Showcasing the success of women

Two Hyderabadis, Sita Pallacholla and Kiran Maverick, were on a mission to create a platform where women could get inspired by other women who were in important positions and playing leadership roles. They also wanted to increase the number of women in different fields. And hence, Angel Summit was born.

Talking about why the Summit is important, Sita, 30, says, “It’s important for us to showcase success stories of women. The upcoming generation needs role models. People talk about how there are only few women in various fields. To change that number, we need our generation to be inspired.”

She also stresses on why it is important to build a community around like-minded individuals who could connect for mutual benefit.

“Our team is a good example; we are all like-minded individuals from different backgrounds. If building a global platform is Kiran’s vision, my vision is to do something for women. Imagine what collaboration could do,” says Sita while Kiran adds, “We wanted to create an ecosystem where people could connect with industry leaders, who could act as mentors.”

The Angel Summit has been in the pipeline since 2013. Says Kiran, “When I met Sita, she had already worked with women entrepreneurs in Singapore. It just took us a few minutes to decide that we would come up with this Summit. It then took two years to figure out how to do it. If you meet the right people, things progress quickly.” Sita adds, “For us, we are fortunate that people we approached connected with our objective.”

While Kiran has been working with start-ups for 10 years, Sita’s journey as an entrepreneur started straight out of college.

“My focus now is to make An-gel Summit a sustainable community,” says Sita, who started Angel Hub, which focuses on women-centric initiatives. Angel Summit is a part of Angel Hub.

Talking about the future of Angel Summit, Sita, a product of Hyderabad Public School, says, “The plan is also to grow globally and connect back to India to create connections and networking opportunities across the border. We are hosting the Summit in Delhi in January, followed by Madrid, Spain. Before July next year, we will take it to four cities. It will be an annual event wherever we take it.”

When the two are not working, you will find them travelling and exploring the world. Thirty-four-year-old Kiran, who stresses that he is “35 countries old” says, “I love travelling... I want to learn from every person I meet. So I try to travel as much as I can.”