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21st Century Icon Awards, London

Tarun Ghulati, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer and Preeti Rana, Founder, Chief Creative Officer of Squared Watermelon Ltd hosted the 21st Century Icon Awards on 25th November 2017 – celebrating the success of the next generation.

London was abuzz with excitement with over 250 individuals including CEO’s, professionals, celebrities, successful entrepreneurs, creators of wealth and their inheritors attended this perfect melange of a social and corporate event. The ballroom was resplendent with vibrant colours of lighting, the stage was imposing with large screens and the awards were orchestrated with panache.

Nominees came from 14 countries including the UK, USA, India, Monaco, Netherlands, Dubai, Spain, France, Ghana, Norway, Croatia, Germany, Kenya and Zimbabwe. CNBC are the Global Media Partners and London School of Economics-South Asia Centre, Academic Advisors.

Winners on the night were Kartikeya Sharma, Founder and promoter of iTV Network India’s fastest growing news network and ProSportify (Outstanding Media and Entertainment Award), Arunima Sinha, first Indian amputee and first female amputee to climb Mount Everest (Outstanding Competitive Sports Award), Jay Sean, International phenomenon with 18 million songs sold making him one of the highest selling single UK artists in history (Magnificent Performing Arts Award), Kanika Kapoor, Indian playback singer with chart topping hits and winner of several prestigious awards (Inspirational Icon Award), Alexandre Mars, serial entrepreneur whose last two startups sold to Publicis Groupe and Blackberry. Named in 2015 among New York’s top philanthropists (Generous Philanthropist Award Over 30), Reema Khan, Founder and CEO of Green Sands Equity, a boutique private equity and investment advisory firm with Investments initiated to date of $1.4bn (Astute Finance and Investments Award), John Romeo, Oliver Wyman’s Managing Partner in the Americas and a member of the Executive Committee (Specialist Professional Award), Joshua Kane, former designer at Burberry and Paul Smith launched his own label and is quoted as being ‘the next Alexander McQueen’ (Savvy Luxury Retail Award), Marc Jacques Burton, designer of the British label MJB and founder of the most profound venues in London such as Mahiki, Whiskey Mist and Tonteria (Savvy Luxury Retail Award), Baron Laurent Bourbon de Brabandt, focuses on children in need and the environment. Has helped finance schools and orphanages in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Germany, Nepal, Pakistan and Thailand (Generous Philanthropist Award Under 30), Sanjay Arora, oversees all new acquisitions of the Arora Group, one of the largest hotel groups in the UK ( Dedicated Stalwart Award Under 30), Vivek Chadha, winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2017, has acquired and developed 18 hotels in less than 6 years (Exceptional Hospitality Award), Akshay Ruparelia, 19 year old Founder of Doorsteps.co.uk has captured 1% of UK market share of properties for sale in the first year (Tenacious Property and Construction Award Under 20), Anuradha Khowala, Founder of Aptamind Partners, a strategic Hospitality & Tourism Consulting practice and Member of the Advisory Board – World Tourism Forum Lucerne (Extraordinary Travel and Tourism Award), Rahul Mulchandani, Founder of Enfield Brewery, the only brewery that produces hand crafted beers, with locally sourced ingredients, and fresh mineral water (Relentlessly Resolute Award), Yashvardhan Binani, Founder of Synergy providing customisable luxury serviced offices and serviced apartments (Tenacious Property and Construction Award Over 20), Jyotin, Karam and Sunaina Sethi, JKS Restaurants include Michelin-starred Indian restaurants Trishna and Gymkhana, Michelin-starred Hoppers and Michelin-starred Lyle’s and Kitchen Table among others (Exceptional Team Award), Sonam Fabiani, Founded ESSE VIE creating clothes for real women who lead healthy lifestyles and do not look like mannequins (Exquisite Art and Fashion Award Under 30), Jon Rasmussen, through his tech consultancy Product Labs, has built innovative Next Generation solutions for clients in banking, telecoms, automotive, smart energy and mobile commerce throughout Europe and Africa (Ardent Techie Award), Sachin Dev Duggal, a serial entrepreneur has bootstrapped Engineer.ai, founded Shoto, which brings together digital memories and exited his last company Nivio, one of the pioneers of the Cloud for $100m (Innovator Technology Award), Christian Oldendorff, whose family owns and runs 80 ships and supports operations of another 250 ships, is involved in building a modern fleet of eco vessels consuming on average 15% less heavy fuel (Dedicated Stalwart Award Over 30), Samir Kasliwal, is at the helm of Gem Palace, India’s oldest jewellery store and one of the oldest global family owned luxury businesses, is expanding globally and increasing presence in India (Exquisite Art and Fashion Award Over 30) and Robin Arora, Director of B&M which serves 5 million customers across 570 stores nationwide with a valuation of £4 billion (Savvy Retail Award).

Apart from the distinguished judges, outstanding winners and notable finalists some of the other eminent guests included James Caan, Yogesh Mehta, Craig McGinlay, Hofit Golan, Antonia Romeo, Mohit Burman, Nicole Lemann, Thara Natalie, Maisy James, Brad Hobbs, Alok Kirloskar, Anoup Treon, Pitu Suri, Hiro Harjani, Rommie Bhutani, Preeya Kalidas and Sanjeev Choraria.