Diversity and gender inclusiveness is being redefined by entrepreneurs. Despite remaining a minority demographic in business ventures, there’s a distinct growth in women-led startups. A report titled Zinnov-Nasscom India tech start-up landscape report 2022, 17 percent of all Investment deals between 2019 to 2022 were raised by women-led companies in India.
The report on the country’s start-up ecosystem highlighted that 18 percent of enterprises have at least one woman founder or co-founder.
At least 36 unicorns and potential unicorns in India have at least one woman founder or co-founder, the report by National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), in collaboration with Zinnov highlighted.
Here is a look at some key women-led startups in India that have been making headline.
Ankita Sheth, Co-founder, StayVista, a villa rental startup
Co-founders: Amit Damani, Ankita Sheth, Pranav Maheshwari
Founded in 2015
Investment raised: We have raised over $7million till date
Customer base:
Geographical Base (B2C), India
Demographic Profile
Age: 25-45
Gender: Both males and females
Education: Well educated background, usually Masters degree from a top-notch management or tech institute
Profession (B2C): Mid-level managers and above in corporates, businessmen, entrepreneurs, actors, influencers
Future funding plans
We aren’t looking for funding at the moment.
Net profit/ revenue generated
In FY 19-20, the revenue generated was Rs 33 crore; FY 20-21 saw the revenue stand at Rs 38 crore; in FY 21-22 i.e the pandemic year the revenue jumped to Rs 94 crore; and in FY 22-23, revenue rose to Rs 120 crore.
Company valuation
The company’s total revenue till date is Rs 285 crore.
StayVista has hosted 11,80,000 guests, and has 580 villas, with 300 employees
Growth and expansion plans
Five-year goal is to turn StayVista into a Rs 1000 crore business with over 2500 homes and villas under the umbrella.
Challenges Ankita Sheth faced as a woman entrepreneur
Being a woman founder always has come with its share of challenges. Whether it’s fundraising, pivoting to a different business model or deciding how many caretakers to have on-site, “I have been able to find a way out and lead by example. Recognised as one of the leading villa rental brands of India, the success of StayVista is testimony to the fact that there’s no place for gender barriers in startup India and it is no longer uncommon to see women in a leadership position,” explained Sheth.
The two-key challenges she faced so far is lack of “hospitality experience, which became a huge obstacle while trying to raise funds. There were several investor meetings where this was raised as a problem.”
She added that, “With our passion for travel and complete conviction in the business, we were able to bring investors on board recently. We raised Rs 40 crore led by DSG Consumer Partners with participation from Capri Global and CA Holdings.”
Surviving the pandemic was another challenge when the company earned zero revenue and had to let go of over 100 employees.
However, in less than a year, the startup was back to its pre-covid levels of revenue. More importantly, the founders were able to pay back the deducted salaries to all the employees.
“We have grown StayVista’s inventory from 0 to over 500 holiday homes, making us the largest brand. This is no mean feat, especially when you consider that the travel industry is not new, with plenty of older, established players and new entrants as well,” she outlined.
Aditi Handa, Co-founder & Head Chef, The Baker’s Dozen, a direct-to-consumer bakery brand
Co-founders: Husband-wife duo Sneh Jain and Aditi Handa
Founded in 2013
Investment Raised: We have raised a total of $5 million of funding including debt till date. For the past 10 years, we have been a bootstrapped business that has grown steadily and with a strong foundation and last year we raised our first pre-series A round in July 2022.
Customer base
Our brand has grown by five times achieving sales of Rs 30 crore in 2021-22, fast becoming the preferred national bakery brand across e-commerce and Q-commerce marketplaces, servicing over 3 lakh orders month on month. The brand is EBITDA positive for the last two years.
Future funding plans
Being a bootstrapped firm, we decided that last year was the ideal time to acquire money in order to expand through capital injection. We currently have enough money to last till next year. However, by March 24th, we will be raising funds (Series-A).
Net profit/ revenue generated
The turning point for our brand was 2019 when we expanded pan-India. We started getting queries from our customers who wanted to know more about artisan bread. Till date we have generated a revenue of Rs 11,270 lakh.
Company valuation
After our recent fundraise in July 2022, we stand at a valuation of Rs 125 crore.
Growth and expansion plans
With an aim of achieving a Rs 200 crore annualized revenue run rate (ARR) by March 24, and making The Baker’s Dozen India’s fastest growing D2C bakery brand, this year, the startup will look at expanding to 100 brand stores and 2,500 retail touchpoints across 50 cities in India, followed by strengthening its consumer base in Tier-I and Tier-II cities, and building its presence in the international market.
The startup further plans to double its marketing spends focusing on a combination of above the line (ATL) avenues such as hoardings with new-age media like influencer marketing and digital marketing. “We will also be focusing on point of sale marketing through retail merchandise and banners/offers on e-commerce partners,” pointed out Aditi Handa.
Challenges Aditi Handa faced as a women entrepreneur
For Handa, the difficulties faced by women are the same whether they work as employees, bakers, or business owners. “I’ve always thought that if I see the world as equal to me and that I can do anything I set my mind to, then the world around me will begin to bend as well. Gender prejudices don’t seem to be as much of a barrier today,” she asserted.
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Arushi Verma, Cofounder and Director, FITPASS (Fitness membership platform)
Cofounders: Siblings Akshay Verma and Arushi Verma
Founded in 2015
Investment raised: FITPASS raised $1.8 million in seed funding from Mumbai Angels in December 2016. FITPASS has not raised a round for several years now and has grown exponentially every year by focusing on delivering strong unit economics and building on its strong business fundamentals.
Customer base
Banks and Insurance companies – FITPASS is embedded as a core benefit of health insurance policies and financial products (credit cards, salary accounts, wealth accounts, etc)
Corporates – pan India
Geographical Base (B2C) – PAN India
Demographic Profile
Age range: 18-82 years
Majority age group: 27-34 years
Gender: Male and Female
Profession: Students, Homemakers, Corporate Employees, Independent Professionals and Business Owners
Key factor: Internet phone user
Future funding plans
While FITPASS is profitable with strong unit economics, its vision to serve 1 billion customers to defeat inactivity in the next five years requires the infusion of growth capital.
Net profit/ revenue generated
FITPASS is a profitable startup that generates Rs 4.27 of income for every Re 1 spent.
Company valuation
FITPASS has two direct comparables: Gympass from Brazil and Classpass from USA. Both are unicorns. FITPASS has one strong advantage over them: FITPASS operates in India with a younger demographic.
Growth and expansion plans
FITPASS has successfully managed to convince the government and the insurance regulator, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to include access to fitness as part of health and life insurance products. For the startup, this opens up a myriad of possibilities to reward, incentivise, engage and enable the world’s youngest population to get fit and stay protected. “Being an asset-light, capital-efficient, tech-enabled business, FITPASS operates on the principles of a “shared economy” like Uber, Airbnb, etc. wherein aggregated customer demand is balanced with an aggregated supply network of assets,” explained Arushi Verma. Its business model bolstered by its proprietary AI technology allows the startup to command positive unit economics and makes it a highly scalable and replicable model across geographies.
Challenges faced by Arushi Verma as a woman entrepreneur
When the start up was founded in 2015, India was still solving for “Roti (Zomato), Kapda (Amazon), Makaan (Housing.com)” and conveyance (Ola/Uber). “Fitness was still a luxury. We needed to educate the market as to why fitness was important, and how we were making it flexible and accessible to the masses.” said Verma.
On the partner side, fitness was the only unorganised sector yet to be democratized. It was the only service, where a customer was expected and demanded to pay for the entire year in one go. “It took some time to explain to partners the benefits of FITPASS, but I can proudly say that no partner has left our network, after being associated with us. Now we get calls from gym owners asking to be listed on the application,” added Verma.
Being a woman co-founder came with its own hurdles. Convincing partners took longer than expected, as the mindset was mostly of women not knowing how to do business, and partners lacked trust in the model because it was being run by a woman. “Once we managed to convince our first 100, it got much easier, and people started respecting the fact that FITPASS has a female co-founder!,” said Verma.
Disha Singh, founder and CEO, Zouk, an online fashion accessory brand
Co-founders: Husband-wife duo Pradeep Krishnakumar and Disha Singh Founded in 2016
Investment Raised: Zouk has raised about $1.5 million in a pre-series A funding round. The round was led by Stellaris Venture Partners, the founders of Wow Skin Science. The existing investor, Titan Capital, also participated in this round.
Customer base
Over 4,00,000 happy customers
Future funding plans
We are well capitalized and not looking at funding at the moment
Net profit/ revenue generated
Confidential
Company valuation
Our value has grown 12X from the last round of funding in 2021.
Growth and Expansion plans
Zouk plans to expand its presence in the offline market by launching exclusive brand outlets in key malls of metro cities. “Zouk is presently available in around 30 retail touchpoints and we aim to reach 100 touchpoints in the next few quarters. We plan to take our products via the online route to North America, Europe, and the Middle East,” said Disha Singh.
Challenges Disha Singh faced as Woman Entrepreneur
At Zouk, the biggest challenge was persuading artisans to work with Singh as a female founder. “As they are conditioned to work with male founders, it was strange for them to collaborate with me. However, once they saw my work, the passion I have for the brand, and the products we create together, communication became easier and more seamless,” Singh explained. In fact, over time, the equation has grown beautifully, helping both sides to grow for both the quality and quantity of products, she added.
“Besides, women who establish their own businesses can struggle to be taken seriously because some people may view their work as merely a hobby. But, outlining a well-developed plan and a clear goal with specific numbers can help to change this perception, said Singh. She also believes it’s significant to highlight that, regardless of gender, all entrepreneurs and companies face challenges at the outset of their journey. “Nonetheless, now there is also a trend in the right direction: people have started to appreciate grit and perseverance. It is because of this positive outlook that starting a business is no longer seen as a frivolous pursuit,” she affirmed.