Women Led Tech Start-Ups
In a country like India where most of the women aren't encouraged to think big (especially in the rural parts of the nation), there are some who have soared higher than one would expect. These wonder women are inspiring other ladies to venture on the path of entrepreneurship through their success stories comprising personal struggles and challenges. As a result, India is steadily rising up the ranks when it comes to a favourable start up environment coupled with some solid backing from the Indian government. With the consistent developments in the Indian start up ecosystem, more and more women are chasing the entrepreneurial dream and flourishing in their ventures. This is empowering other Indian women who are still confined to the traditional homemaker role to think for themselves. However, a recent report states that only two Indian cities have made it to the list of the 50 most favourable global places for women to work. India’s Silicon Valley,Bengalaru, ranked 40th, while Delhi was at the 49th place. According to a report by Google, women entrepreneurs can generate 150-170 million job opportunities in India by 2030. Here are some of the well known female led start ups in India.
1.Aditi Gupta: The Co-founder of Menstrupedia
Aditi Gupta is a social-cause entrepreneur and the co-founder of Menstrupedia that works on spreading awareness about menstruation. Tired of the myths and misinformation that surrounded Menstruation she took it upon herself to make a change. She started this venture along with her husband in 2012. In 2014 she was listed on the Forbes India 30 under 30 list for her work towards breaking the taboo. Today, Menstrupedia has been used in more than 6,000 schools and has benefited more than 10,00,000 girls in over 14 languages. She is a Ted Talk speaker and her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, CNBC, and BBC.
2.Upasana Taku: Founder Mobikwik
Upasana Taku co-founded Mobikwik with her husband, Bipin Preet Singh. Mobikwik is a fintech start up. The Gurugram-based digital wallet claims to have over 107 million users, 3 million merchants, and 200+ billers on its platform. It is a virtual wallet tied to a huge network of companies and services. People can recharge and pay at registered places through the Mobikwik wallet. Upasana has a strong fintech background, having worked as a senior product manager at PayPal in Silicon Valley and with HSBC (San Diego) prior to that. She graduated with a bachelor's in engineering from NIT Jalandhar and has a master's degree in management science from Stanford University. Airbrushed by this incredible story, though, are Upasana’s personal trials and conquests. “Initially when I was responsible for managing finances at MobiKwik, often auditors or investors and bankers would be surprised and ask to deal with someone male. This was shocking to me given that banking is an industry where female leaders are not uncommon,” she reveals.
3.Falguni Nayar: Founder of Nykka
Falguni is the founder of Nykaa.com and is popularly known for her entrepreneur journey in India. Equipped with 25 years of experience and a grandly successful career in financial services, she took the leap to launch Nykaa.com. Today, Falguni Nayar, an IIM Ahmedabad graduate has built an empire of beauty and skin-care retailing. Her biggest achievement in her early days was being able to build a brand of Nykaa. Today, it truly is a go-to platform for beauty. She was titled the “Most powerful business “by Business Today and received the “Woman Ahead” award at the Economic Times. Nykaa has recently entered the unicorn club with its fresh Rs 100 crore ($13 million) funding from existing backer Steadview Capital.
4. Shreya Lamba: Co-Founder -The Mumum Co.
Shreya co-founded the Mumum Co with Farah. She holds an undergraduate and a postgraduate degree from LSE. While on her pregnancy break Shreya wanted her child to have healthy, real and yet, fun food. She along with her co-founder realised that parents have a very limited amount of options to choose from. This led to the creation of The Mumum Co.She is also the co-founder of a mommy network with Kiran Amlani and Tejal Bajla. A network that is still alive and gives Shreya a great deal of personal satisfaction. Mumum Co. is a brand that provides 100% natural and wholesome recipes in snackable sizes for children. It works on making food more fun while remaining healthy.
5. Diksha Gokhale: Co- Founder GJ Lustre
Diksha is a co-founder of a Pune based start-up. GJ Lustre, has designed, developed and deployed over 600 sanitary pad incinerators across four places while turning it profitable in a short period of time. In one year, since the product got approval, the incinerator is finding acceptance across colleges, hospitals and some self-help group societies in Pune, Jalgaon, Mumbai and Gujarat. The company founded by engineering students, Diksha Gokhale and her colleagues had its genesis in the overflowing bins filled with pads in the all women college they passed out of. The necessity of proper disposal of used napkins can be solved using the incinerator. This has been a major issue in India for proper disposal of napkins. The incinerator burns the napkin at very high temperatures turning it to ash. Incinerator with smoke filters reduce the intensity of smoke. incinerators are available in a variety of range from 50 pads/ day, 100 pads/day burning capacity and so on. The other products include automatic sanitary napkin vending machine.
