Women in India and worldwide are remarkably demonstrating entrepreneurial skills, leadership qualities, and innovative thinking. They are setting new benchmarks in the business world with their determination, growth, and success. From fashion to fitness, finance to technology, there’s no field where women haven’t contributed.
In India, if we talk about 2024, women entrepreneurs will make up 14% of the total entrepreneurs. However, every year and every month, this number is just increasing, showcasing the growth of more women-led businesses and startups. These women are an inspiration for all females who desire to achieve success.
Let’s talk about some of the most successful women entrepreneurs in India who are breaking stereotypes and slaying the business world like queens. In this article, we’ll learn about their net worth, achievements, and success journey.
List of Top 8 Successful Women Entrepreneurs in India
1. Falguni Nayar
Falguni Nayar, the founder and CEO of Nykaa, is one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in India and a self-made woman billionaire. Born and brought up in a Gujarati household in Mumbai, she got her graduation in business administration and a postgraduate diploma from IIM Ahmedabad. She was associated with Kotak Mahindra Bank for 18 years and earned a position as a managing director in the investment banking division.
She also held directorships in an array of businesses, including Dabur India, Aviva Life Insurance, and Tata Motors. After gaining experience in the corporate world, she quit her job at the age of 49 in 2012 and launched Nykaa, a retailer of beauty products.
Nykaa is a leading eCommerce platform that deals with fashion, beauty, and wellness products. Along with the eCommerce platform, they also offer their products in more than 100 offline stores and own 141 stores. Falguni Nayar has a net worth of $3.2 billion in 2024 and will also have won many awards, like ‘EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019—Start-up’ by Ernst & Young and ‘Businesswoman of the Year’ at the Economic Times Awards in 2019.
2. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was the founder of Biocon in 1978, a leading biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Bengaluru. She did her graduation in zoology from Bangalore University in 1973 and also earned a graduation degree in brewing from the University of Ballarat, Melbourne, in 1975. After graduation, she did consulting work for a few years before launching the company as a joint venture with Biocon Biochemical Limited of Ireland.
She faced numerous hurdles while raising funds due to gender discrimination and her inexperience. Biocon produces enzymes for alcoholic beverages, paper, and other products and became India’s first company to export enzymes to the US and Europe.
She has a net worth of $3.4 billion. She received several awards, like Best Entrepreneur in the Field of HealthCare and Life Sciences in 2002 by Ernst & Young, Businesswoman of the Year by the Economic Times in 2004, and the Padma Bhushan Award in 2005.
3. Aditi Gupta
Aditi Gupta, the founder of Menstrupedia, is known for her tireless work of tackling taboos about menstruation and women’s hygiene. She is listed among the most successful women entrepreneurs in India with her unique approach and determination. She was born and brought up in Jharkhand and did her post-graduation at NID, Ahmedabad.
Aditi has broken the social stigma by actively educating girls and women about menstrual hygiene through her platform, Menstrupedia, launched in 2012. The primary motive of the platform is to create awareness about menstruation using illustrations and graphics in more than 16 languages. She was included in Forbes’ list of 30 under 30 and is also an author. Also, her net worth is around $1.3 billion.
4. Vandana Luthra
Titled “Queen of Wellness,” Mrs. Vandana Luthra is the founder of VLCC, the beauty and wellness brand. She was born in 1956 in Delhi and pursued her graduation at the Polytechnic for Women in New Delhi. Then she started exploring European countries and studied cosmetology and nutrition formally in Germany. In 1989, she launched VLCC (Vandana Luthra Curls and Curves), a recognized brand with a presence in over 12 countries and 153 cities.
With a net worth of 1,300 crores of INR, Vandana is the recipient of several awards, including the Enterprise Asia Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2010 Award, the Asian Business Leaders Forum Trailblazer Award in 2012, Padma Shri in 2012, and features in Forbes, Femina magazine, and Fortune magazine.
5. Upasna Taku
Upasana Taku co-founded MobiKwik, a digital payment platform, with her husband, Bipin Preet Singh. She is an alumna of NIT, Jalandhar, and holds an MS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, US. After that, she worked at HSBC (San Diego) and PayPal (US), where she gained knowledge about finances, global payments, fraud management, and related aspects. In 2009, she launched MobiKwik, a unicorn fintech startup valued at over $1 billion. Currently, she is the chairperson and CEO of the company.
Taku has a net worth of 800 crores of INR, was recognized as the first woman to lead a payment gateway company in India by the President in 2018, and earned the Best Woman Entrepreneur Award 2017 by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
Read More: Indian Entrepreneurs Success Story
6. Ghazal Algah
Ghazal Algah began her entrepreneurial journey in 2016 by cofounding Mamearth, a unicorn startup, along with her husband Varun Algah. Mamaearth sells a variety of toxin-free beauty and personal care products, specially curated for mothers and babies. The company has a presence in more than 500 cities nationwide and has served more than 50 lakh customers. The estimated net worth of Ghazal is 18–19 crore INR, while her startup value is more than 300 crore INR.
Before Mamaearth, she was a developer and then a corporate trainer at NIIT. In 2012, she founded a website called Diet Expert, which stopped operation in 2013. Ghazal then joined the New York Academy of Arts in 2013 and is recognized as one of the top 10 female artists in India. She was also a judge on Shark Tank India Season 1.
7. Vani Kola
Vani Kola, the venture capitalist and founder of Kalaari Capital, is one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in India. Being the Managing Director of Kalaari Capital, India’s leading early-stage venture capital firm, Vani has supported and fueled various promising startups like Dream11, Myntra, Zivame, Snapdeal, Flipkart, and Cure. Fit, Bluestone, and the list goes on. The firm is based in Bangalore and was established in 2006. About Vani’s early life, she was born in 1964 in Hyderabad and has a 22-year career in Silicon Valley. She founded RightWorks and Certus Software before setting up Kalaara Capital.
Vani is the recipient of the Midas Touch Award for Best Investor in 2015 by the Economic Times and the Women of Worth Award for leadership excellence in business and entrepreneurship by NDTV. She is also one of Fortune India’s ‘Most Powerful Women in Business.
8. Divya Gokulnath
Born and raised in Bengaluru, Divya Gokulnath pursued a B.Tech. in Biotechnology from RV College of Engineering and began her career as a teacher at 21 in 2008. In 2011, she co-founded Byjus, an online education platform, with her husband, Byju Raveendran. During the COVID pandemic, the platform gained immense growth and success due to the determination and efforts of Divya and her team. The current valuation of the company is approximately $225 million.
She has been featured in various famous pages and magazines, including Business Today’s Most Powerful Women in Indian Business, Femina Power List, Forbes Asia’s Power Businesswomen, Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women, Fortune 50’s Most Powerful Women in Business, and more.
9. Richa Kar
Richa Kar is the founder of Zivame, India’s largest lingerie brand. Founded in 2011, Zivame helps women uninhibitedly shop for intimate wear with a collection of 5,000 designs, 50 brands, and 100 sizes. Born in Jamshedpur in 1980, Richa Kar completed her schooling in Jharkhand, became an engineering graduate from BITS Pilani, and went to NMIMS to get an MBA degree in 2007.
While working with SAP retail consultancy, the sales and growth of Victoria’s Secret caught her attention. This is when she started to hear research to find where women face challenges while looking for lingerie. With her experience of more than 8 years in sales, she founded Zivame.
With a net worth of 750 crore INR, Richa Kar has received several honors and awards, including the Economic Times 40 Under 40 Award, the Femina Women Awards, and the NDTV Unicorn Start-Up Award.
10. Anisha Singh
Anisha Singh is the founder and ex-CEO of Mydala, a comprehensive marketing platform offering customized and cost-effective solutions to SMEs. Born in Delhi, Anisha Singh received her MA in Public Communications and MBA in Management of Information Systems from American University, USA.
In 2009, she launched Mydala, which connects businesses with potential customers in a cost-effective way. After the grand success of Mydala, she launched SheCapital in 2019, a venture capital fund dedicated to investing in women-led or women-centric businesses.
Anisha was ranked among the Top 7 women CEOs located outside the US by Crunchbase in 2018 and recognized as one of the Top 100 Global Diversity Leaders in 2019 and under the Top 50 Business category in Women in Asia in 2018. Her net worth is approximately $150 million.
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Conclusion
Feeling inspired and motivated, aren’t we? Well, these top 8 successful women entrepreneurs in India have turned obstacles into opportunities with their determination, hard work, and passion. Women and men should learn from these role models, who put in immense effort to carve their path to success. It’s time to enlighten your entrepreneurial spirit and begin your journey to growth and success.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Who is the youngest successful female entrepreneur in India?
Sreelakshmi Suresh is one of India’s youngest successful women entrepreneurs. She is just 22- years -old and owns a web development institute.
Who is an entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is a person who is passionate and innovative about creating a new business venture. The person undertakes the most risk and earns the profits as a reward for bearing risk.
What are the top qualities of any entrepreneur?
The following are the top qualities of an entrepreneur:
- Leadership qualities
- Discipline
- Innovation and creativity
- Willingness to try new things
- Capable of bearing risks
- Determination after failure
- Adaptability
Which business ventures would be the best choices for women?
Some of the best business concepts for women are as follows:
- Event Planning
- Graphic Design
- Content Writer
- Interior Design
- App Development
- SEO Consulting
- Makeup Brand
- Podcasting
What is the difference between an entrepreneur and a businesswoman?
A businesswoman is a person who is more focused on earning profit with traditional business ideas or paths and prefers a “slow and steady” business, while an entrepreneur is more focused on creating a new firm with original ideas.
