One might have a brilliant idea, one might know how well to execute that idea and the other might transform the whole world with that single idea. It might be one genius thought for many but on the other end of the spectrum, it’s an entirely different story taking the risk and actually doing something about it. Here are the hustling millennial women entrepreneurs who have innovated and created a niche market. These thriving female entrepreneurs have bridged the gap from idea to action and changed the startup landscape of India with determination, zeal, grit and who made it against all odds.
Despite a significant gender gap or gender discrimination, it was their fierce passion that has moderated women entrepreneurs to outperform their male counterparts. Breaking through the glass ceiling, below is the list of the most powerful women entrepreneurs in India who have risen above challenges and inspired many leaving an indelible impact.
Aditi Gupta
Founder- Menstrupedia
While menstruation is a phenomenon unique to girls, it has always been surrounded by taboos and myths that exclude women from many aspects of socio-cultural life. Explaining young girls about menstruation has always been a challenge for both parents as well for teachers. Aditi Gupta’s Menstrupedia is creating awareness to break taboos and myths around menstruation and to encourage women to overcome their hesitation about menses.
Anisha Singh
Founder- mydala.com
mydala is a merchant marketing platform started under the leadership of Anisha Singh in 2009 and has grown to become India’s largest local services marketing platform ever since then. Anisha who calls herself a stereotypical sardarni is an example of a leading woman entrepreneur who encourages more women to come forward in pursuing their career choices.
Upasana Taku
Founder: Mobikwik
Upasana Taku is the co-founder of the MobiKwik whose story has started from the apartment offices to venture capital funding. With a mission to simplify payment acceptance for retailers in India, Upasana Taku has scribbled the success story of first women entrepreneurship by becoming the first woman to lead India’s first payment startup.
Neeru Sharma
Founder- Infibeam
If you want to learn about the making of a prolific leader, then you should go behind the scenes. Neeru Sharma, an empowered woman, is one of the few who are at the helm of big businesses in a male-dominated industry. She is the co-founder of Infibeam Avenues limited, which started as a retail portal only to end up becoming the e-commerce conglomerate carrying over 100 lakh Stock keeping Units.
Ankita Gaba
Founder- Social Samosa
Ankita Gaba is an award-winning digital marketer with 10 years of entrepreneurship experience. She has built startups like Superchooha, a digital marketing agency and Social Samosa, a widely recognized social media news portal. She was also appointed as the Head of Marketing for Orowealth, a leading fin-tech company and India’s first zero commission Direct Mutual Fund Platform.
Ashwini Asokan
Founder – MAD STREET DEN (MAD)
Born in Chennai, and a trained classical dancer who has traveled across the country for her performance, Ashwini Asokan is the Founder and CEO of MSD (Mad Street Den), an AI-based company. It is one of the very few original startups in the artificial intelligence space from India powering the Retail industry with its Image recognition platform, Vue.ai.
Chitra Gurnani Daga
Founder – Thrillophilia.com
The adventure and travel industry in India has seen radical changes in the last decade. And, no doubt, Thrillopedia.com has become a one-stop solution for adventure sports in India, with Chitra Gurnani Daga becoming a Show Stopper in terms of Travel and Tourism. She is the Women Entrepreneur of India who loves to take risks. Chitra herself is very passionate about traveling, exploring and seeking adventure.
Debadutta Upadhyaya
Founder – Timesaverz
“Life is as you would like to make of it. All of us have a choice and the easy or hard part is just a derivative of what one has chosen,” says Debadutta Upadhyaya, mompreneur, CEO and Co-founder of Timesaverz, a mobile-first marketplace connecting home service seekers with home service providers. With 16 years of leadership experience in the media and communications space, Deb built the e-service portal with an aim to address the very big need gap experienced by most working people in metros.
Gurleen Kaur
Founder – Hareepatti
Gurleen Kaur Tikku is a woman with transformative thinking in business and finance whose idea led to the founding of Hareepatti, a financial consultancy that has been imparting financial wisdom and investment solutions to its customers. Realizing the need for right financial advice which is not easily available to the masses, Gurleen has stepped into this business.
Jaya Jha
Founder – InstaScribe & Pothi
Jaya Jha is a pioneer in the Indian publishing sector whose love for entrepreneurship, technology, and poetry resulted in Pothi.com, a self-publishing platform. She is a businesswoman who is committed to developing and offering services for writers that empower them to publish their work, get it out for the world to see and make money from their creativity.