Lakshmi Shenoy

 

Lakshmi Shenoy will be honored with the Indo-US Chamber Businesswoman of the Year award at this year’s Banyan Ball on April 16, 2022, being held at the Grand Hyatt in Tampa.

Lakshmi is the CEO of Embarc Collective, Florida’s fastest-growing startup hub. In just over two years, she has redefined what startup support looks like. Embarc Collective now supports over 120 startups from across the state of Florida with its individualized coaching and curated programming at its 32,000 square-foot physical hub in downtown Tampa.

Before moving to Tampa Bay, Lakshmi served as the Vice President of Strategy & Business Development at 1871 in Chicago, the #1 university-affiliated business incubator in the world. Prior to 1871, Lakshmi focused on growth strategies for a variety of businesses through her work at Prophet Brand Strategy, Time Inc., Procter & Gamble, and Leo Burnett. 

While working at 1871, Lakshmi helped to grow the organization, both physically and programmatically.  She helped launch 1871’s WiSTEM program, a 12-week curriculum that supports tech women founders. The program helped give women access to capital, customers and technology talent. Today, she makes time to serve as both an advisor and investor in several women-led startups from around the country. 

Lakshmi has a Bachelors of Arts in Sociology from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Lakshmi was recognized as one of 20 Rising Brand Stars by AdAge in 2017 and a BusinessWoman of the Year Honoree by the Tampa Bay Business Journal in 2022.

Lakshmi has shown the true spirit of entrepreneurship and is a great resource to the Tampa Bay start-up community. The Indo-US Chamber of Commerce wishes her continued success in all her endeavors.