new benchmarks in tech-enabled growth. Along with a glimpse into the future of India’s thriving MSME sector, exemplified by the winners across 10 award categories, audiences and viewers were also treated to high-profile discussions.

The evening was kickstarted by Chandra R Srikanth, Editor – Technology, Start-Ups & New Economy, Moneycontrol, who took to the stage to welcome the audience and recapped the journey of the first-ever Challengers Awards. She spoke about the significance of the MSME sector as a source of mass employment and how this has been reflected in several Government schemes that provide MSMEs with the necessary capital and expertise to grow. Some of these views were echoed by Swati Mishra, Director & GM, Small Business, Dell Technologies She highlighted the symbiotic bonds that have developed between large technology firms and legions of entrepreneurs across the country. Swati recounted how technology has been instrumental in helping small businesses emerge stronger after the pandemic.

This set the stage for the Chief Guest, Shri Narayan Rane, Union Minister of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, to share his thoughts with the audience. He commended Dell Technologies for their efforts to facilitate socio-economic development before laying out a vision of how modern IT tools can help achieve the dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). “We believe we can bring the world’s best technologies to India and introduce our youth to the new ways of business”, said the Minister. At the awards night, Shri Narayan Rane felicitated the winners in the special categories of ‘Digital Innovation Of The Year’ and ‘Innovative Business Of The Year’, which were awarded to Enphase Solar Technology and Cellworks Research India Pvt. Ltd., respectively. He also handed over the ‘Emerging Tech Leader’ Award to Harsha Jakkanahalli Vishnukumar, MD & CEO, AKPTL India Private Ltd.

Erik Day, Senior VP of Global Business at Dell Technologies, was then joined by Rajkumar Rishi, VP, APJ Consumer & SB Global Channel Sales, Dell Technologies, at the award ceremony, to discuss the prevailing context around ‘Small Business and Big Opportunities’ with Chandra R Srikanth. “We have to make technology accessible” was one of their key recommendations for a successful small business. Erik Day also spoke at length about the scale and cost benefits that technology can deliver. Rajkumar Rishi explained how the size of India’s domestic market presents a great opportunity for growing enterprises, provided they can bridge gaps in diversity and tech adoption.

The audience was then given an overview of the main award categories and winning criteria through an audio-visual presentation. Pragya Shrivastava from Ernst & Young, also a Jury member for The Challengers Awards, further explained the multi-layered and rigorous selection process that was followed to pick the most worthy applicants for the final round. This was followed by presentations by the finalists, post which the Grand Jury selected the winners.

The Challengers Awards had witnessed 200+ guests and many more watched the ceremony virtually. A special panel discussion on the ‘Heroes of the Indian Economy’, anchored by Chandra R Srikanth was also organized that evening. The discussion featured Sunitha Natarajan, Partner, Ernst & Young, Animesh Saxena, President, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), and Ajay Thakur, Head, SME & Start-Ups, BSE Limited, also a member of the Grand Jury. The panelists discussed key trends observed in the MSME sector, as illustrated by the nomination and selection criterion followed in selecting the winners for The Challengers Awards. The winners for The Challengers Awards 2022 were Truminds Software Systems in the IT/ITES & Telecommunications category, Visics ATG India Private Ltd. in Energy OEM/ Industrial Products, BH Innovative Equipment Slk in Textile & Garment, 3R Zerowaste Pvt. Ltd. in Waste Management, Travotel.com in Travel, Logistics & Supply Chain, and Medicvisor Pvt. Ltd. in Healthcare & Life Sciences categories respectively.

The evening was concluded by the host, Ruchiraa Sharma, who paid a heartfelt ode to a new generation of Indian MSMEs and expressed hope that the first ever Challengers Awards organized by Dell Technologies would inspire a legacy of growth and innovation within the MSME sector, thereby bringing in more inspirational tech-enabled success stories in the near future.