The Executive Chairperson and Managing Director of the biotechnology company Biocon Limited, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was named the 2020 EY World Entrepreneur of The Year at a virtual award ceremony recently.
She was selected from over 45 nominations from over 40 nations across the world.
What a night, yesterday we celebrated our unstoppable entrepreneurs and announced our 2020 World Entrepreneur Of The Year, @kiranshaw of @Bioconlimited. Re-live the night, the announcement and what our winner had to say. #WEOY https://t.co/tTBYaLlPtn
— EY EOY (@EY_EOY) June 5, 2020
In the process, she became the first woman entrepreneur from India and the third Indian ever to win the award. She is also the only second woman in the world, after Olivia Lum of Hyflux Limited, Singapore, who won the award in 2011, to win this honour.
The only two Indians to have been awarded the honour are Narayana Murthy of Infosys Technologies Limited and Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank, who won the prestigious award in 2005 and 2014 respectively.
Mazumdar-Shaw, 67, founded Biocon way back in 1978 with only two employees. She has seen it grow to an organization that currently employs over 10,000 employees. Headquartered in Bangalore, India, Biocon manufactures generic active pharmaceutical ingredients, novel biologics, and biosimilar insulins, among other things.
A healthcare visionary, global influencer, and philanthropist, Mazumdar-Shaw has been one of the most renowned entrepreneurs in India, redefining the biotechnology landscape through the initiatives of Biocon. She has, in her distinguished career, earned several national and international awards and recognitions. She has been conferred with the Order of Australia, Australia’s highest civilian honour, in 2020 and appointed Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour in 2016.
According to a press release by Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said, “I am truly honoured to receive the prestigious EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2020. At its core, entrepreneurship is about solving problems. The greatest opportunities often arise at the toughest times, and that’s been my experience throughout my entrepreneurial journey. My business focus is global health care and the provision of universal access to life saving medicine; however, my responsibility as an entrepreneur is greater than simply delivering value to shareholders. Wealth creation can be a catalyst for change, and all entrepreneurs have a responsibility to the world around them and the communities in which they operate. Right now, the world is looking for solutions to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2 and treat patients with COVID-19. As the founder of a global biopharmaceutical company, I am contributing to worldwide efforts to tackle the novel coronavirus through innovative science.”
“Women also play a hugely important role in economic development, and for too long their contribution has been ignored. It’s important that we use the platform of EY World Entrepreneur of the Year to encourage more women to participate in entrepreneurial pursuits,” she added.
We wish Mazumdar-Shaw all the best in all her endeavours!
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