This year, for International Women’s Day, The Wonk has decided to talk about successful Women Entrepreneurs in India, which constitutes approximately 14% of the country’s 58.5 million enterprises, with women managing 20% of these businesses.
But the reality of women entrepreneurship in India is not that fabulous. India’s position as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, women’s representation remains limited. Only 35% of startup employees are women. In 2018, a mere 9% of startup founders were women, and this figure declined to just 5 out of 136 unicorn founders in 2021.
Furthermore, over 99% of women-owned enterprises are single-person micro-businesses, with only 17% employing workers, typically fewer than six.
Nonetheless, we have compiled a list of the Top 10 Successful Women Entrepreneurs in India who have thrived despite facing challenges and give us hope that if they can do it, so can you!
Top 10 Successful Women Entrepreneurs in India
Falguni Nayar
Imagine a life without Nykaa. You can’t! Nykaa’s journey is a big motivating example for all entrepreneurs. Hats off to the woman behind it. Falguni Nayar is an idol.
Nykaa Revenue: ₹6,386 crore.Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Founder of Biocon, India’s largest biopharmaceutical company. She is not just a chairman of a company; more than that, she is the mother of biotechnology in India. Not just women, even men can learn a lot from her.
Biocon Revenue: 11,550 crores INRVineeta Singh
Vineeta Singh is an Indian entrepreneur and CEO and co-founder of Sugar Cosmetics. She turned down a 1 crore job to start her entrepreneurial journey. You can see her as one of the investors on Shark Tank India.
Sugar Cosmetics Revenue: 515.35 crore INRVandana Luthra
Vandana Luthra – Founder of VLCC. a leading wellness and beauty brand that revolutionized the Indian skincare and slimming industry. Under her leadership, VLCC expanded globally, offering a range of beauty and wellness services along with a successful personal care product line.
VLCC Revenue: Rs 1,000 croreGhazal Alagh
Ghazal Alagh is among the Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs, As the co-founder of Mamaearth, a natural and toxin-free personal care brand, Ghazal has played a pivotal role in its rapid success.
Mamaearth Revenue: 517.51Cr Neha Singh
Neha Singh co-founded market intelligence platform Tracxn, along with Abhishek Goyal, in 2012.
Tracxn Revenue: 21.39Cr Shradha Sharma
Shradha Sharma is the founder and CEO of YourStory, India’s biggest media-tech platform. She started YourStory in 2008, when the word ‘startup’ wasn’t conventional. Most people thought YourStory was a hobby or a blog and not a serious business idea. Shradha proved them wrong – YourStory is now India’s biggest media tech platform, having published over 37,000 stories of entrepreneurs and change-makers, not only in English but also in 12 Indian languages.
YourStory Revenue: ₹51.6 CroreAditi Gupta
Aditi Gupta is an Indian author and co-founder of Menstrupedia Comic. Menstrupedia is a fast-growing startup that offers high social impact educational materials in the form of comic books, workshops, and animated videos. The materials developed by Menstrupedia are used by over 25,500 schools and hundreds of NGOs, corporations and Government organizations across India and several other countries across the globe.
Mentrupedia Comic Revenue: 26 Crore INRVani Kola
Vani Kola – Co-founder of Kalaari Capital, a prominent venture capital firm in India known for its strategic investments in high-potential startups across various sectors.
Kalaari Capital Revenue: 100 Crore INRKatrina Kaif
Now you must be thinking if Katrina Kaif can be considered an entrepreneur who started from zero. Well, absolutely not! But what’s truly astonishing about her brand Kay Beauty is that it’s actually one of the brands started by any Indian celebrity which has been highly successful. Kay Beauty is now becoming synonymous with the Indian beauty market.
Kay Beauty Revenue: ₹88.23 croreThese inspiring women entrepreneurs have not only thrived in India’s dynamic business ecosystem but have also paved the way for future generations. If they can break barriers and build empires, so can you. It’s time to take that first step and turn your vision into reality!