As said, the business enterprises and entrepreneurship was gendered and was going on with a stereotype thinking of men dominating the world, for a long time, but there are women who broke the ice proving that women are good for everything. Thankfully the start-up industry has given chance to prove self-worth and talent to many youths as well as women, who wanted to go beyond limits. You probably didn’t know that a handful of the successful start-ups are backed by female founders. Yes, you read it right, these women entrepreneurs are shaking up commerce like never before. Here are the top female founders of successful Indian start-ups, who are on the top because of ‘minding their own business’:
- Upasna Taku, Founder, Mobiwik
Founded in the year 2009, Mobiwik is a platform that provides a mobile phone-based payment system and digital wallet, by users adding money to the online wallet of the app that used for payments. The founder is Upasana Taku and her husband Bipin Preet Singh. The power lady is a B.Tech graduate from NIT Jalandhar and she followed it up with a master’s degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. Before kick-starting her own firm, she worked at PayPal in Silicon Valley. On 19 June 2017, Medianama reported that Mobikwik had confirmed to them that they had raised $150 million at a valuation of $1 billion from undisclosed investors. On 3 August 2017, Bajaj Finance picked up 10.83% stake in MobiKwik for Rs. 225 crores. As per reports, existing users are 5.5 million.
- Falguni Nayar, Nykaa
One of the ruling startups in India, Nykaa is founded in the year 2012 by of course another power lady, Falguni Nayar. Such a smart idea of having a platform for all beauty products can only be of women, who else can value cosmetics and beauty products more. Nayar’s platform is India’s first beauty and lifestyle retail brand online first, followed by brick and mortar stores–Nykaa. An alumna of IIM Ahmedabad, Nayar comes from a solid banking and investment background, and formerly served as the MD of Kotak Mahindra Capital Company.
Proving all stereotypes wrong about age and gender, the superwomen started Nykaa at the age of 50 in 2012 and within seven years it’s worth a whopping $1 billion valuation. Adding a new brick to its success, Nykaa has now its own line of beauty and wellness products.
- Anisha Singh, MyDala
One of the largest coupon provider platforms in India, MyDala is founded by another power woman Anisha Singh. Based in Delhi, is India’s largest local services marketing platform, present in 209 Indian cities and with 28 million registered users. Singh holds a Master’s degree in political communication and an MBA in Information Systems from American University, Washington DC. She worked for the Clinton administration, helped raise funds for women entrepreneurs, and founded MyDala in 2009.
Other than being a superwomen entrepreneur, Singh is known for speaking her mind and is a great advocate of women rights and encourages women to fight their fears and do what they want to do. She has spoken at several national and global events on a range of topics – including entrepreneurship, women leadership, the start-up ecosystem in India and more.
- Richa Kar, Zivame.com
Just similar to Nykaa, we can say the idea of selling lingerie online can pop inside a women brain only, after all, who else can value it more. The first-ever online lingerie destination in India, Zivame.com was founded by Richa Kar in the year 2011. An engineering graduate from BITS Pilani, Kar earned a master’s degree in management studies from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies. She worked as an SAP Retail Consultant for international lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret (which is a giant no more). As they say, great things come with great experiences; Kar had worked with companies like InMobi, ESPN, and Yahoo! for over 10 years. Her insight into this industry gave her the idea of starting a premium lingerie platform and breaks the taboo surrounding innerwear for women in India. It’s currently worth $13.59 million.
- Sabina Chopra, Yatra.com
Setting #goals for all, one of the first to rule the industry was Sabina Chopra, the founder of Yatra.com. Chopra founded Yatra.com in the year 2006 in Gurugram, Haryana. Today it is the second-largest online travel company in the country with a 30 per cent share of the Rs 370 billion markets for online travel-related transactions. Definitely a #bosslady!
When you decide to fly, the sky is the limit. These superwomen have set standards for us to dream high and achieve high, irrespective of age, gender and industry. The start-up industry might look new to us, but these boss ladies are the one who was the first to rock. So, if you are thinking to get into it, tighten up your shoelaces, and start running, the time is always right to work hard.
