Women of Bangalore Lighting-up the Fire of 'Entrepreneurship'
India has become one of the most dynamic startup hubs in the world, with a growing number of successful startups in a variety of industries. India has more than 61,400 startups. The Indian startup ecosystem is built on several key pillars, including government support, access to capital, a growing talent pool, and a supportive culture for entrepreneurship. Recently, India has become the third largest hub globally after the US and China. Indian Startups are the factors which have added this enigmatic empowerment in country’s economy. One of the main factors that gave Indian startups the strength to stay strong is the government’s constant support. With the passing time, the mindset of the people and fear of taking risks have vanished gradually and giving birth to a culture which supports entrepreneurship. This progressive mindset is reflecting in the increasing number of startup events and conferences taking place across the country, as well as the growing number of co-working spaces and incubators.
Startups are Delivering Innovation Till the Eternity!!
The government has implemented a range of policies and initiatives aimed at encouraging startups, such as the Startup India campaign launched in 2016. Government is providing an established network of incubators and accelerators across the country to help startups get off the ground. Another important key that fosters the growth is the access to capital. According to the report of Tracxn, Indian startups raised a record $10.1 billion in funding in 2021. In addition to funding, there is also a growing pool of talent in India, with a large number of highly skilled engineers, developers, and entrepreneurs. As the mindset of people is being restructured they are coming out of the age old shackles of superstitions which were tying the women with their kitchen doors. Now women are flying aeroplanes, fighting bravely in the battlefield, working in the office, at the same time bringing up their child and taking care of their household chores and family. This 21st century has redefined the status of the women in the society by giving birth of the renowned women entrepreneurs who with their blood, sweat and brain created a well-structured business empire.
"Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top; it is the willpower that is most important."
— Junko Tabei, First woman to ride Mt. Everest
Growing number of Women Entrepreneur
Karnataka, for instance, is the first state in the country to provide grant-in-aid of Rs. 50 lakh to encourage innovators who need early-stage funding to startups without taking equity in return. Bengaluru is the breeding ground of 1,783 women-led startups followed by Mumbai 1,480 and Delhi 1,195. Noida, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad took the eighth, ninth and tenth spots, with 324, 184 and 181 women-led start. There have been 14 women-led unicorns in India from 2008 to 2018 with Bengaluru-based neobank ‘Open’ being the 100th unicorn. The funding landscape for women-led companies has witnessed a surge in rounds of but the funding into women-led startups has decreased in recent times. Stratup faces loads of challenges and negative comments at the time of inception, and when it comes to women driven business, it is way more unbearable. The ecosystem has witnessed the rise of great businesses led by women in India, but the growth of Karnataka was unstoppable. During 1983, Karnataka had AWAKE (Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka) run by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and a few other women, which led the women to take the highest flight achieving tremendous success.
Let’s see few of the brightest stars of the sky of startups, who have started their journey from the Silicon Valley of India.
Rashmi Dagga-Founder,Freshmenu
Founder and owner of Bangalore based food strartup Freshmenu, which was started in 2014. Kolkata-born Rashmi daga has always a keen interest for food which is healthy yet tasty like freshly cooked home-made food. Freshmenu is one of the earlier food delivery start-ups that adopted the cloud kitchen model in India. The start-up began doorstep food delivery at a time when the service was still very new to internet consumers in the country. Rashmi, received her Master of Business Administration – MBA degree from the Indian Institutes of Management, Ahmedabad – IIM Ahemdabad post a B.E from Delhi College of Engineering. FreshMenu raised Rs. 50 crore (about $6.4 million) headed by Florintree Advisors. The funds were used to expand their kitchen footprint as well as to launch new brands. The unique feature that attracted the youth of India is its detailed description of ingredients with calorie count. They offer chef-crafted, delicious looking meals right to your dining table or your work cubicle. Recently, they have launched new labels based on plant protein, grain bowls, barbeque and grill platters, seasonal fruits and vegetable-based collections, and Zero sugar sweets. She has also introduced meals from all over the world- West Asian cuisines such as Moroccan, Egyptian, and Lebanese. In Bengaluru alone, the startup operates 22 kitchens, which Daga believes could be easily doubled.
“Not for money but kick of building something”
— Rashmi Daga
Shubhra Chadda-Co-Founder, Chumbak
She along with her husband Vivek Prabhakar, started the company in 2009. It was started with their passion for travels and interest of collecting souvenirs. As co-founder of one of the biggest lifestyle brand in India, Shubhra Chadda has managed to reach heights and has given creativity a whole new level of fabulous. They wanted to make their own brand in the country that is recognized and respected internationally. Their unique style of artefacts and raw and vibrant style of art are bringing together a curated mix of clothing accessories and home décor. The couple had to sell their house to start the company, it was a gamble, but one that has paid off. Within the first six months, the company broke, even Prabhakar quit his job at Sun Microsystems and joined Chumbak fulltime in 2011 as CEO, to look after marketing and sales while Shubhra oversees the design and product development. Within a couple of years Chumbak has evolved to become a lifestyle brand. The first two years the company only retailed through e-commerce and multi-brand outlets. Following this the brand went into rapid expansion mode and Shubhra opened 44 small retail kiosks in a year.
“Observing things more closely can make a difference that can sometimes change your life to an extent you might have never imagined”
— Shubhra Chadda
Richa Kar, Founder, Zivame
She is the founder of india’s most loved online lingerie store Zivame, which is founded in 2011 and headquartered in Bangalore. The company claims to sell a bra every minute. Last year in September it announced that it had raised a Series C round of Rs. 250 crore from Zodius Technology Fund and Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the strategic investment fund of the Government of Malaysia. Richa was born in a middle-class family in Jamshedpur,Jharkhand and completed her engineering from BITS Pilani, and started her career in IT industry. She has also worked with a retailer and global technology company before starting Zivame. In a very short period of time that the customers even call it as ‘Desi Victoria’s Secret’. Initially her parents did not approve of their daughter’s plan of selling lingerie. Presently, Richa Kar has an estimated net worth of Rs. 749 crores.
“If you are focused and passionate, everything else will fall into its place.”
— Richa Kar
Sneha Choudhry-Co-Founder, Zolo
Sneha is a bright student of IIM Kozhikode who earned a gold medal for her unstoppable zeal and meritorious brain. She holds an engineering degree from R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, and a post-graduate degree in MBA from IIM, Kozhikode. After completing her studies she started her career leading global companies like Deloitte and Oracle as Strategy & Operations Consultant. Sneha is responsible for Business Expansion and Customer Experience at Zolo. After establishing her company in 2015, she understood that an entrepreneur’s 24 X 7 lifestyle requires a specific mindset, strong determination, and robust resilience. She also believes that, a woman has a unique power of transforming their life as per their choice and requirement. She always encouraged the aspiring women entrepreneurs to go ahead with their strong innovations without thinking the primitive rules set by the society. She willingly spends her time encouraging and advising women entrepreneurs on moving to the next level. India’s largest co-living brand that provides fully-managed, long-term affordable stay options as an alternative to the existing paying guest (PG) accommodation and apartment rental facilities. Her vision to start Zolo was to make the way people live away from homes, awesome. The company aims to redefine the living experience in the country. It operates on a full-stack model, which means it runs all operations in-house across its 450+ properties and 10 metro cities in India.
“The biggest takeaway from our experience was it is easy as an entrepreneur to fall in love with what you create, but in business, creating a good product has no value if no one wants to pay for it.”
— Sneha Choudhury
Meena Ganesh-Co-Founder, Portea Medical
She along with her husband Ganesh Krishnan founded the company Portea Medical in July of 2013. Since then, the growth has been astronomical. She has previously worked in different roles. She was a promoter and board member of Pearson Education Services, served as the CEO of Tesco Hindustan Service Center, and co-founded Customer Asset, one of India’s pioneering BPO companies. Portea medical offers services related to chronic disease management, geriatric, post-operative, cancer, orthopaedic and palliative care at home. It provided care to over 4,00,000 Covid patients across the country, including home isolation services to more than 3,00,000 since the first wave of the pandemic. The company delivered over 2.5 lakh doctor consultations and more than 1.2 million follow-up calls to coronavirus patients in isolation. It handles over 60,000 home visits a month and has a workforce of over 3,500 people, including doctors, nurses, nursing attendants and physiotherapists. The company is currently operational in 29 cities in India and four in Malaysia. Portea Medical has got $46.5 million from investors including Accel Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, International Finance Corporation, and Ventureast. According to the news She has a net worth of 5,100 Crore. She was honored as “WPower Trailblazer” by Forbes India in 2017 and named as one of India’s 50 Most Powerful Women by Fortune India six years in a row.
“I focus a lot on the ‘Power of Now’- what can you do now to fix the problem rather than being over whelmed or moping about it.”
— Meena Ganesh
Conclusion
Women have been an integral part of India’s culture and society since ancient times, but few primitive minds tried to curtail their progress. Women of India know how to come out of challenges with valor and valiant attitude ignoring and crushing down all the negative comments. After witnessing the digital revolution also we come across instances regarding Female foeticide and infanticide, Gender discrimination, violence against women, unequal pay and more. Many incidents of sexual harassment and assault are being reported each year. Successful women entrepreneurs are coming out with the baton of hope, who are spreading light everywhere uplifting the denied women of our society and helping them to get rid of their vicious marriages. They are creating women groups, self-help groups where they are training rural women in many fields and making them productive for industries. Now, women are confident enough to break the taboo which dominated society for a long time. In future, we need more women entrepreneurs like them so that millions of hopeless people can observe brighter days by contributing to the economic growth of the country.
Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to Greatness
-Oprah Winfrey
Startups are Delivering Innovation Till the Eternity!!
The government has implemented a range of policies and initiatives aimed at encouraging startups, such as the Startup India campaign launched in 2016. Government is providing an established network of incubators and accelerators across the country to help startups get off the ground. Another important key that fosters the growth is the access to capital. According to the report of Tracxn, Indian startups raised a record $10.1 billion in funding in 2021. In addition to funding, there is also a growing pool of talent in India, with a large number of highly skilled engineers, developers, and entrepreneurs. As the mindset of people is being restructured they are coming out of the age old shackles of superstitions which were tying the women with their kitchen doors. Now women are flying aeroplanes, fighting bravely in the battlefield, working in the office, at the same time bringing up their child and taking care of their household chores and family. This 21st century has redefined the status of the women in the society by giving birth of the renowned women entrepreneurs who with their blood, sweat and brain created a well-structured business empire.
"Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top; it is the willpower that is most important."
— Junko Tabei, First woman to ride Mt. Everest
Growing number of Women Entrepreneur
Karnataka, for instance, is the first state in the country to provide grant-in-aid of Rs. 50 lakh to encourage innovators who need early-stage funding to startups without taking equity in return. Bengaluru is the breeding ground of 1,783 women-led startups followed by Mumbai 1,480 and Delhi 1,195. Noida, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad took the eighth, ninth and tenth spots, with 324, 184 and 181 women-led start. There have been 14 women-led unicorns in India from 2008 to 2018 with Bengaluru-based neobank ‘Open’ being the 100th unicorn. The funding landscape for women-led companies has witnessed a surge in rounds of but the funding into women-led startups has decreased in recent times. Stratup faces loads of challenges and negative comments at the time of inception, and when it comes to women driven business, it is way more unbearable. The ecosystem has witnessed the rise of great businesses led by women in India, but the growth of Karnataka was unstoppable. During 1983, Karnataka had AWAKE (Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka) run by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and a few other women, which led the women to take the highest flight achieving tremendous success.
Let’s see few of the brightest stars of the sky of startups, who have started their journey from the Silicon Valley of India.
Rashmi Dagga-Founder,Freshmenu Founder and owner of Bangalore based food strartup Freshmenu, which was started in 2014. Kolkata-born Rashmi daga has always a keen interest for food which is healthy yet tasty like freshly cooked home-made food. Freshmenu is one of the earlier food delivery start-ups that adopted the cloud kitchen model in India. The start-up began doorstep food delivery at a time when the service was still very new to internet consumers in the country. Rashmi, received her Master of Business Administration – MBA degree from the Indian Institutes of Management, Ahmedabad – IIM Ahemdabad post a B.E from Delhi College of Engineering. FreshMenu raised Rs. 50 crore (about $6.4 million) headed by Florintree Advisors. The funds were used to expand their kitchen footprint as well as to launch new brands. The unique feature that attracted the youth of India is its detailed description of ingredients with calorie count. They offer chef-crafted, delicious looking meals right to your dining table or your work cubicle. Recently, they have launched new labels based on plant protein, grain bowls, barbeque and grill platters, seasonal fruits and vegetable-based collections, and Zero sugar sweets. She has also introduced meals from all over the world- West Asian cuisines such as Moroccan, Egyptian, and Lebanese. In Bengaluru alone, the startup operates 22 kitchens, which Daga believes could be easily doubled.
“Not for money but kick of building something”
— Rashmi Daga
Shubhra Chadda-Co-Founder, Chumbak She along with her husband Vivek Prabhakar, started the company in 2009. It was started with their passion for travels and interest of collecting souvenirs. As co-founder of one of the biggest lifestyle brand in India, Shubhra Chadda has managed to reach heights and has given creativity a whole new level of fabulous. They wanted to make their own brand in the country that is recognized and respected internationally. Their unique style of artefacts and raw and vibrant style of art are bringing together a curated mix of clothing accessories and home décor. The couple had to sell their house to start the company, it was a gamble, but one that has paid off. Within the first six months, the company broke, even Prabhakar quit his job at Sun Microsystems and joined Chumbak fulltime in 2011 as CEO, to look after marketing and sales while Shubhra oversees the design and product development. Within a couple of years Chumbak has evolved to become a lifestyle brand. The first two years the company only retailed through e-commerce and multi-brand outlets. Following this the brand went into rapid expansion mode and Shubhra opened 44 small retail kiosks in a year.
“Observing things more closely can make a difference that can sometimes change your life to an extent you might have never imagined”
— Shubhra Chadda
Richa Kar, Founder, ZivameShe is the founder of india’s most loved online lingerie store Zivame, which is founded in 2011 and headquartered in Bangalore. The company claims to sell a bra every minute. Last year in September it announced that it had raised a Series C round of Rs. 250 crore from Zodius Technology Fund and Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the strategic investment fund of the Government of Malaysia. Richa was born in a middle-class family in Jamshedpur,Jharkhand and completed her engineering from BITS Pilani, and started her career in IT industry. She has also worked with a retailer and global technology company before starting Zivame. In a very short period of time that the customers even call it as ‘Desi Victoria’s Secret’. Initially her parents did not approve of their daughter’s plan of selling lingerie. Presently, Richa Kar has an estimated net worth of Rs. 749 crores.
“If you are focused and passionate, everything else will fall into its place.”
— Richa Kar
Sneha Choudhry-Co-Founder, Zolo Sneha is a bright student of IIM Kozhikode who earned a gold medal for her unstoppable zeal and meritorious brain. She holds an engineering degree from R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, and a post-graduate degree in MBA from IIM, Kozhikode. After completing her studies she started her career leading global companies like Deloitte and Oracle as Strategy & Operations Consultant. Sneha is responsible for Business Expansion and Customer Experience at Zolo. After establishing her company in 2015, she understood that an entrepreneur’s 24 X 7 lifestyle requires a specific mindset, strong determination, and robust resilience. She also believes that, a woman has a unique power of transforming their life as per their choice and requirement. She always encouraged the aspiring women entrepreneurs to go ahead with their strong innovations without thinking the primitive rules set by the society. She willingly spends her time encouraging and advising women entrepreneurs on moving to the next level. India’s largest co-living brand that provides fully-managed, long-term affordable stay options as an alternative to the existing paying guest (PG) accommodation and apartment rental facilities. Her vision to start Zolo was to make the way people live away from homes, awesome. The company aims to redefine the living experience in the country. It operates on a full-stack model, which means it runs all operations in-house across its 450+ properties and 10 metro cities in India.
“The biggest takeaway from our experience was it is easy as an entrepreneur to fall in love with what you create, but in business, creating a good product has no value if no one wants to pay for it.”
— Sneha Choudhury
Meena Ganesh-Co-Founder, Portea Medical She along with her husband Ganesh Krishnan founded the company Portea Medical in July of 2013. Since then, the growth has been astronomical. She has previously worked in different roles. She was a promoter and board member of Pearson Education Services, served as the CEO of Tesco Hindustan Service Center, and co-founded Customer Asset, one of India’s pioneering BPO companies. Portea medical offers services related to chronic disease management, geriatric, post-operative, cancer, orthopaedic and palliative care at home. It provided care to over 4,00,000 Covid patients across the country, including home isolation services to more than 3,00,000 since the first wave of the pandemic. The company delivered over 2.5 lakh doctor consultations and more than 1.2 million follow-up calls to coronavirus patients in isolation. It handles over 60,000 home visits a month and has a workforce of over 3,500 people, including doctors, nurses, nursing attendants and physiotherapists. The company is currently operational in 29 cities in India and four in Malaysia. Portea Medical has got $46.5 million from investors including Accel Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, International Finance Corporation, and Ventureast. According to the news She has a net worth of 5,100 Crore. She was honored as “WPower Trailblazer” by Forbes India in 2017 and named as one of India’s 50 Most Powerful Women by Fortune India six years in a row.
“I focus a lot on the ‘Power of Now’- what can you do now to fix the problem rather than being over whelmed or moping about it.”
— Meena Ganesh
Conclusion
Women have been an integral part of India’s culture and society since ancient times, but few primitive minds tried to curtail their progress. Women of India know how to come out of challenges with valor and valiant attitude ignoring and crushing down all the negative comments. After witnessing the digital revolution also we come across instances regarding Female foeticide and infanticide, Gender discrimination, violence against women, unequal pay and more. Many incidents of sexual harassment and assault are being reported each year. Successful women entrepreneurs are coming out with the baton of hope, who are spreading light everywhere uplifting the denied women of our society and helping them to get rid of their vicious marriages. They are creating women groups, self-help groups where they are training rural women in many fields and making them productive for industries. Now, women are confident enough to break the taboo which dominated society for a long time. In future, we need more women entrepreneurs like them so that millions of hopeless people can observe brighter days by contributing to the economic growth of the country.
Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to Greatness
-Oprah Winfrey
