Female-founded start-ups are on the rise in India. With their determination, perseverance, and passion, women have come a long way in our country and are now set to change the startup landscape of India. In the world of business, which was majorly a man-driven industry, our women are growing by leaps and bounds. Not only are they making their mark in fashion, food/beverages and lifestyle industries, they are also penetrating into the technology and other sectors and doing great for themselves. As per statistics, of the total number of companies that got seed funding in India, more than 15% are founded by women. This might not sound like a great number, but it is an increase from what it was earlier.
Let’s take a look at some of the very significant female-founded startups in India and their founders:
1.ShopClues-Radhika Ghai Aggarwal
ShopClues is an online marketplace selling everything from technology and fashion to footwear and jewelry. It was established in July 2011 and is based in Gurgaon, India. Radhika Aggarwal is one of the three co-founders on ShopClues and is India's first woman to enter the Unicorn Club. She holds an MBA from the Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to entering into the entrepreneurial venture, Radhika worked in the marketing department of companies like Nordstrom in Seattle and strategic planning at Goldman Sachs. Prior to ShopClues, she had started a company called FashionClues, which was a content portal for NRI women.
2. MobiKwik- Upasana Taku
MobiKwik was founded in 2009 and is a company that provides a mobile phone-based payment system and digital wallet. Upasana Taku and her husband, Bipin Preet Singh are the founding members of this company. The husband-wife duo saw a great opportunity to improve mobile recharge options and this drove them to begin this venture. Before MobiKwik, Upasana had founded another payment gateway called Zaakpay. After completing her MS in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University, she worked at PayPal in San Jose, California as a product manager, before returning to India in 2008.
3. Freshmenu- Rashmi Daga
FreshMenu is a full-stack online kitchen that serves global cuisine right at your doorstep. Its menu keeps changing on a daily basis unlike ordinary restaurants and has offerings spread across mains, salads, appetisers and desserts. Freshmenu was founded by Rashmi Daga in 2014 out of Bangalore. It now has its branches in Mumbai, Gurugram and Delhi with 26 operational kitchens. Rashmi Daga is an IIM-A alumnus and has previous work experience in many companies including Bluestone.com, Olacabs, TutorVista, LifeScan and more.
4. Infibeam- Neeru Sharma
Infibeam is an internet and e-commerce conglomerate involved in digital payments, online retailing, e-commerce software and internet services. The company was founded in 2007 and has offices in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Neeru Sharma is the co-founder of this company and she heads the corporate and business development sector. Prior to venturing into this company, Neeru was working at Alcatel India as product manager, leading R&D projects in the intelligent network services domain for major telecom partners in India, Australia and France. She holds an MBA degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
5.LimeRoad- Suchi Mukherjee
LimeRoad is India's first boutique fashion marketplace for women. LimeRoad was founded by Suchi Mukherjee in 2012 when she realized that there was no way to discover lifestyle and accessories for women online easily. She has previously worked in eBay UK and was also the Director and a member of Executive Management Team at Skype.
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