IN GOOD COMPANY

Two women. Two start-ups. Two thought leaders. The result of an impromptu idea, Ankiti Bose’s Singapore-based digital fashion marketplace, Zilingo, is en route to a billion dollar valuation just four years after its launch. Its rapid rise caught the eye of fellow businesswoman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder of the over-four-decade-old Biocon, who herself holds an unmatched position in corporate India. She naturally takes a mentoring stance when Verve combines the entrepreneurial powers of the Bengaluruborn disruptors for a reliably impressive exchange of ideas as Shirin Mehta listens in.

- Shirin Mehta 

If Bengaluru in Karnataka is the Silicon Valley of India, arriving at its Electronic City — navigating heaps of rubble, unfinished construction work, half-made cement pillars destined for the new Metro system — is proving to be a paradoxical start to this trip. The car arrives at biopharmaceutical company Biocon Limited’s corporate office, and I sigh with relief. There is peace and structure here, and beauty in the landscaped garden and enormous outdoor sculptures. The foyer that I am entering now is stippled with artwork – dominated by a G Ravinder Reddy woman’s head with signature wide eyes. The locked door buzzes open and I discover myself in the offices of Biocon founder, chairperson and managing director, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, though she is nowhere to be seen.

But then, I am early. This is the venue chosen for the conversation set up by