Meet Upasana Taku, a Stanford graduate who courageously left a lucrative job in the United States to embark on the remarkable journey of building an Rs 8,000 crore company alongside her husband.
Upasana’s inspiring story unfolds from her academic roots in Gandhinagar to pursuing engineering at NIT Jalandhar and furthering her education with a Master’s in Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University. While working at global giants HSBC and Paypal after graduation, Upasana’s passion for grassroots-level impact led her to return to India in 2008.
Her initial venture into the non-governmental sector with Dristhee was marked by a realization that NGOs in India were often poorly managed. Undeterred, Upasana remained determined to contribute meaningfully. In December 2008, her path crossed with Bipin Preet Singh, leading to the co-founding of MobiKwik in August 2009. Their professional collaboration eventually blossomed into marriage.
The early days of MobiKwik were challenging, facing obstacles like securing a banking platform, hiring talent, and raising funds. Gender discrimination further added to the hurdles Upasana and Singh had to overcome. Undaunted, they persevered.
In 2012, Upasana launched Zaakpay, a subsidiary of One MobiKwik Systems, providing a digital payment gateway for e-commerce businesses. Her efforts were recognized in 2018 when she received an award from the President of India for being the first woman to lead a payments startup. Subsequently, she earned a spot in Forbes Asia’s Power 25 Businesswomen list in 2019. In 2021, MobiKwik achieved a staggering valuation of $700 million during a fundraising round.
As the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of MobiKwik, Upasana Taku envisions the company becoming fully profitable and doubling its revenue to Rs 1,000 crore in the current fiscal year, marking yet another milestone in her impactful entrepreneurial journey.
