India, as we all know, is a technological hub. In recent years the startup scene in India has emerged to be one of the most innovative and dynamic in nature. Startups such as PhonePe, Swiggy and Oyo have enriched the economy creating vast empires with their services.
The success of these companies has rightfully injected confidence and hope into the vast pool of aspiring entrepreneurs in the country. This has led to the rise of many new startups providing innovative solutions to the vast majority of tricky problems in the country. And at the forefront of this startup revolution in India are women.
Women entrepreneurs have taken the front seat in steering this entrepreneurial revolution. Here are some of the most noteworthy women entrepreneurs enriching India’s startup ecosystem:
1. Shefali Batra
Founder of MindCresent Wellness Ventures Pvt Ltd, otherwise known as Innerhour, is probably the most successful medical entrepreneur in the country. She, with two other co-founders, founded her mental health startup back in 2016 to tackle the mental health crisis in India.
Batra, a psychiatrist herself, was deeply passionate about the state of mental healthcare in the country and chose to make the situation better. In a country where mental health is still seen as taboo and treatment is inaccessible to many, her company’s services are of immense importance.
Their platform provides virtual therapy and several AI-based trackers and plans that the user can use to track their mental health journey and get better.
2. Jayapriya Vasudevan
Many people think all startups are tech-based companies when in reality, a startup is any company or project that seeks to solve some problem whose solution can be monetised and can occupy a space in the market.
Such a problem was sought out to be solved by Jayapriya Vasudevan in the publishing industry. She wanted to create an easier way to connect first-time authors to publishers that may want to publish their works.
She founded India’s first literary agency called Jacaranda Literary Agency. It started as a one-woman enterprise and now has grown to represent some of the most successful authors in south-east Asia and beyond in the publishing industry.
3. Falguni Nayar
A very well known name in the Indian beauty scene, she is the founder of Nykaa, a one-stop destination for all things beauty and style. Their company sells their own products as well along with products of various well-known brands around the world.
They have even given rise to some innovative homegrown beauty brands such as Ruby cosmetics, which uses all holistic products and the famous Kay beauty, owned by Katrina Kaif.
4. Upasana Taku
She founded Mobikwik, an Indian digital payment startup, back in 2009 with co-founder Bipin Preet Singh. At a time when no money transfer applications existed in the Indian market, her startup was definitely an innovator taking up a substantial space in the market. It provides a digital wallet for all your payment needs.
India that was the land of stellar government jobs and people aspiring to be employees of big companies is finally changing and giving rise to homegrown companies found by aspiring young entrepreneurs. And these women are inspiring young girls to step foot into this entrepreneurial revolution.
The future of startups in India is bright, with foreign investors swooping in to utilise its entrepreneurial talent. Hopefully, this ecosystem will continue to thrive and give rise to many great new ventures and provide young men and women new role models to look up to.