According to reports, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) made one of the largest seizures in a single search operation by an Indian agency, seizing assets valued at INR 1,646 Cr ($189.5 Mn). According to a media report, the operation was a component of a US-led probe into a $2.4 billion cryptocurrency “ponzi” scam that reportedly defrauded hundreds of investors across more than 40 nations. According to the report, which cited sources, the ED tracked Bitconnect founder and scandal mastermind Satish Kumbhani to Ahmedabad. Following his indictment in the scam by a US district court, where he was charged with operating a global Ponzi scheme under the guise of a Bitconnect loan scheme, Kumbhani fled into hiding.
What Next?
Kumbhani will soon be questioned by the ED and is probably going to be arrested, according to the report. There is a “look out circular” against him. The ED is seeking to return the proceeds of crime to the victims of the scandal, including overseas nationals, following the seizure of cryptocurrency assets on February 12. The BitConnect creator was charged by a grand jury in San Diego, California, in 2022 with “orchestrating” a global cryptocurrency Ponzi scam. In a court filing at the time, Richard Primoff, an attorney for the US Securities and Exchange Commission, stated that Kumbhani had moved from India to an unidentified address abroad.
Modus Operandi
In addition to running an unauthorised money transmission business and conspiring to commit international money laundering, Kumbhani was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and price manipulation. Kumbhani asserted in 2016 that he had developed the BitConnect blockchain and started a lending operation with native tokens known as BitConnect Coins (BCC). According to reports, he tricked investors into funding his phoney cryptocurrency business by making unrealistically high returns. BitConnect’s market capitalisation peaked at $3.4 billion during its heyday.
However, following cease-and-desist orders from North Carolina and Texas regulators, BitConnect shut down its exchange in January 2018. Glenn Arcaro, the director and promoter of BitConnect, entered a guilty plea in a federal court in September 2021 for his involvement in a large-scale conspiracy involving the cryptocurrency network.
The most recent development coincides with certain significant controversies that have recently rocked the cryptocurrency industry. A security breach at the cryptocurrency exchange WazirX occurred in July of last year, resulting in the theft of $234 million worth of cryptocurrencies. In the meantime, in October of last year, Delhi Police and cryptocurrency exchange Binance teamed up to uncover a sophisticated scam run by a bogus organisation called “M/s Goldcoat Solar.” This resulted in several arrests and the confiscation of more than one lakh USDT in bitcoin assets.
India’s coffee culture has changed dramatically in the last 10 years, from a culture of tea consumption to a developing coffee-loving society. This change has led to the exponential growth of many specialty coffee startups to drive the vibrant coffee landscape of the nation. Conventionally, India was a tea-drinking country but the coffee beverage market started gaining traction in the early 2000s, partly due to the proliferation of coffee shop chains and urbanism.
The specialty coffee movement started developing in the 2010s and was driven by global trends. This modern trend focused on quality, sustainability, and special flavor profiles, which gained the attention of an expanding public of coffee lovers. Due to this fact, India’s coffee startups remain key to this dynamic and changing market.
Matt Chitharanjan, Namrata Asthana, and Shivam Shahi
Headquarters
New Delhi, India
Website
BLUETOKAICOFFEE.COM
Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters – Top Coffee Startup in India
Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, a company founded in 2013 by Matt Chitharanjan, Namrata Asthana, and Shivam Shahi, has emerged as a solid brand in the specialty coffee arena of India. They began roasting beans in Delhi at home when they were frustrated because they couldn’t get any good coffee in North India. Then, in 2014, their first roastery was housed.
This brand is dedicated to premium Arabica beans that are sourced from different Indian farms, thereby bringing freshness and quality. Blue Tokai’s offerings include roasted coffee, brewing kits, subscription services, and more than 80 coffee shops across major cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru. Thereafter, through education at a robust outreach to the customer level, the company is developing an Indian culture around coffee through better brewing experiences and education in appreciation of specialty coffee.
In Sleepy Owl Coffee’s cocoon of life, 2016 was considered the year which bore Arman Sood, Ajai Thandi, and Ashwajeet Singh, who had once bid adieu to the careers of banking and law to start a coffee renaissance in India. Focusing on quality caffeine, they initiated Cold Brew Boxes for home brewing, bagging INR 30 lakh in the first year itself. The brand procures 100% premium Arabica beans from Chikmagalur, ensuring consistency in flavors.
Sleepy Owl Cold Brew Bags, instant coffee, ready-to-drink beverages, and traditional South Indian filter coffee are available widely. Strong engagement in communities and an efficient supply chain system for freshness created customer loyalty. Spanning over 30 products, including seasonal releases, it has wedged its innovation into Indian households with coffee solutions that are convenient to use.
Third Wave Coffee Roasters
Company Name
Third Wave Coffee Roasters
Founded By
Sushant Goel, Anirudh Sharma and Ayush Bathwal
Headquarters
Bengaluru, India
Website
THIRDWAVECOFFEE.IN
Third Wave Coffee Roasters – Top Coffee Startup in India
Sushant Goel. Anirudh Sharma. Ayush Bathwal-the trio founded Third Wave Coffee Roasters in the year 2016. It has grown to play an increasingly instrumental role in the specialty coffee scenario for India. A study of the US “Third Wave Movement” has reportedly seen the founders of Third Wave selectively source high-quality Arabica beans from Karnataka, eventually launching their first café in Bengaluru’s Koramangala area.
Within a short while, specialized coffee and local origin premium were met by very unique customer experiences, and Third Wave created its huge following. It is a fast-service model with a wide range of offerings from classics to signature drinks such as Lavender and Rosemary Sea Salt Mocha. With in-house roasting and designs of café spaces for social interactions.
Country Bean
Company Name
Country Bean
Founded By
Aditi Somani Satnaliwala and Aneesh Satnaliwala
Headquarters
Kolkata, India
Website
COUNTRYBEAN.IN
Country Bean – Top Coffee Startup in India
Known by the tag of being the first flavored coffee brand of its kind in the country, Country Bean stands as one of those names that dominate India’s coffee market today. Founded in 2017 by Aditi Somani Satnaliwala and Aneesh Satnaliwala, the brand aims to bring that café-style experience into Indian homes. It was born of Aditi’s passion for coffee and began with a series of kitchen-experimental flavorings that were finally released in 2018.
From there, Country Bean managed to overcome early difficulties in sourcing and packaging and now serves over 400,000 customers. Today, it sells flavored instant coffees, hot chocolate powders, and coffee accessories focusing so much on convenience, that Country Bean has built a strong loyal customer base and grown well in itself in the past few years.
Rage Coffee
Company Name
Rage Coffee
Founded By
Bharat Sethi
Headquarters
New Delhi, India
Website
RAGECOFFEE.COM
Rage Coffee – Top Coffee Startup in India
Rage Coffee has quickly made a niche for itself in the coffee industry in India with its innovative product portfolio. Founded in 2018 by Bharat Sethi, Rage Coffee operates as a digital-first FMCG company that offers coffee solutions for the modern consumer. For its flavored instant coffee in biodegradable tube shots for busy men and women who have no time but no flavor. It became a real invention when cricket megastar Virat Kohli invested and endorsed this brand, thereby elevating it in the market with younger audience segments.
Rage Coffee sells primarily through its website and BigBasket and 600+ offline retail outlets. Its vision is consumer engagement, innovation, and sustainability in shaping the future of the instant coffee market in India.
Beanly is a Delhi-raised company with a noble aim of bringing into the lives of its loyalists the experience of fresh brew coffee. Foundered in 2018 by Rahul Jain and Samayesh Khanna. Beanly’s approach is to achieve product innovation that offers fresh coffee beans to customers in a more convenient manner. The finest coffees are sourced by them from Indian plantations. Beanly was the coffee startup to have introduced nitrogen-infused coffee.
The company’s product range comprises Instant Coffee, Pour Over Coffee, Nitro Coffee in cans, Cold Chocolate, and Coffee Spread. It sells these products from its website as well as other online stores. Beanly is a D2C brand and currently operates in Bengaluru, Gurugram, and Delhi, with plans to expand to Mumbai and Kolkata.
Nithara Coffee is a specialty coffee company based out of Salem, Tamil Nadu, which is very good in the things it does about growing, harvesting, curing, roasting, and blending its coffees: The ‘Nithara’ literally translates to ‘Deep Rooted’ in Sanskrit, which stands for those qualities the company pledges for: Quality, Consistency, and Service. For the Delhi local people, it has two segments: Filter Coffee Blends for the home brewers, with multiple grind sizes, chicory blends, and more used for Economy Blends which can be utilized in hotels and restaurants built to sustain chemistry and low cost.
Nithara Custom Blends which are made for wholesale and major hotel chains would source 100% Arabica beans, directly from the home estates-runs previously known as Ramagiri and Krishnagiri Estates, situated in Chikmagalur. It has R&G( (Roast and Ground)) outlets that are located in Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, and Chennai, and also gives services in this area across the other states in India.
The Flying Squirrel
Company Name
The Flying Squirrel
Founded By
Ashish Dabreo and Laeeq Ali
Headquarters
Bengaluru, India
Website
FLYINGSQUIRREL.IN
The Flying Squirrel – Top Coffee Startup in India
The Flying Squirrel is an artisanal coffee brand from Bengaluru, founded in 2011 to remedy the coffee quality issue in India. In 2013, it began making premium coffees from Tej’s farm in Coorg more accessible. The brand grows the coffee and interplants it with vanilla, citrus, banana, and spices. The Flying Squirrel processes dries, and roasts its coffee expertly and has gained particular recognition for its premium coffee and fine brewing accessories like Chemex and Moka Pot makers. It mainly operates online and steers away from the big supermarket brands, targeting curated gourmet stores and institutional sales instead. While it faces increasing competition and rocketing digital acquisition costs, the brand is determined to be niche but not too exclusive.
SLAY Coffee
Company Name
SLAY Coffee
Founded By
Chaitanya Chitta and Lakshmi Dasaka
Headquarters
Bengaluru, India
Website
SLAYCOFFEE.COM
SLAY Coffee – Top Coffee Startup in India
Established in 2015 by Chaitanya Chitta and Lakshmi Dasaka, SLAY Coffee has earmarked its focus on premium coffee at an affordable price and has popularized the concept of “coffee out of café”. This coffeehouse is functioning through SLAY Cloud for e-orders, SLAY Coffee Bars for off-the-counter purchases, and SLAY Packaged Coffees for in-home consumption way it started has been through the cloud kitchen model with Rebel Foods.
It has over 160 stores across 19 cities: SLAY offers superior Arabica and Robusta blends sourced from Karnataka’s coffee estates by bringing them a little closer to home. Among the available items are instant coffees, protein bars, and innovative products like SLAY-X and DIY HomeBrewing Kits. Using the spill-free SLAY Case 1.0 packaging, SLAY aims to take its business internationally to Dubai and Southeast Asia. They were featured on Shark Tank India Season 3.
Toffee Coffee Roasters
Company Name
Toffee Coffee Roasters
Founded By
Nandini Shrivastava and Rishabh Nigam
Headquarters
Mumbai, India
Website
TOFFEECOFFEEROASTERS.COM
Toffee Coffee Roasters – Top Coffee Startup in India
Toffee Coffee Roasters is a Mumbai-based venture that began in 2019 in Bandra by Nandini Shrivastava and Rishabh Nigam, as a getaway from bandy-peddling toilet water. They felt the need to commit to selling coffee within 48 hours of roasting while making sure that the beans they use are sourced responsibly. Their online offerings include single-origin coffees and signature blends, either through partners or private label customers, always keeping in mind small-batch roasting.
Coffees include specialty instant coffees coming from Colombia, Ethiopia, and Brazil; cold brew bags; coffee from Baarbara and Baba Budangiri estates; and specialty blends such as Blonde Caramel and Blueberry Mocha. The roads include a plethora of devices for the brewing of coffee to connect people with genuine experiences of artisanal roasting with fresh coffee. They feature on Shark Tank India Season 3 and got investment from Ritesh Agarwal.
India’s coffee landscape is transforming, driven by innovative startups. Specialty coffee brands are redefining specialty coffee through a broad range of varieties, from single-origin beans and flavored coffees to beverage-ready-to-drink, to meet changing consumer desires.
Set in quality sourcing, sustainability, and ethical business practices, they appeal to the “conscious consumer” mass market, building trust and loyalty. Using e-commerce these companies target wider markets and have communities participating through social media and experiential marketing.
Using direct-to-consumer business models and technology-based tactics, they improve customer experience and redefine the coffee culture in India. With the backing of investment and market demand, these startups are ready to become the champions of the Indian specialty coffee revolution, adding quality and innovation to the market.
What is driving the growth of coffee startups in India?
A growing coffee culture, increased disposable incomes, and a desire for premium and unique coffee experiences are fueling the rise of coffee startups.
What types of coffee are these startups typically offering?
These startups often focus on specialty coffee, single-origin beans, unique roasting methods, and ready-to-drink options.
How are these startups reaching their customers?
These startups use a mix of channels, including online platforms (their own websites and e-commerce marketplaces), physical cafes (though less common for all), partnerships with other businesses, and delivery services.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations.
Ola needs no introduction. The first Indian cab aggregator company, Ola has made availing of cab services a smooth experience. Owned by ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and formerly known as OlaCabs, Ola was launched in December 2010 by two IIT Bombay graduates. Being a pioneer among cab companies in India, Ola bridges the gap between cab owners and commuters, and it has done so really well!
Instead of buying and renting out its own cars, Ola partners with a number of taxi drivers and owners and adds a touch of modern technology to the whole setup. This allows people to book cabs at short notice through Ola’s app. Ola is India’s homegrown ride-hailing app with users in over 250 cities and employs 2.5 million+ driver-partners.
Driven by a hyperlocal approach, Ola is committed to its mission of building mobility for a billion people. Staying in line with its mission, Ola has also ventured into auto and bike booking services. Ola also started off a bicycle-sharing service called ‘Ola Pedal’ in 2017 to facilitate last-mile connectivity.
Read on to explore the remarkable story of Ola, its history, founders, owners, business model, revenue, growth, and more.
Ola has simplified the process of cab booking. From easy payment options to keeping the passengers entertained on the go with ‘Ola Play’, Ola takes care of everything to ensure a smooth ride. Ola now also operates self-drive cars. Be it self-drive or cab-hailing, Ola Cabs offer a wide range of cars to choose from depending on the number of travelers, budget, and convenience. For traveling within the city, one can hire shared taxis, autos, bikes, and even e-rickshaws through Ola.
One can opt for ‘Ola outstation’ to travel outside the city and ‘Ola rentals’ to rent a cab on an hourly basis. Ola has also launched ‘Ola Select’, a subscription-based membership program that offers premium benefits on rides. ‘Ola pedal’, Ola’s bicycle-sharing service, is already a big hit in the IIT Kanpur and the IIT Madras campuses with over 500 cycles.
In 2016, Ola launched ‘Ola Corporate’. When employees book their rides through Ola Corporate, the fare is deducted from the company’s Ola corporate prepaid account. Hence, companies can easily track the travel expenses of their employees while ensuring their safety.
Ola – Industry Details
India’s ride-hailing market was valued at $6.42 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach $7.6 billion by 2028, with strong growth ahead. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% between 2022-2024. The increase is supposed to happen due to the changing lifestyles of travelers and the growing disposable incomes of consumers, especially in Tier-I and Tier-II cities.
Ola was founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2010.
Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati – Ola Founders
Bhavish Aggarwal
Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal graduated from IIT Bombay with a B.Tech in computer science in the year 2008. Ola Cabs owner Bhavish worked for Microsoft Research in Bangalore for two years right after college. He filed 2 patents and published 3 research publications in international journals during his stint at Microsoft. While chasing his entrepreneurial dream, he started an online company to sell short-duration tours and holidays before transforming it into Ola Cabs. Bhavish Aggarwal is the Co-founder and the CEO of Ola. Born on 28 August 1985, OLA owner Bhavish Aggarwal’s personal net worth was estimated to be around $350 Million, as per 2019 data. The wealth of Bhavish further increased to stand at Rs 7500 crore ($958.43 million) in September 2021,which also made him grab the 9th position among India’s wealthiest list under 40, which also features Sachin and Binny Bansal, Neha Narkhede, Nakul Aggarwal and Ritesh Arora, and led by Divyank Turakhia, with Rs 12,500 net worth.
The Ola chief Bhavish Aggarwal will reportedly be stepping down from the day-to-day operations of the core business of Ola and will be more involved with the new and upcoming businesses of the company. The Ola company’s day-to-day operations will be taken over by Arun GR, who joined in 2021 from Vedanta Resources and has previously headed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Ola Electric and Ola Financial Services, as confirmed by an internal organizational mail. Bhavish confirmed that he would not be retiring but will move on to overseeing Ola team building, product building, engineering functions, two-wheelers, car projects, quick commerce verticals, international expansion, and more.
Bhavish Aggarwal is well known for his tweets and remains quite active on Twitter and other social media platforms. He once even remarked jestingly that his tweets receive more replies than even Modiji’s tweets.
In a recent tweet that came from Elon Musk, where the Tesla chief said, “Tesla will not put a manufacturing plant in any location where we are not allowed first to sell & service cars”, Bhavish Aggarwal sarcastically replied with “Thanks, but no thanks!” the very next day on May 28, 2022.
Bhavish Aggarwal, who has been known to remark on Tesla and its likely launch in India, had said again, according to the July 4th, 2022, that the EV manufacturing giant is free to put up a shop in India and sell its cars, but they are not doing that, further adding that Tesla only “want to be treated differently from others, which I believe is not in the interests of India”.
Ankit Bhati is the Co-founder and the CTO of Ola and heads the technical aspects of Ola Cabs, ensuring a quick, convenient, and instinctive experience for the customers and partners. He joined IIT Bombay in 2004 for a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering and an M.Tech in CAD and automation. By 2009, he had already worked on several freelance projects and with startups like Wilcom, QED42, etc. Ankit finally decided to give up his nomadic professional life for his own start-up. He became part of the Ola Cabs journey in November 2010. There were speculations that Ankit Bhati has left Ola but these were nothing but rumors and falsities, as said by Ola Co-founder Bhavish.
Ola Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Swayam Saurabh and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Gaurav Porwal left the company in the first week of October 2021. Arun Sirdeshmukh, who was the CEO of Ola Cars, resigned from the company within less than a year of his appointment.
The Ola work culture is dominated by the “Act fast, think later” philosophy, as mentioned by the top 10 senior employees of Ola who resigned from the firm.
Ola – Initial Team
OLA Initial Team
After the idea, the design and vision were done by the product manager, Usha Loutongbam, and Bhavish himself. As for the developers who converted these ideas into reality, the first version for Android was built by Ajinkya Potdar and for iOS by Khushal Bokadey. Both of them joined Ola for two months of internship and did an excellent job rolling out the release in real quick time.
The iOS app was then taken over by Atul Manwar and the Android version by Ankit Kumar. Neeti Birla developed thebackend APIs. The main focus of the new releases was to make the app feature-rich and improve the user experience without losing the essence of one-touch cab booking.
Ola – Startup Story | How was Ola Started?
Ola was launched on 3rd December 2010. There is an interesting story behind Ola’s start. Born in Ludhiana, Ola owner Bhavish Aggarwal was just like every other success-driven entrepreneur. Bhavish first started an online site named Olatrip.com that offered holiday packages and weekend trips.
While trying to keep his holiday and tour planning business afloat, Bhavish had to travel from Bangalore to Bandipur for which he rented out a car. The cab experience was horrendous! The driver stopped the car in the middle of the journey and demanded a re-negotiation of what Bhavish was paying. After being refused, the driver proceeded to abandon Bhavish en route to his destination.
This is when he realized how his plight was probably similar to a lot of customers across the country who were looking for quality cab services. Bhavish saw the potential of an extraordinary cab booking service, and he changed Olatrip.com’s business model to the one we know today as Ola Cabs.
Bhavish on-boarded his co-founder Ankit Bhati for taking Ola Cabs forward. Bhavish’s parents didn’t agree with his startup plans in the beginning. They were thoroughly displeased with his decision to become a ‘travel agent’. Nevertheless, his parents became supportive once OLA got its first round of angel investment from Snapdeal founder Kunal Bahl, Rehan Yar Khan, and Anupam Mittal.
Bhavish believes that anyone can have a good business idea but to implement it successfully, one must have a scalable model to power the business. According to him, the best or one of the safest models one can or should adopt is running a business while owning “zero” inventory.
If you believe that Ola is some sort of abbreviation or short form, you are wrong. The name is derived from the Spanish word ‘Hola’ that translates to ‘Hello’.
Ola – Business Model and Revenue Model
Ola has a simple business model. It acts as a facilitator to provide cab-booking services. Customers can book their cabs through the app. Ola does not own any of the cabs. Only those drivers with valid permits duly authorized and verified by transport authorities can sign up with Ola; they could be either self-employed or work for an operator who owns multiple cars.
Just like how we as customers use the Ola app, the drivers get access to a driver-specific mobile app on their smartphone once they register with Ola. This is done only after a thorough check of authenticity and conducting due diligence on the commercial papers and the personal papers of both the driver and the operator. The drivers have the flexibility to decide their own time to log in to the Ola application and accept requests for rides from customers. They may choose to remain logged out of the system at their convenience. Ola takes a commission of 15% on average on all the bookings done through the app.
Ola considers the following factors to create the final bill for the user:
Base Fare – Charged flat
Distance Fare – Charged kilometer-wise (different for different cities)
Ride Time Fare – Charged on the time taken to travel
Peak Pricing – Direct ratio depending on the demand for cabs
Service Tax – 5.6%
Swachh Bharat Tax – 0.2%
Toll Charges – Toll Collection in case you cross toll junctions in the journey
Ola has also got into 3 international markets namely Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. In Australia, it has set up operations in seven cities. It claims to have registered 40,000 drivers on its app in Australia. In India, Ola operates across 250+ cities.
Ola – Funding, Investors and Valuation
Ola’s funding history includes around $5 billion over 29 rounds.
The company’s valuation is $2 billion, as per the news report of November 2024.
Here is a breakup of the total funding raised by OLA to date:
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors/Shareholders
February 22, 2022
Series J
$20.11 million
Arrow Capital, Axis Growth Avenues and more
December 16, 2021
TLB Round
$500 million
–
December 8, 2021
Series J
$139 million
Edelweiss and others
July 9, 2021
Pre-IPO Round
$500 million
Temasek, Warburg Pincus’s Plum Wood and Bhavish Aggarwal
September 2019
Series J
$5.1 Million
ARK Ola Pre IPO Private Investment Trust
July 2019
Series J
$11.4 Million
Deshe Holdings, DIG Investment
March 2019
Corporate Round
$300 Million
Hyundai Motor Co.& Kia Motors Corp
February 2019
Series J
$92 Million
Sachin Bansal
February 2019
Series J
$14 Million
–
January 2019
Series J
$88 Million
Steadview Capital
January 2019
Corporate Round
$1.8 Million
Eternal Yield International
September 2018
Series I
$50 Million
China Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund, Sailing Capital
August 2018
Secondary Market
$225 Million
Temasek Holdings
October 2017
Series G
$1.1 Billion
Tencents Holdings and SoftBank Group
August 2017
Private Equity
$36 Million
Tekne Capital
May 2017
Private Equity
$104 Million
RNT Capital Advisors and Falcon Edge Capital
April 2017
Series G
$260 Million
SoftBank Capital
February 2017
–
$330 Million
SoftBank
November 2015
Series F
$500 Million
Baillie Gifford, Falcon Edge Capital, Tiger Global, SoftBank Group and DST Global
April 2015
Series E
$403 Million
DST Global, GIC, Softbank and Falcon Edge Capital
October 2014
Series D
$210 Million
SoftBank Group,Tiger Global and Matrix Partners India
July 2014
Series C
$41 Million
Steadview Capital and Sequoia Capital
November 2013
Series B
$20 Million
Matrix Partners, Tiger Global Management
April 2012
Series A
$5 Million
Tiger Global Management
April 2011
Angel
$330K
Kunal Bahl, Anupam Mittal, Rehan yar Khan
Ola – Shareholding
Ola’s shareholding pattern as of March 2023, sourced from Tracxn:
Ola Shareholders
Percentage
Bhavish Aggarwal
8.7%
Ankit Bhati
3.3%
Nuvama Wealth
0.6%
SoftBank
20.4%
Tencent
8.1%
Plum Wood Investment
6.3%
MacRitchie Investments
3.6%
Z47
3.6%
Steadview
3.6%
Falcon Edge Capital
2.8%
DST Global
5.9%
Tiger Global Management
1.6%
GIC
1.3%
Helion Venture Partners
1.1%
Fort Canning Investments
1.1%
UCRNTFund
0.8%
Accel
1.3%
ABG Capital
0.8%
Tekne Capital Management
0.7%
Vanguard
0.8%
Delivery Hero
0.7%
Sailing Capital
0.5%
China-Eurasian Economic Fund
0.5%
Trident Trust
0.5%
Mirae Asset
0.5%
Segantii Capital Management
0.3%
DIG Investment
0.3%
Alpha Wave Global
0.4%
Axis Mutual Fund
0.2%
JSGCL
0.2%
Siddhant Partners
0.2%
Gemini
0.1%
Didi Chuxing
0.1%
Sarin Family India
< 0.1%
J3T Ventures
< 0.1%
ARK Impact Asset Management
< 0.1%
Arrow Capital
< 0.1%
Brand Capital
< 0.1%
The Alka Family Trust
0.1%
Qualcomm Ventures
< 0.1%
Adinath Family Trust
< 0.1%
Lyonsasset
< 0.1%
HBM Partners
< 0.1%
Price Descendant Trust
< 0.1%
THC Ventures
< 0.1%
Sequoia Capital
–
Blume Ventures
–
Bessemer Venture Partners
–
RNT Associates
–
CIM
–
CIIE
–
Angel
2.6%
ESOP Pool
5.4%
Other Investors
0.1%
Total
100.0%
Ola Shareholding
Ola – Growth and Revenue
Ola has covered an interesting journey from being nothing to becoming a company that provides a livelihood to thousands of people. Today, Ola has become a part of people’s everyday life in many cities.
Some key growth statistics of Ola would reflect that:
It completes more than 1 bn rides each year.
The service of Ola is spread over 250 cities.
Ola has empowered more than 1.5 mn entrepreneurs who are currently with Ola as driver-partners.
The company has 7000+ employees working with OLA.
Ola Cars
Ola has already launched its first electric scooters under Ola Electric and was set to step on a new journey involving used cars, which started in October 2021. According to the reports dated July 27, 2021, Ola looked to start its used car retailing business soon in Bengaluru. The ride-hailing giant aimed for a full-stack model where it will buy cars from the driver partners of the company and other people, and sell them to buyers after they are set right, said a close source aware of the future plans requesting anonymity. The new business was called “Ola Cars,” which was finally launched on October 7, 2021. Ola Cars helped customers purchase new and old vehicles. Furthermore, it also offered many other services like vehicle purchase, finance and insurance for vehicles, and its registration, and maintenance. This business of Ola was decided by the ride-hailing giant to be reoriented, as far as its June 25, 2022 statement goes.
Ola, which suffered heavily due to the coronavirus pandemic, being a ride-hailing app, has seen quite a progress after the lockdown and other strictures have been lifted. The company confirmed that the recovery it has witnessed from the second wave of Covid was 3X faster than what it has seen while shaking off the blues of the first wave.
India is moving again! Our @olacabs GMV crossed pre-covid levels last week. Recovery from second wave is 3 times faster. Clearly India is up and about! Some interesting trends as #IndiaIsMoving👇 pic.twitter.com/ERJfBR5s8f
Ola Co-founder and CEO, Bhavish Aggarwal, has also announced that Ola has seen 10 million users using the app, for the first time ever in FY21. This increase in usage is primarily because most people now are opting to avoid public transport and moving on with personal or shared ways of mobility. Furthermore, Ola Autos, which has seen a 150% rise, are also quite popular.
Bhavish further emphasized that the “Ola rides are safe.” He said that over 3 lakh Ola drivers are currently vaccinated and 100% of drivers are likely to get vaccinated soon.
A warm welcome to the Indian startup expanding its transportation services in foreign countries, now OLA in the UK after Australia and New Zealand markets. Ola is looking at bigger markets. Ola had been working towards this launch for the last year. CEO of Ola, Bhavish Aggarwal said, “It is not just yet another city launch for us. It is a transformative event for all of us at Ola.”
Bhavish Aggarwal, the Indian Entrepreneur, and co-founder of OLA Cabs have expressed immense happiness in bringing OLA to the United Kingdom and calls it a ‘momentous moment’ for everyone associated with OLA.
The United Kingdom has one of the world’s most evolved transportation markets. UK worked with black cabs and private hire vehicles (PHV) round-the-clock catering to people. Then, there came OLA, India based online ride-hailing company marching towards the UK, which will be serving as the only on-demand app to offer both Black cab and PHV facilities to people. With the known fact of the UK with its best-regulated taxi services, OLA is about to enter the market. Britain already is embedded with multi-billion dollar ride-sharing giant apps like UBER on its fast pacing on roads.
Ola obtained the license to operate in South Wales and Greater Manchester as per a press release as it’s the first step as ‘OLA in the UK’. OLA is engaging with policymakers and regulators to expand its network over a period of time. It is currently looking to expand its services throughout the UK. This seems a wise decision entering into the UK market, which faces mobility issues for the people relying on public transport services.
The company has come up with more facilities for commuters as per their convenience and choice. It ensures facilities with 24/7 safety, in-app emergency services, Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) screened drivers, sharing live location, live tracking, reaching out to emergency contacts if needed, etc. OLA app is user-friendly and is instantaneous in catering to all needs of the people.
OLA in the UK is all set for its second innings globally after launching across seven cities in Australia with its maiden launch. It also has its sketch to launch in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka soon.
Despite the fact that Uber is one of the most sought ride-sharing apps in the UK and its territorial presence in 70+ countries, OLA is enthusiastic and is firm to take a stand globally with 1+ million drivers across various cities. With a huge customer base and the most accessed app in the Indian sub-continent, OLA has an edge over Uber in India. It must have its own strategies to make it successful in the transportation overseas market.
Time for us to wait and watch the Indian-based company establish its market on British grounds.
Ola Answers “Why does my driver cancel my Ola ride?”
Ola founder cum CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has finally replied to “Why does my driver cancel my Ola ride?” by introducing new features to its ride aggregating app on December 21, 2021.
The aforementioned question is the 2nd most popular question that Bhavish gets. Cab cancellation is something that all of the industry’s players face but that issue will soon be bettered with the new feature of the Ola app, which will enable the drivers to see an approx drop location and the payment mode before they accept an Ola ride. Bhavish tweeted, “Enabling drivers is key to reducing cancellations.”
The cab aggregating giant has always kept the drop location and the approx payment method hidden from the drivers, however, that somehow was not working out, as pointed out by Vineeta Singh, Sugar cosmetics CEO earlier in August 2021. However, the working of the latest feature has already been enthusiastically confirmed by Vineeta. Here goes her latest tweet:
My @Olacabs driver told me that they’ve started seeing approximate destinations before accepting a booking! This is fabulous @bhash! Building for India 💪🏻 https://t.co/83uyQwTwSE
In a recent report by ET, OLA chief Bhavish Aggarwal was reported to have met Uber officials in San Francisco, USA. This was the reason why the talks of the Ola-Uber merger circulated. However, Aggarwal dismissed such talks by saying, “Absolute rubbish. We’re very profitable and growing well.” Bhavish also took a dig at the US-based ride-sharing company by mentioning subtly that if any other company wants to exit from India, they can do so wilfully, as per his tweet. The Ola Founder-CEO further claimed that OLA is one of the most profitable ride-hailing companies in the world, and has a strong balance sheet. “We are the market leader in India and are much bigger than other players,” he added, along with mentioning any merger is completely out of the question. Ola is open to acquisitions though to further cement its position in India, as per reports dated July 30, 2022.
Ola Store Renamed as Ola Dash
Ola started a 15-minute delivery or quick delivery service in several parts of Bengaluru. Via this wing of Ola, the company decided to deliver grocery, pet care, and personal care products. Ola decided to start its ‘Ola Store’ initially in a few localities in the city and will have eventually planned to expand its services to other cities in the upcoming months. This new service was availed through the Ola app, which was available for selected customers, who were able to choose from around 2000 items. This made Ola stand as an emerging competitor of brands like Grofers, BigBasket, Swiggy, Dunzo, and more.
Ola Store eventually declared that it would be a 10-minute grocery delivery service and that it had already set up 15 dark stores in Mumbai and Bengaluru, as of November 30, 2021. Ola aimed to establish around 300 dark stores for the delivery of groceries and conveniences by January 2022. The firm also claimed to deliver around 1000 orders per day. The leading online cab aggregator announced having a fixed budget of around Rs 250 crore for their supermarket delivery business. This was the third time that Ola had attempted to foray into the segment. Ola Store had been renamed as Ola Dash, as per the reports dated January 26, 2022. The new name replaced the old one to infuse the element of speed and faster delivery. The Ola Dash network was estimated to expand its network of dark stores to comprise 500 dark stores, which will be spread across 20 cities and will make it the largest dark store network in India, as of January 28, 2022. However, the Ola Dash business failed to succeed in the long run and was suspended by Ola, as per the reports dated June 25, 2022. Ola Dash had last served 9 cities in total and was spread across 200 dark stores, which offered an assortment of 2500+ SKUs. ‘Store to Door’ was also on and was delivered in 10 minutes.
Ola – Financials
Ola has demonstrated significant financial developments over the past few years, with notable changes in revenue and profitability. Below is a detailed breakdown of Ola’s financial performance from FY24 to FY20.
Particulars
FY24
FY23
FY22
FY21
FY20
Revenue
INR 2,800 crore
INR 2,481.3 crore
INR 1,679.5 crore
INR 1,168.2 crore
INR 2,844.1 crore
Expenses
INR 2107 crore
INR 2,858.1 crore
INR 2,268.6 crore
INR 2,007.1 crore
INR 5,058.1 crore
Profit/Loss
INR -10 crore
INR -525.5 crore
INR -961.7 crore
INR -561.3 crore
INR -2,213.9 crore
Ola Financials
Ola Revenue:
Particulars
FY24
FY23
India Mobility
INR 1,761 crore
INR 1,985 crore
Financial Services
INR 227 crore
INR 63 crore
Others
INR 24 crore
INR 81 crore
In FY24, Ola’s India Mobility revenue declined to INR 1,761 crore from INR 1,985 crore in FY23, indicating a slowdown in ride-hailing services. However, Financial Services saw a significant jump from INR 63 crore in FY23 to INR 227 crore in FY24, reflecting strong growth in Ola’s fintech segment. Revenue from Other segments dropped from INR 81 crore to INR 24 crore, suggesting a strategic shift or reduced focus in these areas.
Ola has also introduced Ola money. The products offered under Ola Money are Ola Money credit card, Ola money postpaid, Ola money mobile wallet, and Ola money hospicash. Ola hospicash is a collaboration between Ola and Religare health insurance that allows the policyholders to claim Rs 5000 per day in case of hospitalization. It has further declared that it will invest up to Rs 786.1 crore in this Ola Financial Services subsidiary in December 2021.
Ola operates with transparency. The commission is given to drivers for every sale made. Ola is known to charge far less than many other traditional operators.
Ola Electric
Electric Scooters
Ola launched India’s first multimodal electric vehicle project on 26 May 2017. The project brought together industry experts and the Indian government to pioneer electric vehicles for the public and promote shared mobility in Nagpur. Established as a separate entity, Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. Ltd. also reached unicorn status with a $250 million investment from SoftBank in July 2019.
After exceeding expectations in the pre-booking round, Ola Electric scooters went live for purchase on their website and via the Ola app on September 15, 2021. The company reportedly sold Rs 1100 crores worth of electric scooters in just 2 days.
Electric Cars
Ola has unveiled its plans to launch its first electric car in the next 2-3 years, as per reports dated July 16, 2022. OLA CEO Bhavish Aggarwal teased and announced that his company is gearing up to build the sportiest car that has ever been built in India. Some concept design ideas have been ready already. The first Ola Electric car is to be launched from its new 4W factory that is to be built and would be another factory, separate from Ola’s Futurefactory for 2Ws.
Ola Parcel
In an attempt to challenge Swiggy Genie and Dunzo’s courier service, Ola announced the launched of Ola Parcel, an all-electric on-demand delivery service, on October 6, 2023. As a logistics company playing a role akin to Shadowfax, Shiprocket, etc., it will be onboarding itself to ONDC.
The founders Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati had to face many challenges in the beginning. They worked long hours and sometimes Ankit, the co-founder of Ola, had to code for 48 hours straight. They have had to drive the customer to their desired locations at times because the drivers did not show up. However, this did not dampen their spirits. The duo worked day and night and people started liking their services.
The twist in their story happened when angel investors Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl invested Rs 2 crores in their business. This gave them an initial push and there was no looking back for Ola from there.
As much as Ola wanted to meet the needs of the customers by scaling up to different cities, each city faced its own infrastructural challenge. The app required the use of the 2G network. The team had to design an app that could accommodate network connectivity in smaller towns.
Ola incurs RBI penalty for Ola Financial Services
Ola Financial Services, an OLA subsidiary, has been imposed a penalty of Rs 1.68 crore by the RBI, which claimed that the mobility company failed to comply with the RBI norms in association with the latest changes in the prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) and know your customer (KYC) policies.
RBI mentioned that the entity didn’t adhere to “certain provisions of the Master Directions on PPIs dated August 27, 2021, and the Master Direction – Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016 dated February 25, 2016”. After discovering this, the central bank imposed the penalty, exercising the powers vested to the body under Section 30 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. To justify the huge penalty that it had brought down on Ola, RBI stated that it has earlier showcaused Ola as soon as it discovered that the firm was breaching the KYC norms, but Ola failed to provide a suitable response.
Ola Layoffs
Ola is reportedly looking to curb its expenses, for which, it is looking to lay off somewhere between 400-500 employees, as per reports dated July 6, 2022. This has risen up and would affect close to 1000 Ola employees, as per reports dated July 29, 2022. Sources and reports have claimed that Ola has already asked its key managers to prepare a list of employees that the company can let go. The ride-hailing giant has already ceased making investments in international markets like the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, and has also shut down its subsidiaries like Ola Dash and Ola Cars, all of which were cash-burn-heavy lines of business. However, with it, the cab aggregating company has also put a stop to the revenue channels that might have benefited it, thereby solely relying on its mobility services. Ola has laid off a huge number of employees to date. The last known layoffs were from its quick commerce wing, Ola Dash, from where the company reportedly laid off around 2100 employees in April 2022. Though this is still unconfirmed, it might be the largest layoffs that 2022 has seen so far.
Ola had already started terminating its employees and has also deferred their performance appraisal for this year, as far as the July 9, 2022 reports go. Ola has further announced that it would focus on its EV business, and also increase its hiring for the same.
Unfair Trade Practices and Violation of Consumer Rights
Cab aggregators Ola and Uber got legal notices from the Central Consumer Protection Authority that sent Notices to Ola and Uber for unfair trade practices and the violation of consumer rights, as per reports dated May 20, 2022. The central government of India had previously warned Ola and Uber of strict action if they don’t improve their systems and redress the rising complaints. Now, the CCPA has given a 15-day for them to do so.
Ola Resignations
Ola has witnessed numerous resignations lately, which became even more prominent after the increasing fire accidents and amid the preparations for Ola going public sometime soon in 2022. Ola had already seen the resignations of COO Gaurav Porwal, CTO Swayam Saurabh, General Counsel Sandeep Chowdhury, and HR head Rohit Munjal among others, early in 2021. The co-founders of Ola Electric Ankit Jain and Anand Shah had also put down their papers, and now it has been seen that Dinesh Radhakrishnan the CTO of Ola Electric, quit the company on May 8, 2022. Arun Sirdeshmukh, who was the CEO of Ola Cars, also left last week. Already rocked by resignations, Ola’s Head of Talent Acquisition, Shikhar Sood also left the company on July 7, 2022. Ola has seen too many top-level exits already and this brings us to the cause of the exits. As per the surveys of the top 10 senior employees of Ola, the culture of “act fast, think later” has been dominant.
Ola ShutDowns
Ola shutdowns are not something new. The cab aggregating giant has failed to pivot time and again, especially in the food delivery segment. The descaling of the food business is now announced for the third time on May 20, 2022, when Ola said that it would sell most of its cloud kitchen equipment at up to 30-50% discounts.
The first of Ola shutdown in the food delivery segments was witnessed when Ola pulled the plug on Ola Cafes in 2016 after a year since it started in 2015 to take on Uber Eats and foray into the food industry. Ola Stores was also shut down in the same year. It next acquired FoodPanda, which was completed in February 2022, but failed with the same so much so that Ola was left operating with only 50 cloud kitchens. The company later suspended Foodpanda’s operations completely in May 2019 and laid off around 1500 delivery executives and 40 mid-level staff. Ola eventually tried to pivot again with a handful of flagship food brands like the Khichdi Experiment, Paratha Experiment, The Biryani Experiment, and more. The company had also opted for a multichannel approach, set up 50 cloud kitchens, and had also included mom-and-pop stores in this initiative. Besides, Ola also wanted to acquire Freshmenu to scale its food business, but the deal failed to flesh out.
Ola has decided to pull the plug on its used cars and quick commerce business – Ola Cars and Ola Dash, as per reports dated June 25, 2022. These businesses of Ola are shut down with the sole aim of strengthening its EV and mobility businesses, which the company is planning to only focus on for the time being. Though Ola Cars still has hopes of being reoriented, which is expected to help strengthen the go-to-market strategy of Ola Electric, Ola Dash is to be closed down completely.
Here’s briefly looking at the failed ventures of Ola:
Name
Industry
Founded
Shutdown
Ola Dash
Quick Commerce
2015
2022
Ola Foods
Food Delivery
2020
2022
Foodpanda
Food Delivery
2019
2020
Ola Cafe
Food Delivery
2015
2016
Ola – Partnerships
Apart from the drivers that Ola partners with as clients, the most notable partnership that the cab aggregating giant has witnessed is with Siemens. Ola announced a press release stating ‘Ola adopts Siemens’ Digital Enterprise to build India’s most advanced manufacturing facility’ on January 20, 2021. Ola has partnered with Siemens to build its upcoming electric vehicle manufacturing facility. This announcement comes when OLA has an MoU with the government of Tamil Nadu to invest around INR 2,400 Cr towards building this facility.
It is expected that the factory will generate around 10,000 jobs, with an initial capacity of 2 million units a year and making it the largest scooter manufacturing facility in the world. This will serve as Ola’s global manufacturing hub catering to customers in India and across Europe, the UK, Latin America, and ANZ (Australia and New Zealand)
This factory is going to be amazing and technologically advanced with 5,000 robots stationed across various functions and will be built on Industry 4.0 principles. Ola will have access to Siemens’ integrated Digital Twin design and manufacturing solutions to digitalize and validate products and production ahead of actual operations. It will have Ola’s proprietary AI Engine and tech stack deeply integrated into each aspect of the manufacturing process. Thereby, providing unprecedented control, automation, and quality to the operations.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman & Group CEO, Ola, said, ‘‘Ola is delighted to partner with Siemens to build the most advanced manufacturing facility in the country. This will be our global hub and will set a benchmark in quality, scale and efficiency, demonstrating India’s capability to build world class cutting edge products. We look forward to bringing this factory online in the coming months and putting our products in the hands of customers.”
Ola’s scooter blends excellent design, sensational performance, and incredible technology into an amazing product. It has already won several prestigious designs and innovation awards including the IHS Markit Innovation award at CES and the German Design Award.
Sunil Mathur, MD & CEO, Siemens India, said, “Siemens is a global leader in Industry 4.0 and we are proud to contribute to Ola’s vision of creating a factory of the future using our automation and digitalization expertise to ensuring the highest levels of productivity and quality while enabling an agile and flexible production process.”
Ola – Acquisitions and Merger
Ola has acquired 8 organizations in total. The last acquisition of Ola was that of Avail Finance, which is a financial services startup for the blue-collar workforce led by the Ola chief Bhavish Aggarwal’s brother, Ankush Aggarwal. The acquisition of Avail Finance was announced on March 24, 2022, and was finally completed on April 11, 2022, via a share swap deal worth $50 million. The leading cab aggregating giant held a 9% stake in Avail due to its investment in the startup in 2019 before it acquired the company.
GeoSpoc was the previous company that Ola acquired on October 5, 2021. It was the company’s first acquisition in a period of over 2 years after it acquired Pikup.ai on August 13, 2019. ANI Technologies, the parent of the ride-hailing major Ola and Ola Electric, completed its acquisition of Foodpanda from Delivery Hero, the Germany-based parent of Foodpanda.
The acquisition of Foodpanda was first announced by Ola in December 2017 for around $200 mn to reinforce its food delivery service. Fast forward to February 5, 2022, the food delivery giant held an extraordinary general meeting where the shareholders of Ola decided to issue 3,793 Series J2 CCPS to Delivery Hero, for Rs 8.5 crore. Mentioning that to acquire 100% of the shares in Foodpanda, the company stated that it will be finally issuing 3,793 Series J2 CCPS to Delivery Hero instead of cash consideration, which will allow the company to acquire 77,10,564 equity shares, which were held by Delivery Hero in Foodpanda, as per the news dated February 24, 2022.
Founded by Ralf Wenzel, Benjamin Bauer and Felix Plog in 2012 in Germany, Foodpanda was a successful business at that time in India, however, due to piling expenses, miscommunication, technical flaws, lack of ownership, lack of a foolproof business, and revenue model, the startup struggled much in India before it finally got acquired by Ola. Foodpanda reportedly pulled in 30,000-35,000 orders per day when it was at its peak of India operations. Furthermore, it launched “The Crave Party” in the last week of August 2018, which rained a range of discounts for the customers, and multiplied the order volumes of the app by 10X in the same year.
Currently, the Foodpanda app lies suspended after the Ola acquisition of FoodPanda.
Here’s the list of the prominent Ola acquisitions to check out:
Ola had acquired the Pune-based geospatial service provider, GeoSpoc in order to improve their location and geospatial technologies with an undisclosed amount. Talking about the acquisition, CEO and Co-Founder, Bhavish Aggarwal mentioned the need for “better, newer maps and geospatial services” for the “new mobility” and to build the future of location services.
The geospatial sector in India has witnessed quite a growth lately, the market of which, in India, is currently valued at Rs 15,000 crores, and is expected to hit Rs 1 Lakh crores by 2029-2030. The company completes its acquisition of GeoSpoc in full for Rs 26 crore, as per the reports dated December 8, 2021.
Ola had already executed an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), which was worth around $10.5 million (Rs 78.6 crores) for its three former employees and one current executive. Now, the company has further decided to provide ESOP encashment facilities for the former chief executive officer of Ola Foods, Pranay Jivrajka; former chief operating officer of Ola, Pallav Singh; Nimish Joshi, former Vice President, and its current chief product officer, Suvonil Chatterjee.
Among all of them, Jivrajka has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the ESOP encashment program of Ola with Rs 38.17 crore, who is followed by Pallav Singh, Suvonil Chatterjee, and Nimish Joshi, who possess Rs 24.8 crore, Rs 8.5 crore, and Rs 7.08 crore respectively. Ola declared this development soon after it announced the expansion of its ESOP pool to Rs 3,000 crore. Furthermore, the company also noted that it will have some fresh stocks, worth Rs 400 crore allocated for the employees in the run-up to its IPO. Ola currently boasts of having one of the largest ESOP pools among the late-stage startups of India, which also includes companies like Paytm, OYO, and BYJU’S.
Ola – Competitors
Ola directly competes with Uber; the world’s most well-financed startup having raised more than $24 billion in equity and debt on a recent valuation of $82 billion. Other players in India include:
Meru Cabs Company Pvt. Ltd., which owns Meru Cabs
Carzonrent (India) Pvt. Ltd., which owns Carzonrent
In the bike taxi segment, Rapido is slowly capturing Ola’s market share.
InDriver, the international ride-hailing app is the hot favorite today in India, which was founded in Russia and is headquartered in Mountain View, California, US.
Ola – Future Plans
Ola’s future plans focus on expanding its ride-hailing business, investing in electric mobility, and developing battery cell manufacturing. Its ride-hailing division in India is profitable and market-leading, with CEO Bhavish Aggarwal stating that the cab business has recovered to pre-pandemic levels. In electric mobility, Ola Electric is investing in R&D and its battery cell manufacturing unit to make its scooters more affordable. The company aims to start commercial production of battery cells by early 2025. A significant portion of its IPO proceeds will be used for battery cell manufacturing, reinforcing its focus on sustainable EV solutions.
FAQs
Is Ola a Chinese Company?
Ola is an Indian Company but is funded by Chinese investors like Tencent Holdings, Steadview Capital, Sailing Capital, Eternal Yield International Ltd, and China-Eurasian Economic Co-operation Fund with an estimated investment of $500 million.
Who are the Ola shareholders?
Ola’s major shareholders/investors include SoftBank Group (Japanese), Tiger Global (US-based), Tencent (Chinese Venture Capital), Matrix Partners (US-based), and DST Global (Russia).
Ola was founded in 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati as an online cab service. It started as Olatrips.com, offering intercity rides, but soon shifted to ride-hailing for city travel. The company quickly expanded, becoming a market leader in India’s mobility sector.
Who is the founder of Ola Cabs?
Ola was founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2010.
What is the full form of OLA?
There is no full form as such. The name is derived from the Spanish word ‘Hola’ which translates to ‘hello’.
How to become a partner of Ola?
You can easily be a partner of Ola by simply going to www.partners.olacabs.com. There you will find 3 options to become an Ola Partner. You can be an Ola Partner:
If you already have a car and you want to attach that car with Ola
If you know driving, but lack a car
If you have a fleet and you want to attach the same with Ola
When was OLA Electric founded?
Ola Electric was founded in 2017, as a new subsidiary of the Ola company that caters to the new-age, sensible users of electric vehicles.
What is Ola Dash?
Ola Dash was an Ola service that the cab aggregating giant founded in 2015, to provide quick commerce service. However, the service was suspended as per the Ola statements dated June 25, 2022.
With the consistent developments in the Indian startup ecosystem, more and more women are chasing the entrepreneurial dream and flourishing in their ventures. This is empowering other Indian women who are still confined to the traditional homemaker role to think for themselves. However, a recent report states that only two Indian cities have made it to the list of the 50 most favorable global places for women to work.
India’s Silicon Valley, Bengaluru, ranked 40th, while Delhi was at 49th place. This survey was conducted by the tech giant Dell in partnership with the consultancy firm IHS Markit. The ranking—based on inputs from women entrepreneurs in India, policymakers, venture capitalists, media, and academicians—measures a city’s ability to attract and support those women who want to grow their businesses.
According to the National Sample Survey, only 14% of the businesses in India are run by women entrepreneurs. Most of the companies are bootstrapped and run on a small scale. The global disparity is evident in a report that says nearly 126 million women have their own business across the globe while Indian women linger around the 8 million mark; a paradoxical statement is given that India is the second-most populous nation in the world. StartupTalky has compiled a list of successful female entrepreneurs who’ve made a mark in India’s startup ecosystem.
Some Interesting Statistics on Female Entrepreneurs in India
About 58% of the female entrepreneurs were in the age range of 20-30 when they started out.
Nearly 73% of them report revenue of approximately Rs 10 lakhs in a financial year.
Almost 40% of these women started out solo, i.e., without any other member.
About 35% of the women had a co-founder.
Roughly 40% of the Indian female entrepreneurs employ five people or less.
Despite the challenges of business ownership, 74% of the women entrepreneurs were somewhat or very happy owning a business, 17% were somewhat or very unhappy, and 9% were neutral.
In a country like India, where most women aren’t encouraged to think big (especially in the rural parts of the nation), there are some who have soared higher than one would expect in a constrictive setup.
These wonder women are inspiring other ladies to venture on the path of entrepreneurship through their success stories comprising personal struggles and challenges. As a result, India is steadily rising up the ranks when it comes to a favourable startup environment coupled with some solid backing from the Indian government.
Aditi Gupta is a social-cause entrepreneur and the co-founder of Menstrupedia, which works on spreading awareness about menstruation. She is counted as one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in India. She started the venture along with her husband, Tuhin Paul.
The venture stemmed from her own experiences with this so-called taboo. Menstruation was often a painful time she had to go through without any help to alleviate the pain.
After finding out many women resonated with her on the same problem, she decided to create a website on menstruation, complete with illustrations and graphics, to educate women about periods. Menstrupedia has become extremely popular among girls and women seeking to gain awareness on the topic.
Aditi continues informing women about menstrual hygiene to eliminate certain misconceptions about this natural process. She is indeed among the gems who want to do something for society.
She aspires to create a future where menstruation is not seen as evil but as a welcoming change in a girl’s life. She hails from Garhwal in Jharkhand. Aditi is a post-graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
2. Anisha Singh
Name
Anisha Singh
Designation
Founder and CEO of mydala
Founded
2009
Anisha Singh – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Anisha Singh is no stranger to roller-coaster riders; she went through various ups and downs in life before achieving the success she enjoys today. She is the co-founder and CEO of India’s biggest deals platform, Mydala.
Anisha’s long journey started when she was working in Capitol Hill and helping entrepreneurs. She then joined a software company in Boston, where she designed e-learning ecosystems. Anisha Singh is known for openly supporting women’s causes and campaigns. She speaks her mind out and doesn’t cave into fear.
Anisha is from New Delhi, India. She pursued her master’s degree in political communication and then an MBA in Information Systems from American University, Washington DC. Anisha Singh is one of the top businesswomen in India. She was also the judge for an Indian reality show, MTV Dropout, that was based on entrepreneurship.
Anisha Singh in MTV Dropout
3. Shradha Sharma
Name
Shradha Sharma
Designation
Founder of YourStory
Founded
2008
Shradha Sharma – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Shradha was at the peak of her career while working with famous news media houses like the Times of India and CNBC in Mumbai. During that period, she interacted with many entrepreneurs and got to know about their success stories.
Her idea to feature these entrepreneurs, particularly young female entrepreneurs in India, was rejected by several channels. She figured out that there were millions of stories storming around but no platform to cover them. She decided to create an online portal to provide a platform for featuring such stories.
YourStory was launched in 2008 and has 70,000+ stories on its website today. Shradha Sharma leads a team of 100+ people who offer content in 11 local languages. The motive is to share the roller coaster of emotions an entrepreneur goes through.
She was awarded the L’Oreal Paris Femina Award and was included on the list of the world’s top 500 LinkedIn influencers Top 500 LinkedIn Influencers. Shraddha is one of the most successful and influential female entrepreneurs in India.
4. Upasana Taku
Name
Upasana Taku
Designation
Co-Founder of Mobikwik
Founded
2009
Upasana Taku – Top 20 Young Female Entrepreneurs in India
Upasana Taku co-founded Mobikwik with her husband, Bipin Preet Singh. Mobikwik is a fintech startup. It is a virtual wallet tied to a huge network of companies and services. People can recharge and pay at registered places through the Mobikwik wallet. Mobikwik also rewards its customers with cashback through a concept called “SuperCash”.
Upasana Taku has a strong fintech background, having worked as a senior product manager at PayPal (an eBay company) in Silicon Valley and with HSBC (San Diego) prior to that. She graduated with a bachelor’s in engineering from NIT Jalandhar and has a master’s degree in management science from Stanford University.
5. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Name
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Designation
Founder of Biocon
Founded
1978
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is one of the most revered female entrepreneurs in India. She is a billionaire entrepreneur of India who is hailed as the founder and Executive Chairman of the popular Bangalore-based biotechnology company Biocon. Kiran Shaw is responsible for the growth and the large-scale expansion that Biocon has seen to date, and it is her belief in “affordable innovation” that was the key here.
She had previously worked at the United Breweries and has also broken many stereotypes thereafter expanding into biopharmaceuticals. After completing her graduation from Bangalore University, Shaw went on to study brewing at Ballarat College, Melbourne University and topped in her classes, coming out successfully with a master’s brewer degree in 1975.
Ghazal Alagh – Top 20 Young Female Entrepreneurs in India
When it comes to the most successful female businesswomen in India, we ought to name the co-founder of Mamaearth, Ghazal Alagh. Along with being the head of Mamaearth with her husband, Varun Alagh, she is also known as one of the women entrepreneurs who sits on the judges’ panel of the celebrated Shark Tank India show. She is one of the most famous business women in India.
Shark Tank India Judges
Ghazal Alagh is a Panjab University BCA graduate in IT. She then enrolled in the School of Visual Arts for a Summer Intensive Course, and later on, Shaw went to the New York Academy of Art. She is currently serving as the Co-founder, Chief Mama and Chief Innovation Officer at Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. (Mamaearth).
Neeru Sharma – Top 20 Young Female Entrepreneurs in India
Neeru Sharma is the co-founder and director of Infibeam, India’s leading e-commerce portal. Neeru is an expert in conducting market research and providing financial diligence for investments.
Neeru Sharma holds an MBA degree in Finance and Strategy from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. She has been a part of TCS, Nokia, and Amazon.
8. Sugandha
Name
Sugandha Agarwal
Designation
Founder of Docttocare
Founded
2016
Sugandha Agarwal – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Sugandha is one of the youngest businesswomen in India and the founder of Docttocare. Docttocare is an online healthcare service provider that provides information to its users about the best doctors, clinics, hospitals, and diagnostic centres. Docttocare also offers virtual walkthroughs of the hospitals and their facilities.
Sugandha has worked with companies like Infosys, Oracle, and Google Maps before founding Docttocare. Sugandha is an electrical & communication engineer by qualification. She manages a team of 15 people who make Docttocare better every day.
9. Malika Sadani
Name
Malika Sadani
Designation
Founder of The Moms Co.
Founded
2016
Malika Sadani – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
A banker-turned-entrepreneur, Malika Sadani is the founder and CEO of The Moms Co., a leading homegrown brand for toxin-free, natural, and effective products for pre and postnatal care, babies, and conscious consumers seeking personal care solutions.
It was when Sadani had her first child and moved back to India from the UK that she experienced difficulties in finding chemical-free, quality products in the country. There was a huge gap in the baby-care market that was yet to be addressed. She is one of the top 20 women entrepreneurs in India.
With The Moms Co., she has embarked on a mission to help mothers in India and across the world make safe choices for themselves and their loved ones. The team works with experts from around the globe, and even though it’s a native brand, all the products under The Moms Co. have Australian certifications.
Ruchi Garg – Top 20 Young Female Entrepreneurs in India
Ruchi Garg founded Venuelook in 2014. VenueLook is a Noida-based more than 15 years of professional experience O2O platform for venue aggregation, recommendation, and booking. Venuelook makes venue booking seamless and awesome across 16 cities in India. It helps organizations in managing and promoting events.
Ruchi has a bachelor’s degree in computer science. She has more than 15 years of professional experience building products and teams. Ruchi manages a team of 50 people in Venuelook. Even though she is in the event management industry, Ruchi still maintains a connection with technology—leveraging it to solve business problems.
11. Ankita Gaba
Name
Ankita Gaba
Designation
Co-Founder of Social Samosa
Founded
2011
Ankita Gaba – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Ankita Gaba is a consultant, lecturer, entrepreneur, and media strategist known for her multitasking prowess. She co-founded Social Samosa in 2011. However, she left the company in 2015 to start another venture.
Born on April 4, 1985, she hails from Mumbai. Ankita Gaba won “The Social Media Entrepreneur of the Year Award” at the Wat Awards in 2013. Her first venture was Superchooha, one of the first social media agencies in India. She is one of the top 20 women entrepreneurs in India.
12. Ashwini Asokan
Name
Ashwini Asokan
Designation
Co-Founder of Mad Street Den
Founded
2016
Ashwini Asokan – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Ashwini Asokan had Anand Chandrasekaran, her husband, by her side in her entrepreneurial quest. She began by leading a mobile innovation team in Silicon Valley. This stint incited her interest in Artificial Intelligence.
After coming back to India, the husband-wife duo tasted success with their first offering—Mad Street Den. Mad Street Den is an AI platform that enables users to capture smiles and detect facial expressions and emotions through their smartphone cameras. The company is located in the Bay Area, California, with offices in Seattle and Chennai (India).
Ashwini and Anand also founded vue.ai, an image recognition platform for the retail industry. Vue.ai works with marquee retailers, brands, and marketplaces across the globe. It transforms operations in the fashion industry through intelligent automation. It won’t be wrong to label Ashwini as an innovative female tech entrepreneur!
13. Akanksha Anshu
Name
Akanksha Anshu
Designation
Founder of Refundme.in
Founded
2012
Akanksha Anshu – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Akanksha Anshuis thefounderof refundme.in. Refundme.in offers a platform to travellers where they can easily claim compensation in the case of unfavourable circumstances such as flight delay, flight cancellation, overbooking, denied boarding, and so on. She is tech-savvy, a visionary, an entrepreneur, and the founder of 3 successful ventures. She comes from an enterprise technology background, holds an engineering degree, and has managed various roles in the international market, from IT services to business development.
Through refundme.in, she has given suggestions to the government, and the efforts have helped the government revise the Air Passenger Charter Act. Akanksha Anshu has been featured by many media platforms like ETWealth, BW Disrupt, Business Insider, and more for her contributions to the Aviation Industry.
Akanksha has expertise in technology, marketing, and automation. She has been mentoring various startups for their IT infrastructure and strategic planning. Besides consultancy, she is a traveller, storyteller, and motivational speaker. So far, she has been a speaker at various events where she has presented her ideas on distinct topics—technology, entrepreneurship, IT automation, motivation, and web security.
Chitra Gurnani Daga – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Chitra Gurnani, a young female CEO in India, along with her husband, Abhishek Daga, commenced Thrillophilia in 2009. The venture was a manifestation of their passion for travelling. Thrillophilia is a travel company that provides the best local experiences and assures its customers of a trip they will cherish forever. Her aim is to make the people of India aware of the marvelous travel spots and tourist destinations within the country.
Chitra Gurnani hails from Bangalore. She has an MBA degree in Marketing from the Indian School of Business. Chitra previously worked at SAP and Infosys as a software engineer. She is focusing on building an organization that adds value to its customers and employees instead of solely focusing on revenue.
15. Debadutta Upadhyaya
Name
Debadutta Upadhyaya
Designation
Founder of TImesaverz
Founded
2012
Debadutta Upadhyaya – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Debadutta Upadhyaya believes in persistence, whether in hell or in high water. In fact, she always finds a solution to every problem. Debadutta founded Timesaverz, an online portal that helps people find solutions to their handyman problems. It assists homemakers with house repairs.
Debadutta was born in the city of Odisha, Rourkela. She has an MBA from IIM, Calcutta and worked for Yahoo India.
Life is as you would like to make of it. All of us have a choice and the easy or hard part is just a derivative of what one has chosen. – Debadutta Upadhyaya, Founder of Timesaverz
16. Gurleen Kaur
Name
Gurleen Kaur
Designation
Founder of Hareepatti
Founded
2005
Gurleen Kaur – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Gurleen Kaur Tikku is the CEO of Hareepatti. Hareepatti is a financial advisory firm imparting its customer’s financial wisdom. It is an extension of Trilok Singh & Associates that was started by Gurleen’s father, the late Shri Trilok Singh Jee.
Gurleen Kaur pursued a PGDBM in Finance from the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad. She has been recognized among the Top 30 Women Entrepreneurs from Delhi.
17. Jaya Jha
Name
jaya Jha
Designation
Founder of Pothi and InstaScribe
Founded
2008 and 2013
Jaya Jha – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Jaya Jha is another successful female entrepreneur in India. She is the brain behind two startups—InstaScribe and Pothi.com. These platforms enable users to create their own eBooks.
Jaya has enviable credentials with the IIT-IIM tag. She graduated from IIT, Kanpur in Computer Science and has a PGDM in Marketing and Strategy from IIM, Lucknow. She previously worked for Google as an Assistant Product Manager and with IBM as an Assistant Manager.
18. Neha Behani
Name
Neha Behani
Designation
Founder of Moojic
Founded
2011
Neha Behani – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Neha Behani has done something really unique through Moojic. Moojic is like a radio/jukebox for restaurants and cafes. It allows customers to alter and customize playlists as per their interests. Neha is no stranger to failures, she has had a difficult journey but always emerged victorious.
Neha Behani hails from Mumbai. She pursued her MBA in Marketing from the Asian Institute of Management. She previously worked as an Assistant Product Manager at HP.
19. Megha Malik
Name
Megha Malik
Designation
Founder of DesignerPeople
Founded
2000
Megha Malik – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Megha Malik started her journey as an entrepreneur a decade back by starting DesignerPeople. Her vision is to transform the way product packaging, design, and positioning are perceived by young brands. As a creative director at Designer People, Megha’s responsibility is to provide proactive, practical and contemporary brand advertising solutions and support a futuristic brand presentation in tune with global trends.
She has worked with more than 500 brands over the last ten years and helped them build their branding portfolio. Megha holds an MBA degree in Marketing Strategies and a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.
20. Chitra Ravi
Name
Chitra Ravi
Designation
Founder of Chrysalis
Founded
2001
Chitra Ravi – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Chitra Ravi is the founder of Chrysalis. A management graduate, Chitra has a strong desire to improve education. Chrysalis has innovated an academic program for the formative years (in the age group of 2-12) of a child’s education – “ThinkRoom”. Chitra deftly combines her skills in conceptualization, storyboarding, and instructional design to deliver products and services that are dynamic and on par with any international curriculum standards.
Chitra has traveled to the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Southeast Asia and has participated in many international training programs and conventions like Project Zero, which is conducted by Harvard University exclusively for educators. She also presented a program on the effective use of technology in the K-12 curriculum for one of the biggest satellite channels in India.
21. Aparajita Amar
Name
Aparijitha Amar
Designation
Founder of SHLC
Founded
2015
Aparajita Amar – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Leading women entrepreneurship in India, Aparajita Amar is the founder of SHLC-Sexual Harassment Law Compliance Advisory. She is a certified sexual harassment and workplace diversity advisor and an Advocate. At SHLC, Aparajita and her colleagues provide documentation, consultation, and advisory services to organizations to assist their clients in complying with sexual harassment laws.
The team works on drafting anti-sexual harassment policies, sensitization and awareness sessions, and ICC capacity building. She has designed and conducted training, sensitization, and awareness workshops for employees, supervisors and senior management. She has also designed and conducted capacity-building and strengthening programmes for the members of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).
Aparajita is a Legal Development Programme (LDP) Member of the “Strengthening Road Safety in India” program organized by the Bloomberg Initiative and the World Health Organization (WHO) on global road safety. Aparajita has attended workshops held in Beijing and Geneva.
22. Rati Batra
Name
rati Batra
Designation
Founder of YourHR
Founded
2017
Rati Batra – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Rati Batra is an HR strategist and the founder of YourHR; the startup is known for rendering strategic consulting support to start-ups and SMEs. YourHRprovides end-to-end human resource management (HRC) strategic consulting support to businesses. She brings HR and business development expertise to the table.
She attended the GEC Conference 2019 held in Bahrain as part of the Indian delegation, deliberating ways to sustain the entrepreneurial and startup culture. Rati is also working to build a network that celebrates and encourages strong, independent female entrepreneurs.
Aditi Balbir, a young female CEO in India is the founder and CEO of V Resorts – an organization that provides holiday experiences that showcase the real India.
She graduated from ISB (Hyderabad) and the Fuqua School, Duke University. Aditi started her career in finance before establishing V Resorts. V Resorts was her first venture outside of finance in 2014. She received $9 million in two successive rounds of funding from Bedrock Ventures, Seedfund, and RB Investments. She has contributed to building the business from the ground up to carefully curate, develop, and manage unique resort properties in India.
She received the Young Women Business Award for Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs by CNBC TV 18 in 2017, Exceptional Women of Excellence by the Women Economic Forum in 2017, Fortune 100 Most Powerful Women Asia in 2017, and Dell Foundation’s 200 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in the world in 2016.
24. Falguni Nayar
Name
Falguni Nayar
Designation
Founder of Nykaa
Founded
2012
Falguni Nayar – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Falguni Nayar is one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in India and the founder of Nykaa, India’s beauty product retailer. After serving 20 years as a venture investor and merchant with Kotak Mahindra, she suddenly announced her departure to pursue her dream. Nykaa has over 850 brands along with robust content through videos, blogs, and dynamic social media engagement. Running an online business successfully, Nykaa has also introduced 35 physical stores. She is one of the most famous business women in India.
Nykaa has also been a front-runner in bringing international luxury brands to India, giving Indian customers all-encompassing products and services to choose from.
Garima Satija, along with other young women entrepreneurs, founded PoshVine. Before embarking on her journey with PoshVine, Garima gained valuable experience working with Naukri.com and Ozone Media. PoshVine, an online destination curated by young women entrepreneurs, serves as a platform for discovering and booking dining and travel experiences. The venture commenced by bringing together premium restaurants and experimental chefs, all eager to craft distinctive activities for users to enjoy.
PoshVine enables individuals and companies to create experiential packages directly on its site. PoshVine recently adopted a B2B2C approach in its business model. It works with large clients like HDFC Bank, Citibank, Axis Bank, Jaguar, etc. and manages their experiential engagement for affluent customers.
26. Vandana Luthra
Name
vandana Luthra
Designation
Founder of VLCC
Founded
1989
Vandana Luthra – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Mrs Vandana Luthra is the founder of VLCC. VLCC is a globally recognized name in the beauty, health, and fitness industry. Mrs. Luthra had humble beginnings in 1989 with the opening of a beauty and slimming services center in New Delhi. This center ran weight management programs along with cutting-edge skin and hair treatments.
In the year 2013, she was awarded one of India’s topmost honors, the Padma Shri, for her immense contribution to Trade & Industry. She won the Asian Business Leaders Forum Trailblazer Award in 2012, the Enterprise Asia Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010, and the Rajiv Gandhi Award in 2008. She has been featured in the Forbes Asia 2016 list of 50 Power Businesswomen in the APAC region. She has been featured in Fortune magazine’s annual listing of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in India for six years in a row – from 2011 to 2016. She is one of the most successful businesswomen in India. She is one of the top 50 women entrepreneurs in India.
27. Suchi Mukherjee
Name
Suchi Mukherjee
Designation
Founder of LimeRoad
Founded
2012
Suchi Mukherjee – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Suchi Mukherjee founded LimeRoad in 2012. LimeRoad is a social commerce site where products are shared and sold. These offerings are targeted directly toward the women’s community. LimeRoad is the fastest-growing fashion platform today. Suchi Mukherjee studied economics at the School of Cambridge and completed her master’s degree in economics and finance in London. She was part of the early team building out the UK business for eBay, an executive management team member at Skype, andamanaging director at Gumtree.
She was among the 15 women voted for ‘Rising Talent – Global Leaders Under 40’ at the World Women’s Forum in Paris in 2010 for her contributions to scaling businesses encompassing consumer technology.
28. Mansi Gupta
Name
Mansi Gupta
Designation
Founder of Tijori
Founded
2013
Mansi Gupta – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Mansi Gupta is the co-founder of the lifestyle brand ‘Tjori’. Tjori was launched in India in 2013. Tjori is a lifestyle brand with products in the apparel, home, wellness, jewelry, shoes, and bags categories; it recently introduced a mother-and-child catalog. All of these categories follow the richness of Indian handicrafts and the quality of international standards.
She created this brand with the idea of promoting traditional Indian handicrafts imbued with a touch of modernism to fetch them much-needed global recognition. A plan built on the whiteboard of a room in the Wharton University housing complex has now become a global e-commerce website with ever-expanding future plans.
The daughter of an elite clothing tycoon in Jammu, Mansi completed her MBA from the Business School of Cardiff University and has a specialization in the field of finance from the University of Wharton.
The brand is a spitting image of her style and aura. The art and the details of the handicraft are kept intact and enhanced with a modern touch. The products are well-thought-out and only then sold to customers.
Mansi and her employees are determined to build the brand and are dedicated to taking Tjori to global imminence. Mansi Gupta says, “If we don’t have any battles to fight, then the war is lost. A battle will only be won once we stand true to our aims and goals.”
“The transition from an e-commerce website to a walk-in store is Tjori’s next goal, and we aim to win this battle by spreading our stores worldwide. The end goal would be to be the best-selling Indian lifestyle brand on a global platform,” she adds.
29. Vani Kola
Name
Vani Kola
Designation
Founder of Kalaari Capital
Founded
2012
Vani Kola – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Vani Kola is the founder and Managing Director of Kalaari Capital. Kalaari Capital is one of India’s leading early-stage venture capital firms. Vani has successfully led more than 30 investments at Kalaari in e-commerce, gaming, digital content, healthcare, and more. Some of her successes include Dream11, Myntra, Cure.fit, and Snapdeal. Vani is on the board of several companies that are redefining the landscape of Indian business.
Vani Kola has been profiled in numerous books and has been identified as one of Fortune India’s ‘Most Powerful Women in Business.’ She is also supporting various organizations fostering entrepreneurship and women’s leadership.
30. Nisaba Godrej
Name
Nisaba Godrej
Designation
Founder of Godrej Consumer Products
Founded
2001
Nisaba Godrej – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Nisaba is the executive chairperson of Godrej Consumer Products. Nisaba has a bachelor’s in science degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is the key architect of GCPL’s strategy and transformation in the last decade.
Over the last ten years, GCPL’s market capitalization has increased twenty-fold, and GCPL has developed a strong, engaged, and ambitious team. It is consistently ranked among the best places to work.
She has transformed Godrej into a more meritocratic and highly performance-driven organization while retaining the group’s values front and centre. She spearheads the Godrej group’s “good & green” agenda to drive inclusive and sustainable growth.
Ankita Vashistha – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Ankita Vashistha is the founder and chief executive officer of India’s (and Asia’s) first venture capital fund, Saha Fund. Saha Fund promotes and invests in women-led ventures and firms making strides in technology and innovation. Saha Funds has made investments in India, Asia, the UK, and the US.
Ankita, recognized as one of the top businesswomen in India, also collaborates closely with multiple domain experts, industry leaders, and a custom investment team that advises and chairs ventures to help them grow.
32. Aditi Avasthi
Name
Aditi Avasthi
Designation
Founder of Embibe
Founded
2012
Aditi Avasthi – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Aditi Avasthi, one of the successful women in India, is the founder and CEO of Embibe, an educational technology company based in Bangalore. Aditi, who holds an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, leads Embibe with a vision to revolutionize the educational landscape.
Aditi Avasthi, a notable women entrepreneur in India, was awarded ‘Accenture Vaahini Innovator of the Year’ at the inaugural edition of the ETPrime Women Leadership Awards (ETPWLA).
33. Gazal Kalra
Name
Gazal Kalra
Designation
Founder of Rivigo
Founded
2014
Gazal Kalra – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Gazal Kalra co-founded Rivigo, a Gurugram-based logistics startup. Gazal Kalra has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Rivigo, spearheaded by Indian women entrepreneurs, operates on a relay truck model, ensuring that no driver would drive for more than four hours at a stretch, returning home the same day. Recently, Rivigo secured $65 million in funding from Warburg Pincus and SAIF Partners, bringing its total raised capital to $180 million.
34. Manisha Raisinghani
Name
Manisha Raisinghani
Designation
Founder of LogiNext
Founded
2014
Manisha Raisinghani – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Manisha co-founded LogiNext, which helps SaaS companies to manage and optimize logistics and field service operations. Manisha Raisinghani did her master’s in information systems from Carnegie Mellon University. She then worked with Warner Brothers as part of the data analytics team for iTunes. She also worked with IBM in the US before deciding to start LogiNext.
LogiNext is backed by Alibaba-funded Paytm and the Indian Angel Network; it has raised more than $10 Million as an investment to date. LogiNext has achieved exponential success in a very short span of time and is set to exceed 300% in growth by the end of 2020.
35. Sreelakshmi Suresh
Name
Sreelakshmi SUresh
Designation
Founder of eDesign
Founded
2014
Sreelakshmi Suresh – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Sreelakshmi is the youngest woman entrepreneur in India. Sreelakshmi became the youngest web designer-cum-CEO in the world in 2020 at the age of 21. She designed and developed the official website of her school located in Kozhikode (Kerala) when she was only 8 years old. She has many accolades to her name. Sreelakshmi has received many national and international awards.
At the age of 10, she designed and established eDesign, a web designing company that offers SEO, design, and other related services. Sreelakshmi Suresh has developed over 100 websites for renowned institutions and organizations across India.
36. Richa Kar
Name
Akanksha Anshu
Designation
Co-Founder of Zivame
Founded
2011
Ruchi Kar – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Richa Kar commenced her professional journey in the information technology sector. However, upon completion of her Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the esteemed Narsee Monte Institute of Management Studies, she joined the retailer Spencer’s, where the seed for Zivame, a women’s apparel company, was sown. Through her work, Richa identified a gap in the market for an e-commerce lingerie brand and made the decision to invest her personal savings into the establishment of Zivame in 2011.
In May 2012, Richa secured her first investment of US$3 million for Zivame. Subsequently, the company has experienced remarkable growth, expanding its operations to include brick-and-mortar stores alongside its e-commerce business. Presently, Zivame is valued at US$13.6 million and has played an instrumental role in dismantling taboos associated with lingerie shopping in India, ensuring that every woman has access to comfortable products.
37. Tanvi Malik
Name
Tani Malik
Designation
Co-Founder of FabAlley
Founded
2012
Tanvi Malik – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Tanvi Malik is a highly successful entrepreneur who completed her MBA specializing in brand management at MICA, Ahmedabad, back in 2009. She started her career as an assistant brand manager at Titan Industries after graduation. However, in 2012, she took the bold step of leaving her corporate job to launch FabAlley and Indya, two online platforms catering to women’s fashion needs.
Tanvi’s visionary leadership has recently led FabAlley to secure a substantial investment of US$8.54 million from SAIF Partners, enabling the brand’s expansion into offline retail. Her outstanding accomplishments have earned her recognition on several prestigious lists, including Entrepreneur India’s 35 Under 35 in 2019 and Fortune India’s 40 Under 40 in 2021. Tanvi is widely admired for her commitment to promoting inclusivity in Indian women’s fashion and for blending traditional Indian aesthetics with modern styles for the millennial woman. Her impact on the industry is profound, serving as an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs everywhere.
38. Vineeta Singh
Name
Vineeta Singh
Designation
Founder and CEO of Sugar Cosmetics
Founded
2015
Vineeta Singh – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Vineeta Singh‘s professional journey began with internships at ITC and Deutsche Bank, followed by the completion of an MBA at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. Transitioning into senior roles spanning e-learning and HR, she honed her skills across diverse industries. In 2015, Singh took a bold step into entrepreneurship with the establishment of Sugar Cosmetics, which rapidly evolved into a formidable beauty empire. She is one of the top 50 women entrepreneurs in India.
Today, Singh’s entrepreneurial acumen has propelled her to a net worth estimated at $36 million. Her influence extends beyond her business ventures as she takes on the role of an investor on Shark Tank India, where she actively encourages and mentors young Indian women to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, igniting a new era of female empowerment in the Indian business landscape.
Neha’s frustration with choosing the right fitness classes sparked the creation of Fitternity in 2013. With a background spanning finance, risk, and HR, coupled with an MBA from the Wellingkar Institute of Management and Research, Neha saw an opportunity to simplify the fitness journey for others. Today, Fitternity stands as a prominent online booking platform with over 10 million users across its website and app, generating an estimated yearly revenue of $16 million. It has evolved into one of India’s leading fitness search engines, offering a seamless experience for individuals embarking on their fitness endeavours and fostering a sense of community along the way.
Kanika Tekriwal – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Kanika became India’s youngest self-made entrepreneur when she established her aviation startup at just 22. Despite facing significant challenges, including battling cancer just as she was launching JetSetGo, an online platform for booking chartered planes and helicopters, her determination never wavered. Her journey took an unexpected turn when illness struck, setting back her startup plans by a year. However, after overcoming cancer, Kanika poured all her efforts into realizing her vision for JetSetGo. Now, a decade later, her perseverance has paid off handsomely, with a net worth of around US$50 million and recognition on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia list.
Kanika’s story exemplifies resilience and ambition, propelled by her educational background with an MBA in finance from Coventry University in 2011, laying the foundation for her entrepreneurial journey. Despite facing setbacks early on, her unwavering determination and focus propelled her towards success. Today, her startup stands as a testament to her tenacity, marking her as a shining example in the world of entrepreneurship and inspiring others to overcome obstacles on their path to achievement.
41. Naiyya Saggi
Name
Naiyaa Saggi
Designation
Founder of BabyChakra and Co-Founder of The Good Glamm Group
Founded
2015 and 2021
Naiyya Saggi – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Naiyya Saggi pursued her MBA at Harvard Business School in 2012 through a Fulbright Scholarship, shifting gears from her role as a business analyst at McKinsey to delve into entrepreneurship. She kickstarted her journey with BabyChakra, an online community catering to mothers, in 2015, followed by the establishment of The Good Glamm Group in 2021. The Good Glamm Group swiftly ascended to unicorn status in the Indian beauty commerce sector the same year, boasting a valuation of $1.2 billion. Today, both of Naiyya’s ventures thrive in synergy, with The Good Glamm Group exhibiting an impressive annual growth rate of 12% while BabyChakra stands as a prominent platform offering invaluable parenting resources and support in India.
Finding decent, safe, and budget-friendly accommodation in India can often be a daunting task, particularly for students and professionals. Recognizing this common struggle, Sneha Choudary, along with her partners Dr. Nikhil Sikri and Akhil Sikri, seized the opportunity to address this need. They founded ZoloStays, a platform dedicated to providing hassle-free, long-term stay options that are both affordable and professionally managed.
ZoloStays has transformed the landscape of accommodation in India for young individuals, experiencing remarkable success in just nine years of operation. By offering fully managed accommodations that are easy to book, the platform has become a million-dollar enterprise, catering to the needs of students and professionals alike and significantly simplifying the process of finding quality housing in the country.
43. Divya Gokulnath
Name
Divya Gokulnath
Designation
Co-Founder of BYJU’S
Founded
2011
Divya Gokulnath – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Divya Gokulnath, alongside her husband Byju Raveendran, co-founded BYJU’S, a prominent educational technology company in India. Their shared passion for education and technology led them to develop an innovative learning app that offers personalized online learning experiences for students of various ages. Through their dedication, BYJU’S has emerged as a global leader in ed-tech, transforming traditional learning methods and reaching millions of students worldwide.
Divya’s unwavering vision and tireless efforts have propelled BYJU’S to international acclaim, establishing it as a powerhouse in education technology. Her commitment to providing accessible and effective learning solutions has garnered widespread recognition, contributing to BYJU’S substantial user base and global impact. Through their collaborative efforts, Divya and Byju continue to revolutionize education, empowering students with engaging and personalized learning experiences.
44. Swati Bhargava
Name
Swati Bhargava
Designation
Co-Founder of CashKaro
Founded
2013
Swati Bhargava – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Swati Bhargava, co-founder of CashKaro, has played a pivotal role in revolutionizing the e-commerce landscape in India. The inception of CashKaro stemmed from Swati and her husband’s personal experience of saving money while booking their honeymoon tickets through a cashback website. Motivated by this, they embarked on the journey to establish a similar platform tailored for the Indian market in 2013.
Under the astute leadership of Swati, one of the leading women entrepreneurs of India, CashKaro has flourished into India’s premier cashback and coupon site. Their platform offers users the opportunity to earn cashback on a diverse array of online purchases from partnered retailers. This innovative approach to saving money has resonated with both men and women, making CashKaro a go-to money-saving solution for millions of users, and further solidifying Swati’s reputation as a trailblazer in the business world. Through her leadership, CashKaro has empowered countless individuals to make smarter financial decisions while indulging in online shopping.
Radhika Ghai Aggarwal – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Radhika Ghai Aggarwal is a prominent female entrepreneur whose innovative ventures have garnered her recognition as one of India’s top 10 women entrepreneurs. Among her notable successes is ShopClues, an online marketplace launched in 2011 to serve the varied requirements of Indian consumers. Initially comprising a modest team of 10 individuals, the company steadily expanded its workforce and customer base. Presently valued at $1.1 billion, ShopClues stands as one of India’s most prosperous indigenous online marketplaces.
In addition to her accomplishments with ShopClues, Radhika Ghai Aggarwal ventured into establishing Kindlife in 2021. Kindlife is an online platform specializing in organic products that is gaining significant traction within the market. Radhika’s entrepreneurial acumen has not only fueled the success of her ventures but has also contributed to the advancement of e-commerce in India, solidifying her status as one of the most famous women entrepreneurs in India and a trailblazer in the business world.
46. Indra Nooyi
Name
Indra Nooyi
Designation
Chairperson and CRO of PepsiCo
Founded
2006
Indra Nooyi – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Indra Nooyi is an Indo-American businesswoman who served as the Chairperson and CRO of PepsiCo from 2006-2018. It was under her leadership that PepsiCo’s revenue shot up by 80%. She was the focal point in shifting the company’s focus towards healthier products with sustainable initiatives. Her reclassification of PepsiCo’s products into categories of – ‘fun for you’ (regular soda and potato chips), ‘better for you’ (low-fat versions of drinks and snacks), and ‘good for you’ (healthier items such as oatmeal) helped create a positive impact of the brand in the minds of people.
Nooyi consistently ranks among the world’s most powerful and influential women. She was ranked 13 on the Forbes list in 2014 and the second most powerful woman on the Fortune list both in 2015 and 2017. Indra also sits on the board of Amazon Inc. and the International Cricket Council.
47. Ritu Kumar
Name
Ritu Kumar
Designation
Founder, Ritu Kumar
Founded
1969
Ritu Kumar – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Considered to be one of the pioneers of Indian fashion, Ritu Kumar launched her label in 1969 in Kolkata. She began her fashion business using two small tables and hand-block printing techniques. Initially, she started with bridal wear and evening clothes and later moved into the international market. Renowned for using traditional textiles and craftsmanship, she blends the modern with the old. She has been one of the pivotal figures in reviving India’s rich artisanal heritage and bringing it to the global limelight. Her company’s annual turnover was estimated to be around INR 10 billion. Her clothes have been worn by celebrities such as Late Princess Diana, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Jemima Goldsmith, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Deepika Padukone, and more.
Roshni Nadar Malhotra – Top Business Women in India
The current Chairperson of HCL Technologies, she is the first woman to lead a listed IT company in India. She is the only child of Shiv Nadar, the HCL Group Founder and billionaire. In 2019, and 2024, she was ranked 54th and 60th on the Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. According to the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List (2019), she is the wealthiest woman in India, with an estimated net worth of $42 billion as of October 2024. In 2023, she was ranked as the 60th of the World’s Most Powerful Women per Forbes.
In addition to her corporate prowess, she is involved in multiple philanthropic initiatives, including the conservation and education of children across India.
Radhika Aggarwal – Top Women Entrepreneurs in India
Radhika Aggarwal is one of the first female co-founders of a unicorn startup, ShopClues, an online marketplace. Aggarwal was a part of the marketing teams for brands such as Nordstrom and Goldman Sachs. She has over 14 years of experience in diverse sectors such as retail, lifestyle, fashion, and eCommerce in the USA. Some awards she has won over the years are Outlook Business Woman of Worth at Outlook Business Awards, Woman Entrepreneur of the Year at Entrepreneur India Awards, Exemplary Woman Entrepreneur of the Year at CMO Asia Awards, and CEO of the Year Award at CEO India Awards in 2016 alone.
Radhika has been a trailblazer in the eCommerce sector and has empowered both small and medium businesses with a platform to reach out to a broader customer base.
The prominent Indian entrepreneur, Shahnaz Husain, is known for her herbal cosmetics brand, Shahnaz Husain Group. Founded by her in 1970, Shahnaz has dedicated her life to popularizing Ayurvedic beauty treatments globally. She has received international recognition for reviving Herbal beauty care and taking the Indian heritage of Ayurveda global. In 2006, she received the Padma Shri from the Government of India for her contribution to the field of trade and commerce. In 2012, she won the Outstanding Ayurvedic Innovation Award in London and the Olympia Asia Award for Outstanding Contribution in Ayurveda and Plant Cosmetics in London.
Husain’s commitment to natural products has made her a household name and a pioneer in the Indian beauty industry.
Khushboo Jain – Young Women Entrepreneurs in India
Khushboo Jain, one of the youngest business woman in India is the co-founder and COO of ImpactGuru, a crowdfunding platform launched in 2014. The platform focuses on the healthcare sector and raises funds for medical issues and social causes. She has been crucial in providing funding to those in need by making healthcare easily accessible to all. Khushboo has received recognition from multiple organizations, such as the Fortune 40 uner 40 list and the National Commission for Minorities in India. In 2019, she was among the Top 15 women entrepreneurs at the United Nations Women Transforming India Award & Niti Aayog. Her idea for ImpactGuru came at a time when 65%-70% of the middle-class population did not have insurance. She was driven by the idea of making healthcare more affordable and accessible for everyone in India.
Sairee Chahal founded and is the CEO of the women-only social network Sheroes in 2014. The platform is a support group, opportunity provider, and resource finder for women at multiple stages of their careers. Founded in 2014 as a helpline, SHEROES has since emerged as a social network dedicated to women. Users can bridge the gender gap, interact, and grow. Sairee created the platform as a safe space for women to share, connect, and grow professionally and personally.
Sairee also founded Mahila Money, a small loans agency for women micro-entrepreneurs. Women can receive funding from INR 10,000 to INR 2,00,000 and get approval within 48 hours. Even if they are rejected, they can stay in the community to learn more about their financial abilities. Currently, Mahila Money has partnered with over 60 women-focused organizations to help them gain more trust.
Ankiti Bose is the CEO and co-founder of Zilingo, the fashion and lifestyle eCommerce platform launched in 2015. She is considered to be one of the youngest female CEOs who leads a startup worth over a billion dollars. Ankiti was featured in Forbes Asia as 30 under 30 in 2018 and as 40 over 40 in 2019. The idea for Zilingo was born after she visited Chatuchak Weekend Market, where Ankiti noticed immense room for penetration and growth. She realized that while people were slowly moving online, retailers were not trained financially or digitally to compete with global players. In 2019, Zilingo raised $226 million in Series D funding. She is one of the most successful women in India.
Ankiti’s vision has changed Zilingo into a global platform that empowers small manufacturers and retailers in the fashion industry.
Indians need to learn from these role models. Their ventures and initiatives are more than just a source of profit. The ladies covered in this post are some of the most successful women entrepreneurs in India and demonstrate the results of creativity and innovation. Gender is not a deterrent to achieving success.
Hope this post has incited the hidden entrepreneur in you!
FAQs
Who is the first youngest woman entrepreneur in India?
Sreelakshmi Suresh is the first youngest woman entrepreneur in India.
Who is the first woman entrepreneur in India?
Kalpana Saroj is the first woman entrepreneur in India. She is the Chairman of Kamani Tubes.
How to become a businesswoman in India?
If you are wondering to stand as a successful businesswoman in India, then these are a few tips that you can keep handy:
Research about your field
Be confident
Be organized
Network with people
Find a mentor
Analyze your customers
Stay updated always
Be positive
Who are the top 10 female entrepreneurs in India?
The top 10 young female entrepreneurs in India are:
Anisha Singh
Shradha Sharma
Upasana Taku
Falguni Nayar
Vandana Luthra
Ghazal Alagh
Suchi Mukherjee
Kiran Shaw
Neeru Sharma
Nisaba Godrej
Who is the richest female entrepreneur in India?
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the founder of Biocon is the richest female entrepreneur in India.
Who are the most popular female entrepreneurs in India?
Some of the most popular female entrepreneurs in India are:
Falguni Nayar
Vandana Luthra
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Ghazal Alagh
Indra Nooyi
Suchi Mukherjee
Aditi Gupta
Vani Kola
Radhika Ghai Aggarwal
Supriya Paul
Malini Agarwal
Who are the most powerful women in India today?
According to the 2021 list, the most powerful women of India list consists of:
Nirmala Sitharaman
Nita Ambani
Soumya Swaminathan
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Suchitra Ella
Who are the top female entrepreneurs in the world?
Here’s the list of the top female entrepreneurs in the world:
When we look at a business, one of the reasons behind its success and survival is definitely hard work and persistence. The same goes for a relationship, if you want it to last long, you need to make efforts and give your best, that’s how it works. People say that your significant other is your biggest form of strength and support, when you are building your business from the scratch, this strength and support can be of great help.
Nothing can be better than your life partner becoming your business partner. The trust, mutual respect, and the level of communication that is needed between business partners are already present in the relationship between real-life partners. Both of them are familiar with each other and their working style and know quite well what fuels their passion.
In this article, we will talk about famous couples in business together, and with their hearts and brains, they are conquering the business world. So let’s get right into it.
“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” – Vince Lombardi
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh
One of the most successful personal care product brands, Mamaearth was introduced by the dynamic duo of Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh in 2016. While expecting their baby at that time, both the couple decided to launch personal care products for babies when they realized, there was a limited number of chemical-free products present in the market.
Now the brand is not only for babies but is making products for everyone. The ingredients used to make the products are all-natural and plant-based and right was the first unicorn of 2022 with its valuation of $1.2 Billion.
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee
Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee started SUGAR Cosmetics in 2012. They wanted to make long-lasting makeup for young people in India. Their products suit Indian skin tones, weather, and lifestyle. Vineeta and Kaushik are one of the most successful business couples in India.
Today, SUGAR Cosmetics sells on its website, big online stores like Nykaa and Myntra, and in many shops and pop-ups across India. It has become a top makeup brand that is affordable and popular. Vineeta Singh is also seen as an investor on Shark Tank India.
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Shubra Chadda and Vivek Prabhakar
This 2010 venture that deals with fashion and home décor products was founded by the couple Shubra Chadda and Vivek Prabhakar. The amount of courage to set their dream company they showed was immeasurable; they sold their apartment in Bangalore to establish Chumbak and struggled together to be where they are now. The company now has over 44 stores in India that sell a variety of lifestyles related products. The current value of the company is $30 Million.
Shikhar Singh & Nidhi Singh – Samosa Singh
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Shikhar Singh & Nidhi Singh
Probably the most loved Indian snack in the country, Samosa has an immense fan following. It is not at all different for Nidhi Singh and Shikhar Singh as well. The couple decides to form Samosa Singh in 2015, a Samosa snack brand that offers different regional varieties of the said snack to its customers.
By using fresh and hygienic ingredients while making the food item, it has able to grasp the attention of the mass. They sold their apartment for a big kitchen so that they can cater to the orders of the corporate world. The sacrifice was definitely worth it as now the valuation of the company is $7.26 Million.
Rohan Bhargava & Swati Bhargava – CashKaro
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Rohan Bhargava and Swati Bhargava
Friends turned life partners; Swati and Rohan founded CashKaro in the year 2013 and since then have never looked back. It is a platform that deals with coupons and cashback. The platform provides its customers with coupons that help them get discounts and cashback while shopping online.
People while shopping from popular E-commerce sites like Myntra, Flipkart, Amazon can use these coupons. The valuation of CashKaro is $2.2 Billion.
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Anand Shahani and Mehak Sagar
WedMeGood is a platform that helps you organise your wedding, from finding photographers to setting up the perfect wedding venue and getting the best makeup artist for your big day, this platform does everything. Founded by the couple Anand Shahani and Mehak Sagar in 2014, the headquarters of the company is situated in Haryana, India.
Bipin Preet Singh & Upasana Taku – MobiKwik
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku
This payment service provider online platform was founded in the year 2009 by the married couple Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku. The platform helps in booking tickets, recharging, paying bills for electricity and other services. Its vision was to transform the landscape of digital payments in India and it has been successfully doing that for a long time. Currently, the valuation of MobiKwik is $700 to $750 Million.
Arjun Shetty & Rati Shetty – BankBazaar
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Arjun Shetty and Rati Shetty
BankBazaar was founded by the childhood sweethearts and married couple Arjun Shetty and Rati Shetty in 2008. This fintech company helps people compare offers related to debit cards, credit cards loans, mutual funds, and others with different banking and non-banking financial companies. The current value of BankBazaar is $280 Million.
Bhavna Anand Sharma & Siddhesh Sharma – Cureveda
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Siddesh Sharma and Bhavna Anand Sharma
This company is mainly focused on solving some common illnesses like diabetes, thyroid, and heart-related problems. In 2014, the married couple Bhavna Anand Sharma and Siddhesh Sharma joined hands and started Cureveda which creates herbal supplements to solve common health-related problems. Various ranges of dietary and herbal supplements are produced for customers that are 100% Vegetarian.
Kuonal Lakhapati & Aayushi Lakhapati – Upnourish
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Kuonal Lakhapati & Aayushi Lakhapati
Upnourish is a meal replacement product venture. It is mumbai based Health & Wellness startups that enables people to eat healthy yet low on calories meal in their busy life schedules. Upnourish aims to make health and nutritional food easily available and convenient to all aspirational people with busy lifestyle so that they do not have to compromise on their health goals.
Naina Ruhail & Prateek Ruhail – Vanity Wagon
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Naina Ruhail & Prateek Ruhail
Vanity Wagon (‘VW’) is India’s first and largest clean beauty marketplace. One of the finest information-oriented beauty marketplaces, that pledges to bring only toxin-free and natural beauty products to its consumers. VW offers a trust-worthy platform where one of the most requested elements between a business and a customer, i.e, transparency would be paramount of our relationship. Be it beauty or personal care, it swears by to bring the safest solutions to your doorstep without any hassle. VW stands by the rule of never having to compromise in any manner to find the right products for our customers. It believes in sustainable beauty and stands firm in its mission to educate the audience and deliver what’s best for them. It is curating the best of clean beauty without compromising on efficiency and ensuring that the products are cruelty-free. Prior to onboarding any brand, it always check whether the brand is certified- cruelty-free by PETA and safe-to-use by ECOCERT or other recognized institutions.
Aarti Gill & Mihir Gadani – OZiva
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Aarti Gill & Mihir Gadani
A spouse can be a life partner and a business partner at the same time. Valentine’s Day is all about signifying appreciation and love for one’s significant other. Like building and maintaining a relationship, business partnerships also hinge on chemistry between co-founders, trust, and effective communication. When life partners start a business together, there is a good compatibility which in turn helps the business grow because life partners understand each other the most out of anyone in this world.
The Indian startup ecosystem is buzzing with new startups every day, growing on the back of rising undertakings of capital interest. With the progress in the number of startups, love has found its way, in the form of a couple’s journey to build a successful business together. Their shared familiarity and values along with both their working styles can become powerful tools in fueling the passion for business.
These husband-wife entrepreneur duos have come together and made the most of their shared effective communication and trust in running a business successfully. Take a look at emerging Indian and popular brands started by couplepreneurs.
India’s first certified clean-label active plant based nutrition and wellness brand, OZiva was launched in 2016 by Aarti Gill and Mihir Gadani as co-founders. The brand is India’s first certified Clean Label Brand that offers an inspirational range of holistic plant-based nutrition, beauty and health products along with a fully digitized ecosystem intended to enable millions of Indians people towards living a healthier and better life. OZiva offers an inspirational range of holistic plant-based nutrition, beauty and health products. The brand recently launched the OZiva Clean Beauty Range and Kids Nutrition Range as well. Aarti’s technical and marketing wizardry alongside her youthful disposition and passion towards health & fitness along with Mihir true believer of combining the different aspects of Yoga, Ayurveda & Functional Fitness for optimal health, has been the driving force behind the rise of OZiva.
Sandeep Singh & Nikki Singh Arora – Blue Tribe
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Nikki Singh Arora & Sandeep Singh
According to husband-wife duo Sandeep Singh and Nikki Singh Arora – the founders of Blue Tribe, the will to raise their daughter in a greener environment inspired them to build Blue Tribe as a one-of-a-kind food-tech company, which brings out plant based alternate meats like Chicken Keema, Chicken Nuggets, Mutton Keema, Chicken Momos, Chicken Sausage, etc. Through BlueTribe, they strive to arouse a lifestyle change in non-vegetarian food lovers so that everyone can take a conscious step towards healing the green planet. Their vision is to offer the perfect alternative of meat-based food items made entirely from plant-based ingredients. The best part is, these modernistic plant-based meat products are similar in taste, texture and quality and thus offer a genuine chance for meat lovers to choose a relatively more sustainable and eco-friendly substitute without compromising anything.
Nidhi Yadav & Satpal Yadav – AKS Clothing
Top Couple Entrepreneurs in India – Nidhi Yadav & Satpal Yadav
A Yuvdhi Apparels Private Limited brand, AKS Clothing, was started in 2014 by a hitched couple, Nidhi Yadav and Satpal Yadav. AKS clothing is renowned for its great taste in design and long-lasting material quality and has been the pinnacle of beautiful, graceful, and stylish women’s attire. The AKS clothing line comprises the best and most fashionable fabrics available.
Conclusion
When your significant other becomes your business partner, starting with your dreams become much more interesting because they are familiar with their working styles and characteristics.
Finding a perfect business partner can be quite a tough job but if it is your life partner, the difficult path may not become easier but you will definitely get the courage to face the upcoming challenges. The above couple entrepreneurs proved that the couple that hustles together, reach the peak of success together.
FAQs
Can a couple start a business?
If a couple starts a business, it might turn out to be a dream job, as they already have the required bond and mutual respect that is needed between business partners.
Who are some of the top successful couple entrepreneurs?
Varun Alagh & Ghazal Alagh, Shubra Chadda & Vivek Prabhakar, Shikhar Singh & Nidhi Singh, and Bipin Preet Singh & Upasana Taku are some of the successful entrepreneurs.
Who is Aarti Gill husband?
Mihir Gadani is the husband of Aarti Gill. They have founded OZiva company.
What can be the best business for husband and wife to start?
A husband and wife can start a business that matches their skills and interests. Some great options include a café or bakery if they love cooking, an online store for fashion or handmade products, a consulting business in their expertise, or a content creation venture like blogging or YouTube. They can also explore franchise businesses, event planning, or a fitness studio. The key is to choose something they enjoy and can manage together efficiently.
The Feast of Saint Valentine, commonly known as Saint Valentine’s Day or Valentine’s Day, is celebrated on February 14 every year. It began as a Christian feast day commemorating a martyr named Valentine. Through succeeding folk traditions, it has evolved into a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of love and affection in many parts of the world.
The occasion is believed to have originated with the Roman festival of Lupercalia, which takes place in the middle of February. The celebration marked the arrival of spring with fertility rites and a lottery pairing of women with men.
The popularity of the online world at the turn of the twenty-first century has resulted in the formation of new traditions. Each year, millions of people send and create Valentine’s Day greetings through digital means, such as printable postcards, gift certificates, and digital greeting cards. Some people consider Valentine’s Day a Hallmark holiday because of its increasing commercialization.
Valentine’s Day is more than just offering chocolates and flowers; it’s also a perfect opportunity for companies to showcase their creativity and appeal to people’s feelings. Marketers take advantage of the gift-giving custom by positioning their products as the best gifts for loved ones. They employ social media, email marketing, and commercials to urge customers to express love.
Valentine’s Day offers an incredible opportunity for businesses to connect with customers on an emotional level and drive sales through targeted marketing strategies. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns that have made an eternal impact on buyers.
Zepto Valentine’s Day Ad Campaign – Gifts for Every Love Story
Zepto celebrates Valentine’s Day 2025 with its ad campaign, “Gifts for Every Love Story,” offering a variety of gifts for couples. The campaign highlights how Zepto makes finding the perfect gift more convenient. Zepto also released a song, “Teri Nazar Ka Jaadu,” which has quickly gained popularity on social media, with fans asking for a full version. The ad campaign simply revives the nostalgic charm of ad jingles, creating a new love anthem for 2025.
IGP’s Amazing Gifts, Samay Par Ad Campaign
IGP Amazing Gifts, Samay Par Ad Campaign for Valentine’s Day
IGP’s Valentine’s Day ad for 2025 takes us to the beginning of love, where grand gestures and simple acts spark romance. The film mixes classic love with a modern twist, featuring gifts like rose bouquets, teddy bouquets, and chocolate bouquets. A fun nod to Indian waiters rapping menus adds a playful touch. With its charming storytelling and heartwarming message, IGP reminds us that love, no matter the era, is best expressed with the perfect gift at the perfect moment.
Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk’s AI Love Stories Campaign
Cadbury Silk Valentine’s Day Ad Campaign
Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk collaborated with renowned director Zoya Akhtar to create customized animated love stories for customers with the help of generative AI technology. Consumers could scan the QR code on the chocolate, fill in a series of questions about their relationship, and receive their very own animated film. This is an innovative approach that lets these couples witness how personal moments evolve into heartwarming tales in which technology and emotion meld to make the experience even more special and worthy of celebration.
Flipkart’s Gift Seeding Campaign
Flipkart’s Gift Seeding Valentine’s Marketing Ad Campaign
E-commerce giant Flipkart launched the “Gift Seeding” campaign to assist individuals in selecting the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for their partners. By utilizing subtle retargeting techniques, Flipkart dropped natural hints about personal preferences, addressing common challenges faced by couples in choosing meaningful gifts. This innovative approach aimed to bring partners closer by simplifying the gifting process and ensuring thoughtful presents.
Cadbury 5 Star’s Valentine’s Day Alibi Campaign
Cadbury 5 Star Valentine’s Day Alibi Campaign
The Cadbury 5 Star presented “Valentine’s Day Alibi, allowing customers to not spend Valentine’s Day in romance-encumbering hype. As for the concept, the campaigns supplied creative alibis which can be made as excuses; they allowed some individuals to ‘get out of Valentine’s’ day obligations. This lighthearted approach resonated with audiences seeking a break from traditional celebrations.
TheMan Company introduced the “#CountingLove” campaign, highlighting various forms of love beyond romantic relationships. The campaign showcased love through shared experiences, laughter, vulnerability, and imperfections, encouraging consumers to appreciate all dimensions of love in their lives.
CaratLane’s Khul Ke Karo Express campaign
CaratLane’s Khul Ke Karo Express campaign encouraged people to openly express their love beyond just romantic relationships. The campaign featured real customer-inspired stories, showcasing heartfelt moments between a father and daughter, a husband and wife, and a son and mother. By highlighting self-gifting, sibling-gifting, and mother-daughter gifting alongside traditional spouse gifting, the campaign redefined Valentine’s Day. With an exclusive message card featuring a QR code for personalized notes, CaratLane made gifting even more special, blending emotions with technology.
Swiggy’s Table for 2 Valentine’s Day Marketing Ad Campaign
Swiggy launched a heartwarming campaign focusing on the timeless nature of love. It focused on a couple aged 60 plus, Shailja and Pradeep, and spoke of their continuing love and companionship. It helped the audiences understand that it’s never too old to love by telling a love story between an elderly couple.
IGP’s Valentine’s Day Collaboration with Ananya Panday
IGP, an e-gifting retailer, associated with Bollywood star Ananya Panday for Valentine’s Day to talk about the idea of gifting and to drive consumers to love unique, personalized presents and thoughtful gifts. It is using celebrity influence and connecting with young audiences seeking unique gift ideas.
Rebel Foods’ Brands Celebrate Love Through Food
Rebel Foods, the parent brand behind one of India’s most loved brands, including Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story Pizza, Faasos, and Wendy’s India, kicked off special campaigns for Valentine’s Day. Every brand designed unique offerings and promotions to make the day a memorable one for their customer, all focusing on the theme of love through culinary experiences.
Pandora
Real Couples Explain What Valentine’s Day Means to Them
Pandora is a Danish jewelry manufacturer and retailer created by Per Enevoldsen in 1982. The company began as a family-owned jewelry shop in Copenhagen, Denmark. With the help of excellent production capabilities in Thailand and third-party distributors, Pandora was able to quickly grow its market presence over the following years, moving from a Scandinavian network to an international marketing and sales platform.
Pandora’s Valentine’s Day advertisement includes authentic stories from real couples, allowing viewers to connect with varied representations of love and relationships. This shifts the emphasis away from commercialized ideals and toward personalized encounters. It successfully employed storytelling to elicit an emotional response, inspiring viewers to consider how they can express their feelings through Pandora’s offerings.
Cadbury India – The ‘mush’ detector!
5 Star Mush Detector
Owned by Mondelēz International, Cadbury is a worldwide candy manufacturer based in Britain. It is the world’s second-largest confectionery brand after Mars. Established in Birmingham, England, in 1824 by John Cadbury, the company is well-known for its Dairy Milk chocolate, the Creme Egg and Roses selection box, and many other confectionery items.
The brand’s latest campaign aims to help singles navigate the romantic atmosphere leading up to Valentine’s Day without having to deal with overly committed couples. To assist them, they launched the Mush Detector web tool, which is designed to detect regions with high amounts of romantic activity, often known as areas to avoid. The Mush Detector is also compatible with mobile phones thanks to its AR technology. Users only need to aim their cameras at any spot to find out if it qualifies as “mushy.”
The McDonald’s Corporation, also known as McDonald’s, is one of the world’s biggest and most recognizable fast-food chains. It is well-known for its burgers, French fries, and branded sandwiches, including the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, and Egg McMuffin, and it is also famous for its welcoming to children Happy Meal. Since its humble beginnings as a drive-in restaurant in the 1940s, McDonald’s has gone through multiple transformative phases, each defined by pioneering innovations, milestones, and occasions of controversy.
McDonald’s Valentine’s Day Campaign tries to illustrate that everything important in life starts with something small. The two people in this advertisement spark a conversation over a simple cup of coffee that brings the advertisement to a warm and slightly romantic conclusion. The advertisement conveys that McDonald’s is an ideal spot for individuals to connect and make fresh connections. It also seamlessly promotes its buy one, get one free offer.
Ferrero Rocher
Ferrero Rocher is a chocolate and hazelnut confectionery made by the Italian business Ferrero, which Michele Ferrero founded. Every year, over 3.6 billion Ferrero Rochers are sold in 42 countries.
Ferrero Rocher’s Valentine’s Day campaign, created in collaboration with Indian actor Hrithik Roshan, seeks to inspire people to express their love by presenting the decadent Ferrero Rocher chocolate. The chocolates are positioned as the ideal gift for expressing love, with gold representing elegance and value.
The Big Table is the company behind the network of Italian American-themed restaurants in the UK called Frankie & Benny’s, also known as Frankie’s. In 1995, the first Frankie & Benny’s eatery opened.
The Italian restaurant chain used Instagram to publish a carousel post featuring an ongoing series of movie re-enactments. With hits ranging from “Lady and the Tramp” to “When Harry Met Sally,” Frankies and Benny attempted to grab attention and win over new fans. The selection of romantic films positioned Frankie and Benny’s as an ideal location for Valentine’s Day or other date nights. The re-enactments included items from Frankie and Benny’s menu, subtly promoting their food offerings.
Toblerone – The Love Insurance
Best Valentine’s Day Marketing Campaigns – Toblerone
In 1868, Swiss chocolatier Jean Tobler built his first confectionery shop. A year later, once his business was successful, he made a chocolate factory in Bern and received credit for producing this fantastic treat.
Toblerone launched the Love Insurance Valentine’s Day Campaign in 2023, encouraging individuals to enter relationships without fear of where it might go. Chocolate lovers can visit Toblerone.co.uk to purchase the limited-edition bar of chocolate that comes with its insurance and receive their own “Love Insurance.” If things don’t work out, they can still enjoy a bar of Toblerone even if their partner doesn’t work out. Register the purchase with @TobleroneUK on Instagram, and they’ll receive an online voucher to use later.
IKEA- Everlasting Love
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY – IKEA Valentine’s Day Ad Campaign
IKEA, now legally headquartered in the Netherlands, was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad and has been the world’s largest furniture retailer since 2008. It is a Swedish multinational business that manufactures and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances, decorations, home accessories, and other products and services.
This IKEA ad celebrates enduring love while transporting us to the beautiful country of Sweden. This love is founded on differences, little disagreements, and the happiness a long-term relationship will bring. IKEA products are discreetly incorporated into the couple’s daily lives in the commercial, demonstrating how the company can help maintain a cozy and contented household throughout a long-term relationship.
Brittania Little Hearts
Break Some Hearts Song – Britannia’s Valentine’s Day Marketing Campaign
Britannia was founded in Kolkata in 1892 with a Rs 295 capital and is now a household name in India and one of the country’s largest food business enterprises. Their operations span more than 80 countries worldwide, with their primary businesses being in the bakery, dairy, and adjacent snacking areas.
The commercial, which features Mumbai-based rapper Kaam Bhaari and actor Ahsaas Channa, empowers customers and reminds them that taking love too seriously is unhealthy. It employs humor and an entertaining tone that challenges the conventional association of Valentine’s Day with romantic love, emphasizing personal happiness and the importance of making happy memories regardless of relationship status.
Tinder and Spotify – Valentine’s Day Playlist
Tinder x Spotify – Valentine’s Day Playlist | Valentine’s Day Campaign
Tinder and Spotify appeal to young people who use dating apps and music streaming services, making them the perfect fit for a Valentine’s Day campaign.
Tinder discovered that adding an anthem to a user’s dating profile improves their swiping experience and leads to more matches. They thus collaborated with Spotify in 2021 to create playlists of popular podcasts and songs with a love theme in honor of Valentine’s Day. This was also positive for Spotify, which saw a 49% rise in love-themed global listeners over the previous year. This ad was undoubtedly successful, proving that matching two apps can have the same benefits as matching two individuals.
This ad exemplifies the value of strategic alliances and leveraging data insights to generate personalized client experiences. Both brands saw success through understanding their target market and working creatively together.
Valentine’s Day began as a Christian feast day commemorating a martyr named Valentine. Through succeeding folk traditions, it has evolved into a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of love and affection in many parts of the world.
Which are the best Valentine’s Day campaigns?
Some of the best Valentine’s Day campaigns names include:
Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk’s AI Love Stories Campaign
Valentine’s Day is all about meaningful connections, and for D2C brands, building strong customer relationships is just as important. Today, customers highly value the idea of personalisation, and it plays a key role in keeping them loyal.
While loyalty programs, referral incentives, and community engagement are essential in retention, not every strategy works the same for every brand. So, what truly drives long-term customer relationships? And where should brands focus in 2025?
To gain insights into this, StartupTalky connected with D2C founders and asked them to share their thoughts on the latest trends and winning strategies that help brands stay ahead and keep customers coming back. Here’s what they had to say!
Industry Trends Shaping Customer Loyalty in D2C
Akanksha Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO of CITTA, shared her insights around the evolving trends in D2C, stating, “A major trend in 2025 will be immersive digital experiences that seamlessly integrate tech with human touch to win customer loyalty.”
She highlighted the evolving D2C market, with key trends such as hyper-personalisation, AI-driven automation, and community-led brand experiences. Sustainability and ethical sourcing are also gaining momentum as conscious consumerism influences purchasing decisions. Additionally, AI-powered chatbots and gamification in loyalty programs are enhancing customer engagement.
For Sharma, customer loyalty comes down to value, consistency, and the overall experience. At CITTA, they focus on creating a personalised purchase journey and building strong community connections. Looking ahead to 2025, the brand aims to emphasise comprehensive engagement and create memorable experiences, rather than simply offering transactional deals.
The Role of Personalisation in D2C Success
Mani Tyagi, Co-founder & Hair Extension Expert at Gemeria Hair, discussed the role of personalisation in the D2C sector, emphasising that “Personalisation is the game-changer in today’s competitive D2C landscape.”
He explained that customers yearn for unique and tailor-made experiences and for that, he recommended customer data segmentation to show more personalised product recommendations, exclusive offers, and content that talks directly to a need. This approach helps build deeper connections and trust with customers.
Tyagi also noted that emerging trends like AI-powered customisation and dynamic pricing are making personalisation even more impactful, offering real-time, relevant experiences. Looking ahead to 2025, he believes brands will need to leverage AI and data analytics to create smooth, engaging personalisation that makes customers feel truly understood and valued.
Natasha Tuli, Co-Founder & CEO of Soulflower, emphasised that customer retention is not just about transactions—it’s about creating emotional connections that keep customers coming back. She said, “Loyalty is earned when customers feel seen, heard, and valued.”
At Soulflower, their Smile Loyalty Program focuses on rewarding advocacy with exclusive perks, referral incentives, and creating a sense of community through education and user-generated content. Tuli highlighted that looking ahead to 2025, the brand will focus on value-driven retention strategies, offering personalised experiences, early access to new launches, and ultra-fast delivery within 10 minutes across metros.
This approach shows that customer retention is not just a strategy, but the heart of D2C brands’ business model, ensuring every interaction feels effortless, rewarding, and deeply personal.
“For us, customer retention isn’t just a strategy—it’s at the heart of everything we do,” said Tuli.
Building Strong Connections and Memorable Experiences for Customers
Mahipal Singh, Founder and CEO of Revaa, shared his thoughts on retaining loyal customers, stating that “Meaningful connections made through community involvement, referral bonuses, and loyalty programs are crucial for D2C brands to retain customers.”
He explained that Revaa’s approach focuses on building trust through exclusive deals, informative materials, and a thriving community. Singh also highlighted that consumers today value more than just products; they resonate with brands that genuinely understand them, build meaningful connections, and contribute to a larger purpose.
Looking to 2025, he believes brands will need to focus on seamless digital experiences, sustainability, and hyperpersonalization.
When discussing memorable customer experiences, he emphasised that quality products and outstanding customer service are key. Singh suggested that D2C companies can keep coming up with new ideas, make online buying easier, offer tailored product recommendations, and promptly enhance customer support. Revaa’s focus is on offering tailored recommendations and enhancing customer support to create long-term relationships.
“A brand that is able to provide a customer with the right product as per the need at the right time is the winner and that is what makes it memorable for a customer,” emphasised Singh.
Jio Platforms Limited and Confluent, a data streaming business based in California, have teamed together to promote the growth of real-time and GenAI use cases in India. Jio Cloud Services will offer Confluent Cloud as part of the deal, enabling companies in India to begin using data streaming without any problems. As data streaming is essential to enabling real-time analytics and GenAI developments, this partnership is expected to strengthen India’s digital infrastructure, an official statement said. Data streaming is essential for companies to keep ahead of consumer trends, including advances in artificial intelligence, as Confluent is poised for rapid transformation in India, according to Kiran Thomas, president and CEO of Jio Platforms Limited.
How the Collaboration will Operate?
Confluent will handle all of the essential components of streaming services on Jio Cloud Services, including connecting, processing, controlling, and streaming data. Offering enterprise-grade security and governance to safely handle massive amounts of data, Confluent Platform will be made available as a managed service to Indian consumers and businesses, including the public sector.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently urged international cooperation to create governance and standards that preserve common values at the first AI Action Summit, which was held in Paris. Given its diversity, India is creating its own large language model (LLM).
We are creating AI apps for the general public’s benefit. The PM asserted, “We have the largest pool of AI talent in the world.” Ashwini Vaishnaw, the union minister, recently announced that India intends to develop its own fundamental AI model over the next ten months, revealing the country’s attempt to create its own LLM.
Government Offering a Massive Support to Develop AI
Vaishnaw added that in the coming days, the government will provide entities nationwide with 18,000 top-notch GPU-based computing facilities for AI development, allowing the creation of the AI model. While the nation’s leader emphasised the advantages AI can offer humanity, the Indian Economic Survey 2024–25 emphasised the enormous threat AI poses to the nation’s labour market in terms of employment disruption. According to the Economic Survey, which cited studies from the International Monetary Fund, the International Labour Organisation, Goldman Sachs, and other organisations, AI-led automation may present difficulties for the Indian labour market and economy.
About Confluent
The data streaming platform Confluent is leading the way in a radically new class of data infrastructure that moves data. The core platform for data in motion is Confluent’s cloud-native solution, which is intended to act as the intelligent connective tissue that allows real-time data from many sources to continuously flow throughout the company. Confluent helps businesses achieve the new business imperative of moving to complex, real-time, software-driven backend operations while providing rich, digital front-end customer experiences.
According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Kotak Mahindra Bank is now free to continue issuing new credit cards and onboarding new clients online after restrictions were removed. This follows the RBI’s decision in April of last year to stop Kotak Mahindra Bank from accepting new clients via its mobile and online banking platforms. Additionally, it was prohibited from issuing new credit cards by the central bank. The RBI observed that the bank has submitted compliance and taken action to resolve the previously raised supervisory concerns.
The RBI further emphasised that an external audit was conducted on the bank to confirm these compliances. The central bank stated in a statement released on February 12 that in order to confirm the compliance, the bank also hired an outside auditor with RBI’s prior consent. The Reserve Bank has now chosen to remove the aforementioned restrictions imposed on Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited after being satisfied with the bank’s representations and corrective actions.
Why RBI Barred Kotak Mahindra Bank?
It is important to remember that the RBI subsequently banned the bank, stating that it had concerns after conducting an IT investigation of the bank and that the bank had “continued” to fail to adequately and promptly resolve these concerns. The RBI went on to state that significant shortcomings and non-compliances were found in the following areas: vendor risk management, business continuity, disaster recovery rigour and practice, patch and change management, user access management, IT inventory management, and data security and data leak prevention strategy.
Over the years, the RBI has been examining banks and other financial organisations more closely. The country has also witnessed the central bank crack down on Paytm last year, which resulted in the closure of Paytm Payments Bank on March 15. Persistent compliance problems and supervisory worries, including infractions of customer due diligence regulations, were among the reasons given. Similar limits were imposed on HDFC Bank by the RBI in 2020, which prevented the bank from obtaining new credit card clients and from commencing its upcoming digital business-generating initiatives. But nearly two years later, in 2022, HDFC Bank was freed from this restriction.
RBI Enhancing Security Features of India’s Banking Services
The central bank has made a number of steps to better oversee the rapidly expanding digital banking and lending industry, even as its grip on surveillance is clear. In an effort to fight financial fraud, the central bank most recently announced during its monetary policy meeting on February 7 that it would launch an exclusive domain name for Indian banks, “bank.in.”
The RBI released digital lending rules in 2023 with the goals of protecting consumers, safeguarding data, and monitoring unlicensed technology partners engaged in lending. It released a framework for fintech self-regulatory organisations (SROs) in September 2024 with the goal of advancing accountability, transparency, and consumer protection.
Major Indian media organisations have attempted to join a copyright case against OpenAI, the firm behind the well-known AI chatbot ChatGPT, but OpenAI is retaliating. A media report claims that the company has contended in a recent court filing that it is not required to sign into licensing agreements with Indian media companies and does not utilise their content to educate ChatGPT. Media companies owned by prominent figures like Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani are among the Indian media groups that have alleged OpenAI for using their content without any license or agreement.
In a 31-page court filing, OpenAI denied allegations that it uses content from its website to train its artificial intelligence model. The filed documents are a reaction to a lawsuit filed by a well-known Indian news organisation. The latter claims that OpenAI has copied its news articles without permission.
Indian Media Joining Forces to Fight with AI Giant
The case was filed by ANI in November 2023. A group of Indian publications has joined the action, including the Digital News Publications Association (DNPA), which represents Ambani’s Network1, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, and NDTV (owned by Adani). These media outlets have accused OpenAI of using their websites to train ChatGPT by unauthorizedly scraping content.
The lawsuit filed by ANI is demanding damages of 20 million rupees ($230,000), according to a report from an international media outlet. This is the first legal obstacle that OpenAI has faced in the Indian market, which is also the company’s second-largest market. The case may have a significant impact on how AI businesses manage Indian internet content. In its legal response, OpenAI has insisted that it does not rely on information from the Indian media groups involved in this lawsuit and that it trains its AI models using publicly available data.
Open AI Navigating to Troubled Waters
Since November 2022, when OpenAI began making ChatGPT accessible to the public, the company has been the subject of allegations from a variety of sources that the AI chatbot was trained using copyrighted content. Eight American newspapers, including The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, and others, are suing Microsoft and OpenAI, claiming that ChatGPT trained the chatbot on copyrighted news stories without authorisation or payment.
Five of Canada’s most well-known news organisations also brought a similar copyright infringement action against OpenAI, according to a media report. OpenAI OpenAI has defended its conduct by asserting that it is “impossible” to develop practical AI models like ChatGPT without using copyrighted material and that its usage of copyrighted materials is in accordance with “fair use” rules. Please check Indiatimes News for other global news and current events.
Nitin Konde
