5 Women To Root For This International Women's Day
Women all over the world are celebrated on this day – the one day when we recognize our accomplishments and thank us for all that we do. Women entrepreneurs fight unbelievable battles to get themselves established in this world. Think about it: women have to battle things that men don’t have to deal with at all: gender inequality, wage gap, and a whole slew of other issues that make their path harder than men’s. But despite all these factors, there are women who are so amazing at what they do that they’re inspiring and exceptional in their own right!
Here is a list of 5 women entrepreneurs you should look out for this women’s day:
1. Divya Gokulnath (Co-Founder- Byjus)
Divya Gokulnath is a dynamic and self-made woman who has reached her goals through self-determination. She is the Co- Founder of Byju’s that is currently valued at about $21B. Her career started in 2008 when she began teaching with Byju’s. After working for years, her efforts paid off when the company offered in-person education to support school education. 2015 was a great year for Divya: Byju’s launched an online application with video lessons. She shifted to online teaching modes, which were highly popular and widely used. Divya also writes online articles on topics related to education like the future of education, parenting, and women’s participation in STEM fields. She has spoken in many events related to challenges that come with women entrepreneurs. She has also co-authored an article with Byju Raveendran In Vogue India about educational technologies. The couple living and working together and combinedly they make worth $ 3.05B.
Picture courtesy: Femina.in
2. Falguni Nayar (Founder- Nykaa)
Falguni Nayar, founder of Nykaa.com was an IIM Ahmedabad graduate and started her career in financial services. She worked with Kotak Mahindra bank for 25 years and then took the leap to launch Nykaa.com. Today, this beauty and skin-care startup is a unicorn with a fresh Rs 100 crore ($13 million) funding from existing backer Steadview Capital.In the early days of her work, Falguni Nayar built Nykaa as a brand that has today become synonymous with beauty and skincare retailing. She has also been recognized for her entrepreneurial journey in India by magazines like Business Today which named her “Most powerful business” and the Economic Times which awarded her the “Woman Ahead” award.She has always believed in taking risks. One of her biggest risks was leaving her job at Kotak Mahindra bank at a time when she had already built a successful career in financial services. She was 50 years old when she decided to pursue entrepreneurship full time.
Falguni Nayar's net worth stands at Rs 1,300 crore, according to CNBCTV18.
3. Khushboo Jain (Co-Founder- Impact Guru)
Khushboo Jain has had a lot of experience in the field of education. She's studied business management and marketing in several institutions, including Sydenham College and Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research. She's even gone deep on marketing-specific topics like fashion marketing at the London College of Fashion and Parsons. But that's not what Khushboo is known for—what she's known for is her leap into the entrepreneurial world with a mission to help change India's crowdfunding landscape. Khushboo co-founded Impact Guru and now works as the COO of the company, where she leads their marketing, communications, and design teams. And it seems her efforts haven't gone unnoticed: she was recently named in Fortune magazine's 40 Under 40 lists in India and was among the Top 15 winning women entrepreneurs at 2019 Women Transforming India Awards NITI Aayog & United Nations.
4. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (Founder- Biocon Limited)
The world is filled with entrepreneurs who have experienced numerous failures and obstacles during their journey. But the best ones, like Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, turn failures into successes!
She earned her master of science degree from Ballarat College in Melbourne.
She was not just passionate about learning but also about applying her knowledge in the real world. When she returned from Australia to India in 1974 after completing her studies, she struggled to find a job because of discrimination against women in STEM fields at that time. She had no choice but to start her own company which would later become Biocon Limited - one of India's leading biotechnology firms dedicated to providing affordable healthcare solutions to patients globally. At first, things didn't go so well as it took years before she achieved success but this did not stop her from achieving what she wanted eventually. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been named EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2020, becoming the third Indian and the second woman worldwide to win this recognition.
5. Neha Motwani(Co-Founder & CEO- Fitternity)
The world of technology has been taken over by a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs and Neha Motwani is one of them. Neha Motwani built a fitness community exclusively for women. She was always passionate about fitness and healthcare and therefore, built a network of an enormous fitness community. Neha wanted to get fit but wasn’t sure where she should start. This gave birth to the idea of building a platform which makes it easy to find and locate gyms. Neha holds an MBA and has experience of working as a risk advisory analyst at Axis risk consultancy and as a talent and organisation consultant at Aon Hewitt.
Ultimately, being a woman entrepreneur is no walk in the park. We hope that by reading about these amazing and talented women, you’ve developed a greater appreciation for the struggles that we face. If you’re a woman who is feeling that your dream of running your own business is out of reach, remember these brave women who’ve transformed their ultimate goals into reality. Get out there, make some plans, and create those changes that you’re so willing to embrace!