It is an era of women empowerment, with more and more women chasing their entrepreneurial dream. They are willing to take bold steps and embrace risks to succeed in their ventures.
To celebrate their courageousness, we decided to throw light on the top 20 women entrepreneurs who are busy bringing change in the society. These women are creating social impact, producing innovative solutions, and opening up new vistas for all of us.
Keep reading to know about them, and it’s about time you get inspired too.
20 Successful Women Entrepreneur to Watch Out In 2020
1. Shradha Sharma, YourStory.com
Shradha Sharma is a Patna-born female entrepreneur who founded YourStory, an online platform for Entrepreneurs and Startups. The platform shares the unheard stories of entrepreneurs — their journey, challenges, success, and failure.
Before YourStory, she had worked with companies like CNBC TV18 and The Times of India. She studied Design Management from DICM and did her masters from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. Her name was included in the list of amongst 500 LinkedIn Influencers across the world and also won the ‘L’Oreal Paris Femina Award.’ Follow her.
2. Upasana Taku, MobiKwik
Our next female entrepreneur, Upasana Taku, is a co-founder and COO of MobiKwik. Mobikwik, a fin-tech startup, is a virtual wallet that is tied to a vast network of companies and services. It allows people to recharge and pay at registered places through Mobikwik wallet.
She has a strong background in fintech. She has studied Master in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University and completed her graduation from NIT, Jalandhar. Previously, she had worked as a consultant for multiple companies as well. Click here to know more about her.
3. Richa Kar, Zivame
Hailing from a conventional family background, Richa Kar went a step ahead to launch her own lingerie store named Zivame In 2011. Zivame offers lingerie in all shapes and sizes, giving your body the best fit while also emphasizing on comfortability.
Born in Jamshedpur, she completed her graduation from BITS Pilani and went to Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies for her masters. Before launching Zivame, she worked with IT companies. Today, she is one of the most influential female entrepreneurs. Connect with her here.
4. Sabina Chopra, Yatara.com
As we all know, Sabina Chopra is the co-founder of the famous travel portal, Yatra.com. It is one of the largest online travel websites in India. She founded the company in August 2006 alongside Dhruv Shringi and Manish Amin.
Before launching Yatra, she previously worked at eBookers and Japan Airlines. She graduated from Delhi University and went on to bag many awards on her entrepreneurial journey. She was declared the winner in the Travel & Tourism group, and also honored during the second annual Women Leaders in India Awards, 2010. Follow her.
5. Aditi Gupta, Menstrupedia
Co-founder of Menstrupedia, Aditi Gupta is one of the most innovative women entrepreneurs in India. Menstrupedia is the company that aims at spreading awareness about menstruation. She conducts various extensive workshops to create awareness about menstruation in India and how it impacts a girl’s life. She started this venture alongside her husband, and they both are the alumni of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. In fact, she has also appeared on the list of Forbes India 30 Under 30 in 2014.
She is a TED speaker and also the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumni. You can follow her journey on LinkedIn.
6. Aditi Balbir, V Resorts
A woman passionate about traveling, Aditi Balbir is a famous female entrepreneur who is the CEO of V Resorts. She aims to provide a holiday experience to people that showcase them the Real India. She first started her career in finance and went outside of finance in 2014 to establish V Resorts.
A graduate from ISB Hyderabad & Fuqua, Duke University, she has successfully raised two successive rounds of $9 million funding from Bedrock Ventures, Seedfund & RB Investments. She has also bagged many awards, including Young Women Business award by CNBC TV 18 in 2017, exceptional Women of Excellence by Women Economic Forum in 2017, and more. Follow her on LinkedIn.
7. Ashwini Asokan, Mad Street Den
Ashwini Asokan is the CEO and founder of Mad Street Den, an AI platform that enables users to detect facial expressions and emotions, and capture smiles through their smartphone cameras. She first started her career by leading a mobile innovation team in Silicon Valley, and that is where she realized her love for Artificial Intelligence.
After she came back to India, she, along with her husband, founded Mad Street Den. The office is located in Seattle and Chennai. Later, they also established an image recognition platform — vue.ai. You can follow all her work here.
8. Chitra Gurnani Daga, Thrillophilia
Chitra Gurani is another famous women entrepreneur who, together with her husband, started a venture named Thrillophilia in 2009. It is an Indian adventure travel company that curates the best local experiences and is one of the biggest online platforms for booking travel experiences.
She completed her MBA from the Indian School of Business. Before starting Thrillophilia, she had worked at SAP and Infosys as a software engineer. She aims to inspire people to travel and create awareness about the marvelous spots and destinations in India. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.
9. Debadutta Upadhyaya, Timesaverz.com
Debadutta Upadhyaya is a homemaker turned entrepreneur who founded Timesaver. Timesaver, an online portal, is aimed at helping homemakers as well as working women to find reliable people to assist them with personal tasks, such as repairing, plumbing, running errands, and more.
She was born in Rourkela, Odisha, and completed her graduation from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. Before founding Timesaver, she had previously worked for Yahoo India. If you want to connect with her, follow her here.
10. Pranshu Bhandari, CultureAlley
Pranshu Bhandari is a co-founder of CultureAlley, Asia’s largest Educational App. It offers an interactive mobile-based application that allows users to learn English right on their phones. It has more than 50 million users.
Her name was listed in Forbes India’s 30 for building an app that is one of the top 10 educational apps in the world. Previously, she worked for companies like Pitney Bowes, Sun Microsystems, and interned at Wipro. She is a lady who loves dancing too. You can follow her on LinkedIn.
11. Radhika Ghai, ShopClues
Radhika Ghai is a co-founder of the online marketplace ShopClues, which was established in 2011 in silicon valley. ShopClues is India’s largest managed marketplace. And she is first India’s female entrepreneur to enter the Unicorn Club.
After completing her post-graduation from Washington University, she worked with various companies — Nordstrom at its corporate headquarters in strategy planning, with Goldman Sachs in its Wealth Management group in New York and Menlo Park, USA. She also ran a fashion blog from Silicon Valley. Get in touch with her.
12. Basudha Shrivastav, ExpressEarth Digital Services
Born in Bihar, Basudha Shrivastav co-founded ExpressEarth Digital Services in 2015 with her schoolmate Himanshu Narula. ExpressEarth is a travel agency that takes care of all your travel needs, including hotel, car, visa, flight, insurance, and more. It provides both B2E and B2C services.
She completed her graduation from Delhi University and before co-founding her company, she worked in the IT sector. Her company has earned several accolades, including the ‘Most Innovative Travel Management Company’ by India Travel Award North. Find her here.
13. Priyanshi Choubey, InstaCar
Priyanshi Choubeya, a co-founder of InstaCar, is a female entrepreneur who is trying to simplify car rentals for everyone. InstaCar is a marketplace for outstation taxi rentals, helping people find the most suitable car quickly and smartly.
She studied management from the Indian Institute of India, Kozhikode and had previously worked as a business analyst at Aspricot. She was even awarded the ‘Women Entrepreneur of the Year’ in Travel & Hospitality in the SheSparks 2018. You can connect with her on LinkedIn to stay inspired.
14. Akanksha Anshu, Refundme.in
Akanksha Anshu is a female entrepreneur, tech-savvy, and founder of refundme.in. refundme.in offers a platform for consumers to easily claim compensation in case of any unfavorable circumstances such as flight overbooking, denied booking, and more. She holds an Engineering degree from Punjab University and had previously worked in the IT sector. She even gained experience in Business Development for the International market before launching her own venture.
She has been featured in many big media platforms such as Business Insider, BW Disrupt, ETWealth, and more. Well, she is also a traveler, story-teller, and a motivational speaker. Follow her.
15. Shubhra Chadda, Chumbak
Shubhra Chadda, an innovative woman entrepreneur, is the co-founder of Chumbak. It is an online lifestyle brand that sells customized funky and quirky stuff. She started Chumbak in 2009 with a purpose to change the way India looks at design. Chumbak has over 120 retail outlets all across the country.
She had previously worked at NortelNetworks, NetApp, and more. Her aim is to make Chumbak a household name among young Indians. She carries a master’s degree in Public Relations from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. You can find her on LinkedIn.
16. Swati Bhargava, CashKaro
Swati Bhargava is that ambitious girl from a small town of Ambala, India, who is a famous woman entrepreneur. She is a co-founder of CashKaro, India’s largest & fastest growing Cashback & Coupons site. She scored a scholarship from the Government of Singapore and then The London School of Economics (LSE), which helped her climb the corporate ladder. Before launching CashKaro, she worked at Goldman Sach in London for five years.
She had the opportunity to appear as a keynote speaker for many big events, such as TiECon, TEDx, AdTech, Economic Times Conferences, Women Empowerment Summit, IAMAI Forums, Niti Aayog initiative, and more. She also made it to the list of the Fortune 40 under 40 list in June 2019.
17. Suruchi Wagh, Jombay.com
Suruchi Wagh is a woman entrepreneur in India who successfully founded Jombay.com in December 2010. Jombay.com is a platform that offers end-to-end Talent Assessment & Leadership Development solutions. You can call it the leadership development company of the future.
She completed her master’s in Science and Engineering Management from the University of Southern Columbia. Before Jombay.in, she had worked as a research analyst in the Office of the President of the Silicon Valley, headquartered Risk Management Solutions. Her hobbies include dancing.
18. Suchi Mukherjee, Limeroad.com
Suchi Mukherjee is the founder and CEO of Limeroad.com, a social-commerce platform targeted at the intelligent woman of today. It enables consumers to discover a wide range of best lifestyle products across categories like apparel, accessories, home, and non-perishable food.
She is an alumnus of the London School of Economics and completed her graduation from the University of Cambridge. She received the Commonwealth Cambridge Scholarship to study Economics at Cambridge University. Before launching Limeroad, she had worked with companies like Gumtree, Skype, eBay, and more. You can find her on social media, and stay connected.
19. Sairee Chahal, Sheroes.in
Sairee Chahal, a founder of Sheroes.in, is also a mentor, a multitasker, and an occasional writer. Sheores is a mobile social network for women, with over 15 million women as members. It offers a safe platform for them to find connections, business, counseling, and community via the Sheroes platform.
Previously, she had worked as a senior editor at NewsLink Services and a consultant at the Confederation of Indian Industry. She has been featured on many shows, such as Young Turks and Pioneering Spirit. Not only that, but she was also a finalist for Cartier Women’s Award Initiative for 2012. Follow her journey on LinkedIn.
1985-born, Ankita Gaba is a woman entrepreneur, social media strategist, lecturer, and consultant. She is the co-founder of Social Samosa, a website dedicated to sharing thoughts, ideas, and dialogues about the social media scenario in India.
Ankita has won ‘The Social Media Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ by Wat Awards in 2013. Her company was listed as the ‘Global Top 100 Social Media Agencies and Consultants 2012-13’ by Sparkah, a San Diego based Business Consultancy firm. She has also served as faculty and guest faculty for social media courses at various institutes. Here’s her LinkedIn profile.
Final Words
Do you need more inspiring stories? If they can do it, you can do it too.
Follow their journey and stay motivated. Who knows you might also make to the list of top entrepreneurs next year. Get started!
Passionate Digital Marketer & Software Analyst. I recognize the importance of interactive engagement in today’s world and works towards building a steady flow of relevant, user-oriented content to obtain high-rank placement in search engine results.
