Indian Women Entrepreneurs have made huge imprints in the growth of the nation. The top wealthiest women entrepreneurs and their journies are discussed here.
Table of Contents
Introduction – Women Enterpreneurs
Indian women are successful in making their way to thrive entrepreneurship in various industries, breaking all the barriers on their way and inspiring generations. They have been reaching heights and they are epitome of empowerment and inspiration. In this article, you will get to know about the top 5 most influential women entrepreneurs in India, their journey of success and the strategies they made to succeed in their field. Their Rankings are as follows:
1. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Kiran is a billionaire entrepreneur, the founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited which is a biotechnology based company located in Bangalore.
Journey
Having completed her Bachelor’s degree in Zoology, she wanted to join Medicine but couldn’t get scholarship. She ended up at Melbourne University to study Malting and Brewing. After that she couldn’t find opportunities to have a career in India because she told that brewing was “a man’s work”. Disappointed Kiran gave a thought to work abroad. In Ireland, she met up with the founder of Biocon Limited, Leslie Auchincloss.
Biocon was a company which produces enzymes which will help in the production of chemicals, textile and food packaging. She was in need of an aid from India to supply her Papain. Kiran understood the situation and made use of it. She made a good deal that she will help her with Papain and everything needed for the company’s wellness but on a condition that if she wants to quit after 6 months of work, she can or to be given a better position of brewing at Biocon.
Her Stragetical Growth
Kiran worked as a trainee at Biocon and returned to India in 1978 with a capital amount of ten thousand. With a joint venture, which gave her 70% of the company holding, she hired her first employee a retired garage mechanic and her funding support didn’t come with a lack. With a lot of struggle, she started to extract Papain and Isinglass and started exporting them to US for brewing. She also owned 20 acres of land for future cultivation.
Soon she started growing, she opened up two establishments named Syngene and Clinigene, the former was merged with the latter. Both the companies focused on generic and new medicine.
Biocon was sold to Unilever and later they sold their chemical stocks to Imperial Chemical Industries. Then it was Scotman John Shaw, the fiancé of Kiran bought a share of Biocon and became the vice president and made her the executive founder. In 2004, on the advice of Narayana Murthy, they invested stock market and through which she made 1.11 billion. They were the first to issue IPO.
She started selling affordable drugs to the less wealthy companies for the manufacturing process. They developed Statin which made the company to earn 500 crores which made them go popular intgernationally. Yeast expression platforms and their research on diseases such as cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis mad them stand unique among their competitors.
She is conferred with Padma Bushan in 2005. She is the youngest women entrepreneur in Science and Healthcare, Othmer award for her contribution in science and chemistry and a numerous award marking her as the top most billionaire women entrepreneur in India.
2. Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi is an Indian born American business executive and chairman of the PepsiCo from 2006 to 2018. She is listed on the top 100 powerful women in the world. She is on the board of Amazon and the Indian Cricket Council.
Journey
Indra’s mother who was a homemaker herself use to arrange a novel based strategic games during which inculcated confidence in her. She was given a task to write what she would do if she becomes the President or the Prime Minister. Having completed her bachelor’s degree in Calcutta, she completed her masters in Yale University.
She was the manager position in Johnson and Johnson. For a while, she worked at Motorola in the strategical department.
Her Strategical Growth
In 1994, she joined the PepsiCo Company. She was the board of finance for the PepsiCo from 1996 to 1998. Later she became the Senior Vice President. She contributed a lot and eventually by her hard work, she became the fifth CEO in the 44 year history of PepsiCo. Later she merged her companies with the others and also she started PepsiCo ‘Performance with a Purpose’ which is a social ‘fun for you’ moment which became sensational during the period. She served as the CEO from 2006 to 2018 and then stepped down and joined the board of directors.
During her tenure, her company grew 80%, during the period where she earned around $17 billion. She is in the Women’s Hall of Fame. She has received various accolades which includes several Honorary degrees and Padma Bushan from the President of India in 2007.
3. Falguni Nayar
Falguni Sanjay Nayar is a billionaire Indian Entrepreneur who is the Chief Executive of Nykaa, a cosmetic and lifestyle retail company which was formerly known as FSN which is an acronym of her own name. It is a self-made achievement of a common Indian women.
Journey
She was born in Gujarat, Maharashtra. Her father had a small company which made bearings and her mother assisted him. She completed her Masters in Ahmedabad. Soon she joined in A.F. Ferguson & Co and later joined in the Kotak Mahindra Group and with her tactics, she became the M&A (Merging and Acquisition) manager. Then she opened her office in London and handled the Investment sector. She quit her job in 2012.
Her Strategical Growth
Not because she wanted rest, it’s because she wanted to risk. She successfully saved up 2 million and using it she founded Nykaa, an Ecommerce site for Cosmetic and Lifestyle Company in 2012. In 2022, Nykaa made a fortune was estimated 2 billion dollars. Nykaa went public. She had a steady growth with a net worth of 6.5 billion which made her become the wealthiest women in India.To know more about the skin care, click here.
4. Vandana Luthra
She is an Indian Entrepreneur, founder of VLCC Health care which is a beauty and wellness conglomerate. She is also the chairperson of Beauty & Wellness Sector Skill Council, an initiative by the government.
Journey
Her father was a Mechanical Engineer and her mother was an Ayurvedic Doctor who motivated her. She completed her Polytechnic diploma in New Delhi and later studied Skin, Food and Nutrition in Europe.
Vandhana Luthra Curls and Curves was launched in New Delhi in 1989 as a diet and exercise based program for weight loss. VLCC has international recognition. It offers programs which focus on cosmetic, dermatological and hair care treatments.
Her Strategical Growth
VLCC operates in 326 locations in 153 cities and 13 countries. It is the leader of Beauty in Market Share in India.
It operates with its subsidiaries VLCC Personal Care and GVig in Singapore which is a third party manufacturer. Its manufacturing sites include Haridwar, India and Singapore. They include 170 hair care, skin care and bodily cosmetics and food. She also has opened up several training institutions for education on beauty and fitness under the name VLCC institute of Beauty and Nutrition.
She was honored with Padma Shri in the year 2013. She was the 26th in the Forbes magazine as the wealthiest women in India.
5. Ekta Kapoor
Ekta Kapoor is an Hindi Soap Opera writer, director, film director, film producer and creative writer. She is the joint managing head of Balaji Telefilms Limited and later it launched a subsidary company Balaji Motion Pictures. She launched ALT Balaji in 2017.
Journey
Ekta Kapoor’s father was Jeethendra who is a prominent Hindi actor and his wife Shobha Kapoor is the managing director of Mumbai based Balaji Telefilms Limited with Ekta Kapoor.Her brother, Tushar Kapoor is a Hindi film Actor and Producer.
Her initial days saw no success. She, at the age of 17 started working as an intern in advertisements with film maker, Kailash Surendharnath.
She then got her financial investment from her father and invested in Balaji Telefilms Limited. Still she had a huge loss of 50 lakhs at initial stages of her career. Her shows and ideas were all rejected. Then her first show was selected in 1995 named “Mano Ya Na Mano” with ZEE TV. Then she started giving out delightful treat to the entire Hindi audience with her Entertain industry.
Her Strategical Growth
In 2001, she started producing 30 hours of shows per week. 20 out of 34 serials top loved by the audience. She later started serial in Tamil language under the name “Kudumbum”. She dubbed and telecasted her serial in almost most of the well-known regional languages such as Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali. She made a turn-over of 35 to 125 crores with her successful shows. She made up to 130 Indian Soap Operas.
She then started to enter Bollywood directing and producing Hindi films. Her debut was Kyo Khi… Main Jhuth Nahi Bola, then Krishna cottage, Mission Istanbul, Shor in the City. She then launched an online platform called ALT Balaji to digitally watch all the Balaji Telefilm shows. She opened an Institute of Creative Excellence a media oriented training school.
She was honored with Padma Sri Award in 2020 for her successful work in the field of art.
Conclusion
Now that we have seen the successful women entrepreneurs who have made us believe anything and everything is possible with hardwork and willpower. Kiran and Falguni Nayar prove background from where you come doresn’t matter. Indra Nooyi proves constant dedication to the company matters even when you are no longer in the highest position but a team play matters. Vandhana Luthra and Ekta Kapoor prove excel in your field of study, know your audience, everyone will surely be entertained with your skillful career.
Thus these women enlighten the society, engage in programmes which are helpful for women and do the needful. Their strategies are what their backbones which makes them the wealthiest women entreprenuers in India.