International Women's Day is honoured across the world on March 8. It is said to have first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. It is a day that celebrates the achievements of women in social, economic, cultural and political scenarios. The day also marks a "call to action" to increase gender equality. The celebrations continue to grow in intensity every year.
The theme for International Women's Day 2019 is
#BalanceForBetter, an acceptance of the growing global impact for professional and social equality. The future of today's new world is exciting. Its time to build a gender-balanced world. Gender balance is imperative for economies and communities to thrive. The race is on!
Every woman of today no matter how much struggle she faces has a success story of her to share. So lets applause a few amongst of many our female-founded start-ups in India that grew like crazy.
1. Chitra Gurnani Daga
The CEO of Thrillophilia Adventure Tours Pvt Ltd is India’s one-stop place to look for adventure sports in India. Chitra an MBA while her husband Abhishek Daga an Engineer by profession quit their job to start their dream venture in 2009. Chitra as a person is very passionate about travelling, exploring and seeking adventure. She is one among those women who worship their work rather than just considering it a profit-making business. She aims at making Thrillophilia website as a ‘Bible of adventure’. Thrillophilia has come a long way. Today the website holds more than 1 million visitors every month and is growing at a rate of 200% annually.
2. Aditi Gupta
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| pic courtesy: linkedin |
Menstruation is one thing every woman fears during her first encounter and considered a deep secret which is not to be told to others. A ray of hope came when in 2012 Aditi Gupta started her venture Menstrupedia an area which shatters the taboos surrounding menstruation in the society. It is commendable to start such a venture which even in today’s time is considered a taboo and people forget to believe that it is a gift of God to women. Aditi wanted to make children and women comfortable with the word period. The organization endeavours to promote awareness and act as a guide to periods for girls and women. Each information shared here is reviewed by medical professionals to ensure its accuracy. Aditi Gupta was listed on the Forbes India U-30 list, no mean achievement.
3. Shubhra Chadda
When we talk about uniqueness in home décor, Chumbak is what comes to our mind. In 2010 when Shubhra Chadda started Chumbak with her husband Vivek Prabhakar, they didn't expect such a massive response from the audience. The company offers attractive products like phone covers, décor, accessories, watches and other lifestyle products. The couple sold off their house to raise the initial funds of Rs. 45 Lakhs. Today when they look back they have come a long way with many success stories. Today the funky brand has overpowered its funkiness across the countries.
4. Arpita Ganesh
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| pic courtesy: linkedin |
Known as the Indian Bra Queen founded Buttercups in 2008. A lingerie company that helps women to find their right size of and purchasing lingerie online. She realized that women would initially wear a bra which is available to them unaware of the size and the perfect fit. Arpita’s journey to set up Buttercups was not easy as funding it was a hurdle, so she opted for crowdfunding and was able to raise funds of Rs. 4 lakh by women who believed her idea.
5. Falguni Nayar
Founder of Nykaa, a website which is the only place we reach out for our beauty and wellness products. It has brands across the country and a one premier platform for women to shop. Falguni Nayar is an IIM Ahmedabad graduate, an investment banker for almost 25 years of her financial career. It is 2012 when she started her own venture Naykaa with initially a website, retail stores and now a mobile app.
6. Richa Kar
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| pic courtesy: femina |
The founder and CEO of an online lingerie store, Zivame. It is a one-stop platform to offer women thousands of lingerie styles to choose from. Richa had done in-depth research on retail marketing, branding, and operation. She noticed that Indian women were hesitant to explore the lingerie styles in the outlet stores. So she imagined an online store where she can understand and explore their lingerie needs, browse through different styles, sizes and get the goods delivered at their doorstep. Today the online store is among the top most used app and website.
7. Richa Singh
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| pic courtesy: linkedin |
She is working towards breaking the stigma of mental illness with her emotional wellness platform ‘YourDOST'. She realized that many people fear to talk about their issues due to social implications despite undergoing immense stress, she has created this platform where one can seek support from experts like psychologists, psychotherapists, and mental wellness coaches.
8. Shradha Sharma
born and raised in Bihar, never imagined she would become an entrepreneur. She studied at Delhi’s St. Stephen’s College and MICA in Ahmedabad.
She quotes, “When I was growing up, women were considered a liability. I wanted to change that perception.”
It is when in 2008 she set up Yourstory, a website that has emerged as the biggest platform for news and views related to startups, entrepreneur-related stories, and more. Despite many people not supporting her for the venture, she went ahead and today the website is considered to be a known platform where startups share their stories and build their own platform.
9. Sairee Chahal
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| pic courtesy: midday |
‘If the hero is for men then Sheroes is for women’. This is what Sairee Chahal the founder of Sheroes has to say about women of today. She believes in empowering them by providing work from home jobs across India. This venture was set up in 2014 and it aims to provide to perfect work-life balance. Not only jobs but it also acts as a mentor to them. Sheroes organizes community meets, job fairs, special workshops, and programs, as well as coaching, mentoring, community resources to help women professionals. Sairee Chahal had also co-founded Fleximoms, a platform for women who start their career again after having a child. Sairee is a well recognised TED speaker and a finalist for Cartier’s Women’s Award Initiative for 2012.
10. Malini Agarwal aka MissMalini
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| pic courtesy: picsnaper |
A graduate from Delhi University worked with several media giants before starting her blog Missmalini in 2008. Her blogs covered all the gossips from the world of fashion, travel, food, entertainment, and Bollywood. The startup which was once a hobby became the most accessed gossip column for people. Later there was no looking back for Maline, she related with her show “Inside access with Miss Malini” where she meets several celebrities and does fun stuff together. Her blogs missmalini are regularly featured in leading digital and print fashion and lifestyle publications.
Written by
Karishma Engineer
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