How women are dominating the start-up ecosystem

India saw the highest number of start-ups attaining Unicorn status in 2021 during the pandemic period. Of these, 10 per cent of the start-ups were led by women founders. The increasing presence of women as entrepreneurs has led to a change in the demographic characteristics of business and economic growth of the country. According to an EdelGive Foundation Report, businesses owned by women entrepreneurs in India are likely to witness a 90 per cent growth in the coming five years, compared to the US (50 per cent) and the UK (24 per cent).

Adgully’s endeavour has always been to highlight the women leaders of the industry who are changing the thought processes and are also encouraging the upcoming leaders.

On the occasion of Women’s Day, we highlight some of the women-led start-ups that have gained major recognition in recent times.

Falguni Nayar

Falguni Mayar is the founder of online beauty store Nykaa. In 2020, it became the first Indian Unicorn start-up headed by a woman. Founded in 2008, Nykaa has raised a funding of approximately $148.5 million with 15 investors. The recent investment values in the retail platform are an estimated $1.2 billion. Nykaa made its debut on the bourses on November 10, 2021 and its Initial Public Offer (IPO) was subscribed 82 times. The beauty start-up saw its market capitalisation cross Rs 1 lakh crore. Nykaa sold its shares via the IPO over a three-day period.

Vineeta Singh

Vineeta Singh is the Founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics. With a networth of $8 million, she is also one of the judges in a popular reality-show, ‘Shark Tank India’. SUGAR Cosmetics has raised a total of $35.5 million in funding over 3 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on October 21, 2020 from a Series C round. SUGAR Cosmetics is funded by 7 investors. Elevation Capital and Stride Ventures are the most recent investors. The company acquired ENN Beauty on January 13, 2022.

Divya Gokulnath

With a net worth of Rs 1,800 crore, Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath co-founded BYJU’S in the year 2011. BYJU’S has received fundings of $ 1.5 billion. Bond, Tiger Global Management, General Atlantic, Owl Ventures, Qatar Investment Authority are some of the investors of BYJU’S.

Ghazal Alagh

‘Shark Tank’ fame Ghazal Alagh is the founder of Mamaearth. Founded in 2016, the MamaEarth brand has raised $52 million in a latest round of funding led by Sequoia Global at a valuation of $1.15 billion, making it the latest to join the Unicorn club. Mamaearth is funded by 10 investors. Evolvence India Fund and Sofina are the most recent investors. Mamaearth has acquired 3 organisations. Their most recent acquisition was BBlunt on February 14, 2022.

Richa Kar

Richa is the Co-founder & Ex-CEO of Zivame. Zivame was founded in the year 2011 and the company now has a funding of $69 million from investors like Avendus Capital, Trifecta Capital Advisors, The Allana Group, Zodius Capital and Khazanah Nasional.

Sairee Chahal

Sairee Chahal is the founder of SHEROES. Founded in the year 2013, the company has a funding of $2.6 million and the investors are HR Fund, Quintillion Media, Lumis Partners, and Leo Capital Holdings.

Shubhra Chadda

Shubhra Chadda co-founded Chumbak in the year 2009 and now the company has a funding of $27 million, with investors like SeedFund.in, Matrix Partners India, Gaja Capital and BlackSoil.

Upasana Taku

Upasana Taku is the co-founder of , which was founded in 2009. With funding of $131 million funding, the company has investors like NDTV Limited, Trifecta Capital Advisors, Tianying Fu, Gaurav Manglik, Sequoia Capital India.

Neha Kant

Neha Kant founded Clovia in the year 2012. Clovia has received funding of $22.7 million and has seven investors.