Women Making Impact - India

Shalu's journey as a startup founder coincided with the birth of her daughter a couple of years after founding Growthpal, presenting a unique set of challenges. Even as her daughter needed time and staying up through the night and juggling the demands of a rapidly growing company leading a team of 50 people, which requires much more time compared to a job, it has been an emotional battle. The clash between the demands of late-night U.S. sales and the desire to be present for her daughter has been a battle of managing the emotional toll and the importance of effective time management.

The emotional battle of not always being seen as the top priority by her daughter while also striving for success in the competitive startup landscape highlights the sacrifices and challenges that many women face in similar situations.After graduating from IIT Kharagpur, she did her MBA from IIM Lucknow, and worked at  Mindtickle and Deloitte and was consulting with 20 startups across various verticals including healthcare. During her college days as well, she tried her hand at starting up and learned multiple things even though they did not work out and believes that they helped her get here. Shalu's journey into entrepreneurship wasn't without its challenges. As a co-founder of Growthpal, she faced the unique challenge of navigating a startup landscape with no set guideposts unlike when one is in a job where one is told what to do. Wearing multiple hats, from team building to strategic decision-making, she embraced the chaos and considers it a valuable opportunity for personal growth.

Anika is a highly motivated, result driven digital marketing professional with over 12 year’s experience in developing digital strategy and digital brand management. She is a team leader with the ability to foster progress and manage attrition in a fast paced environment.
Over the years she has had the opportunity to build and drive teams that led digital transformation and customer experience initiatives for some of the top brands in India, through social media marketing, online brand experience, performance marketing, content marketing, brand management, customer experience, mobile marketing, influencer marketing and media planning.

Aditi is the Co-Founder and CEO of EcoRatings, a Gen Ai solution for the sustainability domain. She is also an angel investor, mentor and advisor to female founded start-ups in early stage ventures.
Previously, she was the sole woman founder of a hospitality business that has successfully scaled in a new segment and merged with a strategic partner. Having previously worked with marquee names such as Barings Private Equity, McKinsey & Company, etc. she have extensive hands-on experience with investment, scaling and startups.

Komal Rukhana, the Co-founder at Mint and Milk PR, in her 15 year career tenure, has catered to over 100+ clients including notable brands in the fashion, beauty, home decor, hospitality, wellness and luxury industries.

Known for her creative skills and being adept at crafting compelling narratives for the right audience, Komal has excelled at building strong media relations in an ever-evolving media and social media landscape.

What keeps her going is being able to build brands that she truly believes in and help them realise their goals.

Over the years, upon sharing a great camaraderie, values, working styles and a common passion to work for brands as a strategic partner, during the corporate stints with Janvi Mankani she decided to further pursue her passion and started Mint and Milk PR at the age of 25 in 2017. Mint and Milk PR is a boutique PR agency offering services such as strategic media relations, influencer marketing and brand strategy. 'Mint' stands for Minty Fresh ideas and 'Milk' represents honesty and transparency.

Shalu's journey as a startup founder coincided with the birth of her daughter a couple of years after founding Growthpal, presenting a unique set of challenges. Even as her daughter needed time and staying up through the night and juggling the demands of a rapidly growing company leading a team of 50 people, which requires much more time compared to a job, it has been an emotional battle. The clash between the demands of late-night U.S. sales and the desire to be present for her daughter has been a battle of managing the emotional toll and the importance of effective time management. The emotional battle of not always being seen as the top priority by her daughter while also striving for success in the competitive startup landscape highlights the sacrifices and challenges that many women face in similar situations.After graduating from IIT Kharagpur, she did her MBA from IIM Lucknow, and worked at  Mindtickle and Deloitte and was consulting with 20 startups across various verticals including healthcare.

During her college days as well, she tried her hand at starting up and learned multiple things even though they did not work out and believes that they helped her get here. Shalu's journey into entrepreneurship wasn't without its challenges. As a co-founder of Growthpal, she faced the unique challenge of navigating a startup landscape with no set guideposts unlike when one is in a job where one is told what to do. Wearing multiple hats, from team building to strategic decision-making, she embraced the chaos and considers it a valuable opportunity for personal growth.

Amit Chhabra heads health insurance in Policybazaar.com. Under his leadership, Policybazaar.com witnessed significant growth for health insurance vertical to emerge as a one-stop destination for online health insurance needs. In this period, he also developed, Health-CRM team to create best-in-class service solutions for the company. He is also responsible for acquiring new partnerships to further expand the health insurance business.

A Post Graduate in Business Management from IIM, Indore and a Bachelor in Business Studies from Delhi University, Amit brings with him more than a decade of experience.

Disha Shah, a second-generation jeweler, grew up immersed in the world of jewelry in Hong Kong, spending countless hours at her father's natural diamond business. Despite her upbringing surrounded by the craftsmanship and beauty of jewelry making, Disha initially pursued a different path, working in corporate roles. She never felt drawn to follow in her family's footsteps, especially as she found traditional jewelry designs to be too bulky and old-fashioned for her taste.

Kitchens are smaller now, and families are looking for variety in meals. Simultaneously, there is a growing awareness among the working population about healthy choices, including natural and preservative-free options. Additionally, the drawbacks of ordering food in are evident – it can be expensive, less hygienic, and might compromise the freshness and authenticity of the taste.

In response to these challenges, a culinary revolution has unfolded with the rise of ready-to-cook products. This trend provides a practical middle ground for families striving to balance the demands of work and home life without compromising the quality of their meals. Innovative brands in this segment are addressing these concerns by offering preservative-free and authentic-tasting RTC products. This not only caters to the desire for convenient cooking but also allows households to indulge in guilt-free home-cooked meals.

Aanchal Saini is a seasoned entrepreneur with a wealth of Knowledge and experience in the rental fashion industry.

Flyrobe understands this need and has come up with an innovative solution. They offer a wide range of designer outfits, including ethnic wear, premium apparel, and accessories, all available for rent at a reasonable price. The brand has the biggest flagship store in New Delhi and franchise stores in 10+ prominent Indian cities. The company operates on an Omnichannel model with an online presence in 30+ cities via its website. The Flyrobe website’s monthly traffic is 2.5L users with 6L page views in a month. Flyrobe in its 8 years of existence has saved 4.8 Billion litres of water, turned 2L+ buyers into renters, and delayed Millions of outfits from ending up in the landfills.