ET Now's Leaders of Tomorrow Season 8 introduces reality show 'Winning Pitch'

English business news channel ET Now’s property Leaders of Tomorrow, in its eighth season, will introduce Winning Pitch, a mega reality show that will offer entrepreneurs a stage to pitch their business ideas and stand a chance to win funding by India’s prolific investors and venture capitalists.

The top three winners of the final round will also receive an opportunity to go to Silicon Valley for business mentorship. The 27-episode series will air as a part of Leaders of Tomorrow Season 8 on the channel from November 27.

ET Now Leaders of Tomorrow Season 8 will be presented by IDFC First Bank and co-presented by the Wadhwani Foundation.

Empowering start-ups and small businesses across the nation, Winning Pitch will be conducted in four zones across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. Facilitating fund-raising for start-ups, SME and MSMEs to realise their business dreams, Leaders of Tomorrow, the entrepreneurial platform, will hold the first zonal event of the Winning Pitch in Mumbai on November 27. The panel of jury will include Madhu Kela, Founder MK Ventures; Ajay Kela, President & CEO, Wadhwani Foundation; A Velumani, Creator & MD, Thyrocare; K Ganesh, serial entrepreneur, investor & partner, GrowthStory.in; Sanjay Mehta, Founder and partner, 100X.VC and Anjali Bansal, Founder, Avaana Capital will screen eligible participants for Mumbai zone.

Winning Pitch’s nationwide call for entry will screen 20 participants in each zone and five shortlisted participants from each region will make their final pitches to the investors at the Leaders of Tomorrow Awards in February 2020.  Enabling small business to scale up, Winning Pitch will offer funding twice, at the zonal level and at the finale.

MK Anand

MK Anand, MD and CEO, Times Network, said, “Celebrating the best entrepreneurs across India, ET Now Leaders of Tomorrow has truly created its own legacy over the past seven years and has risen to become India’s largest entrepreneurship platform. SMEs, MSMEs and start-ups are critical to India's growth agenda and we are happy to provide a platform through Winning Pitch to empower and enable SMEs to contribute significantly to the country's GDP and realise the $5 trillion goal. True to ET Now’s ethos — ‘Rise with India’, I firmly believe India’s most coveted entrepreneurial platform will unleash the untapped potential of growing businesses and will inspire new stories of entrepreneurial success.”

Ajay Kela, President and CEO, Wadhwani Foundation, said, “India’s start-up ecosystem is gaining vibrancy in few major metros like Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.  However, India has a goldmine of more than 12 lakh sustainable start-ups and SMEs across hundreds of its minor metros whose economic and job-creating potential is untapped. The Winning Pitch reality show aims to bring forth these hidden gems with the objectives of inspiring a generation of youth across the nation towards entrepreneurship and recognising and awarding those that have been trailblazers, thus helping accelerate their growth journey and India’s economic development.”

Nurturing entrepreneurship, Leaders of Tomorrow Season 8 will introduce Knowledge Council, a team of successful entrepreneurs and industry giants that acts as ‘Powerhouse’ of guidance and learning for the sector. The council of experts includes Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys; Deep Kalra, Chairman & Group CEO, MakeMyTrip; Ajay Kela, President & CEO, Wadhwani Foundation; Samina Vaziralli, Executive Vice-Chairperson, Cipla; Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & MD, Nestle India; Sangita Reddy, Joint MD, Apollo Hospitals; A Velumani, Creator & MD, Thyrocare; Piruz Khambatta, Chairman, Rasna; Anupam Pahuja, MD, PayPal India and Rahul Chari, Co-Founder & CTO, PhonePe.

Zonal rounds in Bangalore (South), Delhi (North) and Kolkata (East) will be held on December 20, January 11 and February’20.

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