Chiratae Ventures Patrick J. McGovern Awards 2022 – Honoring individuals with exceptional contributions

The prestigious Chiratae Ventures Patrick J. McGovern awards held recently celebrated exceptional leaders and entrepreneurs. The annual award honours individuals for their contributions to business, entrepreneurship and economic impact.   

Sudhir Sethi, Founder & Chairman of Chiratae Ventures, shares a comprehensive overview of the prestigious award. 

Q: What is the story behind the award? When did it originate? 

The Chiratae Ventures Patrick J. McGovern Awards were instituted in 2016 to honour the legacy of Mr Patrick J. McGovern, the legendary Co-Founder and Chairman of International Data Group (IDG), the leading global tech-media company with over 200 magazines and 460 websites. Pat set up IDG Technology Ventures and anchored funds in multiple countries, including India, China, USA, Vietnam and Korea. He was one of the earliest venture capitalists to believe in emerging markets, and his support led to the formation of Chiratae Ventures (then IDG Ventures) in 2006. He passed away in 2014, and the awards were instituted in his memory in 2016.  

Q: What’s the purpose of this recognition? Who is it meant for? 

Since 2016, Chiratae Ventures has been honoring individuals with exceptional contributions to their respective domains through these awards. Significantly eminent leaders of stature with reputation of excellence at scale have accepted these awards. The Lifetime Achievement – India, which was started in 2016 and has since been awarded each year, felicitates leaders of eminence in India who have built and scaled organisations that have had a substantial impact on their respective industries. Lifetime Achievement – Global celebrates the impact of global leaders on India’s tech entrepreneurial ecosystem. And the Exceptional Entrepreneurial Achievement category was introduced in 2021 to celebrate the growing depth and breadth of the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem and appreciate the impact that first-generation founders are having on different domains. 

Q: How do you evaluate the winner or what it takes to be the winner of this prestigious award? 

The Jury, headed by Pat McGovern (the son of Patrick J. McGovern), comprises of Sudhir, TCM (Founders – Chiratae Ventures), Pat McGovern, and the past awardees. Some of the criteria that the jury evaluates candidates on include the following: 

• Demonstrated success as a leader in an early-stage organisation 

• Game changing individual contribution to the ecosystem (invested as an Angel or through funds or otherwise)  
• Consistently influencing the ecosystem in terms of regulations and policy  
• Contribution to philanthropic causes 
• Demonstrated excellence in phenomenally scaling up organisations 
• Individual contribution to the ecosystem through investments as an Angel or through funds or otherwise 

• Established success in developing significant presence in Indian technology ecosystem  
• Play a prominent role in the international technology ecosystem  

Q: Who is the winner of this year’s award?    

• Chiratae Ventures Patrick J. McGovern Awards 2022 for Lifetime Achievement– Global: Prem Watsa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited 
• Chiratae Ventures Patrick J. McGovern Awards 2022 for Lifetime Achievement -India: Uday Kotak, MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank 

• Chiratae Ventures Patrick J. McGovern Awards 2022 -Exceptional Entrepreneur: Falguni Nayar, Founder and CEO of Nykaa