Being on the top of the mountain is always a challenge, as there will be many who would want to reach there and claim their position. But these extraordinary women have proven that though you may reach the top but remaining there is not that easy. Read more to know about the top 10 famous women entrepreneurs in India for 2022.
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Top 10 Famous Female Entrepreneurs in India (2022)
Falguni Nayar – Nykaa
She made the headlines of being the one of the two self-made female billionaires in India. After working for Kotak Mahindra Group for 19 years and leaving as a Managing Director in 2012, thats when she found Nykaa. In 2012, she was 50 and bootstrapped Nykaa with her own money. In November 2021, Nykaa went public with a valuation of $13bn which boosted her net worth to $6.5bn thus making her enter the list of top 20 Indians by net worth.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw – Biocon Limited
Kiran has always reigned as the only self-made female billionaire in India until Falguni Nayar of Nykaa became one. Coming from a scientific background, Kiran’s Biocon is situated in Bangalore and provides Biopharmaceutical products worldwide. As per Forbes, it is the first company to get approval from the USFDA. She was also the former chairperson of Indian Institute of Bangalore. She started her firm in 1978 and has been progressing exponentially over the years.
Vani Kola – Kalaari Capital
A venture capitalist as well as listed as the one of the most powerful women in Indian business by Forbes India in 2014, Vani Kola is the founder and managing director of Kalaari Capital. Having a Masters in Engineering from Arizona State University, Vani has 22 year career in the Silicon Valley where she founded, managed & spearheaded a lot of companies. She returned to India in 2006 and along with Vinod Dham founded the Indo-US Venture Partners in 2006. It was rebranded as Kalaari Capital in 2012. Some of the known investments include Myntra, Urban Ladder, Snapdeal, Dream11, etc.
Aditi Gupta – Menstrupedia Comics
Aditi along with her husband, both National Institute of Design Alumni, founded Menstrupedia Comics in 2012. Providing a friendly guide to menstruation, hygiene and puberty as well as breaking the myths associated with them, is the aim & vision of Aditi’s Menstrupedia Comics. She executed it beautifully and now it has raised a lot of awareness amongst the masses. She was named in the Forbes India 30 Under 30 2014 list.
Ghazal Alagh – Mamaearth
A BCA graduate from Punjab University started Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd (MamaEarth) in 2016 with her husband Varun Alagh. It soon became one of the most famous & widely accepted brand as it does not use or mix toxic chemicals and materials in its product. Ghazal was also one of the Sharks in Shark Tank India 2021.
Vineeta Singh – Sugar Cosmetics
An IIT & IIM graduate, Vineeta’s story appeared on the front page of a weekly magazine when she turned down a placement offer from a worldwide investment bank which would have fetched her INR 1cr but she knew from the beginning she could do far better. She started SUGAR cosmetics along with her husband Kaushik Mukherjee. Prior to Sugar Cosmetics, Vineeta also Co-founded Fab Bag in 2012. She was one of the Sharks of the hit show Shark Tank India 2021.
Shradha Sharma – YourStory Media
An Alumnus of MICA, Shradha started her career at The Times of India and working her way through becoming a VP at CNBC TV18. She founded YourStory in 2008 with the sole aim of providing a platform to entrepreneurs and notable figures in the business environment. She was also awarded Fortune’s 40 under 40 award. Currently Shradha Sharma’s YourStory Media has been covering almost every significant story in the Indian business domain.
Upasana Taku – MobiKwik
MobiKwik was founded in the year 2010 by Upasana & her husband Bipin Singh. It was a very far fetched vision at that time since there were hardly any Indian players in the e-payments & e-wallets sector. First Mover Advantage gave a lot of insights for establishing a good foundation for MobiKwik. Upasana holds an Industrial Engineering degree from NIT Jalandhar & she then went to US to pursue her MS from Stanford University. She returned to India in 2009 and started working on many ideas & filling the gaps in the startup ecosystem.
Richa Kar – Zivame
Ordering lingerie online and breaking the taboo which many women face while purchasing any lingerie is what inspired Richa to start Zivame in the year 2011. She started with Rs. 30 lakhs of her own money before raising funds from investors. Mentored by Vani Kola of Kalaari Capital, Richa worked hard and was able to scale up the business with physical distribution of the products all over India. She is an alumnus of BITS Pilani & NMIMS.
Swati Bhargava – CashKaro.com
Co-founder of CashKaro.com along with her husband Rohan Bhargava, CashKaro was launched in the year 2013. A very novel concept of providing coupons & cashback from big e-commerce giants to the consumers – was like an added benefit people were getting for doing the same shopping they would do anyway. Prior to CashKaro, Swati worked in Goldman Sachs in London a,d is an alumnus of London School of Economics. She is also an active speaker for women in the startup ecosystem.
