the year of startups breaking into the $100 billion club, with as many as 44 startups breaking into the coveted Unicorn Startups club. Four of these four were led by women, and four women-led startups have already entered the unicorn club this year, according to the data.
9 Unicorn Startups Leading by Indian Women
Here’s a list of some women-led startups that have joined India’s unicorn club in recent years.
1. Saritha Katikaneni
Saritha is a co-founder of Zenoti, a platform that provides software solutions to spas and salons across the globe. Despite being on sabbatical since 2019, she served as the company’s Vice President for 9 years. The brand, formerly known as ManageMySpa, joined the unicorn club last year after raising $160 million in a Series D funding round.
2. Rajoshi Ghosh
In 2022, Rajoshi Ghosh co-founded Hasura, which became the tenth startup to join the unicorn club. In February of this year, the company raised $100 million at a valuation of $1 billion. Hasura provides an open-source platform for web application development.
3. Garima Sawhney
Dr. Garima Sawhney co-founded Pristyn Care, a technology platform that provides medical services from a unique perspective. The platform makes use of extra space or capacity in various hospitals to create multispecialty clinics and surgery centers. The brand, which was funded by renowned investors such as Tiger Global and Sequoia, joined the unicorn club in 2021 and was the 40th startup to do so last year.
4. Ambiga Subramanian
She is widely regarded as the first Indian woman to lead a company into the unicorn club. Ambiga, co-founder and CEO of data analytics firm Mu Sigma was named one of India’s youngest self-made women in 2017. However, following her divorce the following year, she sold her 24 percent stake in MuSigma and has since focused on investing in companies such as Piper Biosciences, Box8, and others.
5. Divya Gokulnath
Divya Gokulnath, the co-founder of one of the world’s most valuable startups, founded Byju’s in 2011 with her husband Byju Raveendran. The company joined the unicorn club in 2018 and has acquired numerous edtech companies, the most recent of which was Aakash Institutes.
6. Priyanka Gill
Priyanka Gill and Naiyya Saggi founded the Good Glamm group in 2015. It is now the largest content conglomerate in South Asia, and it is the first Indian DTC beauty and personal care brand to join the unicorn club.
The company raised $150 million in its Series-D funding round in November 2021, at a valuation of $1.2 billion, with brands such as POPxo, MyGlamm, Baby Chakra, Scoopwhoop, and Plixoo under its umbrella. MyGlamm, the company’s frontrunner, has over 30,000 retail locations in the country.
7. Ruchi Deepak
After raising $255 million in a round led by General Atlantic and Multiples Private Equity, Acko General Insurance joined the unicorn club in 2021. This occurred only four years after its inception in 2017 by Ruchi Deepak and Varun Dua. The company specializes in selling insurance products online and has product distribution partnerships with Amazon, MakeMyTrip, Ola, and Urban Company.
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While this list only includes nine women, other notable women-led unicorn companies include Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar, Ghazal Alagh’s Mamaearth, and Shopclues co-founder Radhika Ghai. While there are many others who deserve to be mentioned, it is encouraging to see more and more businesses being led by women and doing so well these days.
8. Smita Deorah
LEAD School, co-founded by Smita Deorah, is the third startup to join the unicorn club this year. The company, which is valued at $1.1 billion following its $100 million Series E funding, provides innovative edutech solutions to over 5000 schools in 500 cities across the country.
9. Ruchi Kalra
Ruchi Kalra, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of OfBusiness, and her husband have been in the news for a variety of reasons. They are the first Indian couple to have bought their respective companies into the unicorn club in less than a year.
Ruchi Kalra, 38, founded Oxyzo, a lending platform that provides cash flow and working capital finance to small and medium businesses, mid-corporates, and new economy businesses. Oxyzo joined the unicorn club in March of this year, and OfBusiness joined in July of last year.
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