International Women’s Day is celebrated across countries on 8th March. While talking about hardships faced by women entrepreneurs, breaking biases and gender stereotypes still retains top spots. But along with these, balancing work and life duties along with motherhood, fundraising etc too has its share.
Here’s featuring 5 women, who overcame many challenges and have established a name for themselves through their online venture, even reaching out to people in other countries.
1. Kanchan Vaidya- The Original Knit
Started in 2015, this Gurugram based startup sells handmade woolen clothes for kids. It has 450 craftsmen and women across four northern states. The brand has a presence in the Gulf too, and behind all this, is the force to reckon with- Kanchan Vaidya, who quit her job at an Australian firm to start something that would solve newborn baby clothing problems for new moms, the ones she faced when she had her six-month old son.
With an online and offline presence, The Original Knit has been profitable since it was established. It started with just 30 products, but now has 1,050 SKUs. The company is majorly led by women and Kanchan Vaidya is proud of it.
2. Beaux
Beaux, a Kota-based brand, offers hair solutions like wigs and extensions, which are made out of human hair. The brand creates customised solutions for people facing hair issues like hair thinning, alopecia etc. The founder, Nishtha Malik started this brand after her mother’s demise due to cancer, as a tribute to her.
The brand started out with cancer wigs and hair extensions and slowly made its way to customised hair toppers and solutions both in the B2B and B2C market as well. The company grew, even in the midst of the pandemic. Online orders too skyrocketed. Exports to US, Africa and UK saw a major rise, with people preferring Indian hair wigs over others.
About 50 percent of our revenue comes from our website (B2C) and online portals, another 30 percent from exports to various countries and salons worldwide and remaining 20 percent from our offline sale channels with salon collaborations in India,” she adds.
3. Monika Chaudhary-Bow n Bee
Monika Chaudhary quit her corporate job of 15 years to start Bow n Bee an ethnic kidswear brand in 2015. Her team today comprises of 20 people and this startup grew from selling just 20 products to more than 600 products. “As a digital-first brand, we have been very focussed on growing online. Currently, 97 percent of our revenue come from online channels,” says Monika.
Bow n Bee has presence in three international markets too, and plans to raise external funding are in the pipeline. The brand involves local craftsmen to assure authenticity and a local flavour, and also provides job opportunities for rural women.
4. Swati Sutaria Vakharia- Nabhi Sutra
Swati’s fascination towards Ayurveda and battling certain problems during her breast-feeding phase led her to forming Nabhi Sutra in 2019. Through her startup, she provides solutions for a variety of problems and concerns, like menstrual pain, skincare, joint pain relief, brain development etc. in the form of oils to be poured in one’s belly button.
Nabhi Sutra claims to be 100% safe and chemical-free. It has already benefitted 1.2 lakh people and even during the pandemic the brand clocked in INR 1.5 crore in revenue. With 12 different products, ten are from Nabhi Sutra and two are from the newly launched brand-Adhyay. The brand sells through online platforms and are also in talks to launch products in USA, Australia and UAE.
5. Ashri Jaiswal-Ziniosa
Ashri Jaiswal and Varun Ramani started Ziniosa in 2018.This Bengaluru-based startup allows customers to rent, buy, consign, and auction luxury products. The startup uses an omnichannel approach. The rental model started in 2018, while the pre-loved /re-sale model was launched in 2020.
With over 10,000+ active users and a reach of one million on Instagram, the firm is now preparing for its first round of funding amounting to 3 crores. With a year-on-year growth of 300%, Ziniosa serves pan-India and also internationally in US and Canada.
Ziniosa has seven verticals and after launching its website. It has more than 15000+ pre-loved items and a men’s line too.
