Tamil Nadu MSME Minister T. M. Anbarasan launched the fifth season of the Sakthi Masala Homepreneur awards-2022. The award ('Suyasakthi Virudhugal') offers a platform for women in the country who are involved in home-based businesses to be recognised. Brand Avatar, an integrated marketing communications and brand and event management solutions provider, is behind the effort.
Founder and CEO of Brand Avatar, Hemachandran, remarked, “Women have always been the contributing members of our society. In addition to discharging their household duties, they support their families economically by operating small or medium businesses from their home. They also take up work as freelancers.”
He further said, “These homepreneurs make a world of difference to the local community by creating and supplying quality products and services. Given a right platform to grow, they could scale their venture and become business leaders. We have instituted the Homepreneurs award to bring to the limelight the silent yet significant contributions women make to the society and the economy.”
The Sakthi Masala Homepreneur Awards are unique in that they honour women who run businesses from their homes rather than corporate behemoths. Since its inception in 2017, the award has been given out for four seasons. The first three events were place in Chennai, and the fourth was broadcast live on the internet.
He added, “The 2022 award ceremony is all set to become a national event. Brand Avatar aims to make it an international event by 2025.”
The launch ceremony was attended by Ms. R Radikaa Sarathkumar, actress and producer; Sivarajah Ramanathan, Mission Director and CEO, Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission (TANSIM) and Chairperson, and Managing Director, Radaan Mediaworks (I) Ltd.
The awards aim to create a platform for women who have chosen to pursue their passion through business from home to be recognised and celebrated. Agriculture, Home Retail, Healthcare, Arts & Culture, Sports & Fitness, Digital Homepreneur, Food and Beverage, Beauty & Wealth, Media and Entertainment, Education & Literature, Social Welfare & Differently Abled, Home Professionals, Technology, and NRI / Outside Tamil Nadu are among the categories in which any woman earning through homepreneurship is eligible to apply.
Through Sakthi Masala Homepreneur Awards Student Edition in collaboration with YI—Young Indians, the current edition of the award is also offering college going girls with a forum to showcase their entrepreneurial ideas and strategies to start, execute, and scale up their dream companies. This programme will honour the students' most innovative ideas. Any female or female college student is eligible to apply.
This year, the Sakthi Masala Homepreneur Awards have partnered with StartupTN (TANSIM), a Tamil Nadu government project aimed at cultivating a positive entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state. StartupTN will offer a free acceleration programme to a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 30 eligible home-based entrepreneurs who have been selected based on StartupTN's qualifying criteria and policies, and will help them become startup entrepreneurs.
