When VCs Said No, These Indian Women Entrepreneurs Said 'Watch Me'

For all the noise around India’s startup boom, one number quietly tells a different story. Women founders receive barely 2 to 3 per cent of total venture capital funding, according to the World Economic Forum. Venture capital firms are still largely male-dominated. Products designed for women are often seen as “niche,” even though women are half the consumer market. Founders are sometimes judged on personal life choices instead of business metrics. 

When traditional funding does not come through, many women founders take a different route. They bootstrap. Bootstrapping, in simple terms, means building a company using personal savings, internal cash flow, and early revenues instead of external investment. Growth may be slower, but ownership stays intact. 

Here are some Indian women founders who bootstrapped and created million-dollar empires on their own terms.

Falguni Nayar

Falguni Nayar’s story breaks every stereotype about startups. She did not start young and did not come from tech. After a successful career in investment banking, she started Nykaa at the age of 50 with her own capital. 

At the time, India barely had an organised online beauty retail space. Most women relied on local stores with limited choice and little guidance.

Nykaa changed that by focusing on authenticity. It offered genuine products, detailed content, tutorials, and a seamless online experience. 

What started as a digital beauty store slowly evolved into a full-fledged beauty and fashion powerhouse with private labels and offline stores.

Today, Nykaa stands as one of India’s most successful consumer brands, reporting revenue of around ₹7,954 crore in FY 2024-25. The company’s rise has also made Falguni Nayar one of India’s richest self-made women entrepreneurs. 

Ghazal Alagh

Mamaearth began with something simple. A mother struggling to find toxin-free products for her child. Ghazal Alagh and Varun Alagh decided to create natural personal care products that parents could trust. Instead of relying heavily on traditional retail or big ad budgets, they went digital first. 

But Mamaearth did not stop at one brand. Under Honasa Consumer Limited, the company expanded into a full portfolio that now includes Mamaearth, The Derma Co., Aqualogica, BBlunt, Dr Sheth’s, Ayuga, and Staze Beauty. Each brand targets a specific need within beauty and personal care.

Honasa reported revenue of around ₹2,067 crore in FY 2024-25. What started as a small brand is now one of India’s most influential beauty and personal care groups.

Richa Kar

Richa Kar noticed a very real discomfort around lingerie shopping in India. Most women felt awkward buying intimate wear in stores and often settled for poor fits. 

Zivame created a private, online alternative. Discreet packaging, size guides, and a wide range of options made women feel safe and informed. The brand focused heavily on customer experience rather than flashy marketing.

Today, the company reports revenues of around ₹166 crore for FY 2024-25, showing how solving a sensitive, overlooked problem can turn into a thriving business.

Aditi Gupta

Aditi Gupta saw how deeply menstruation was surrounded by shame and misinformation. Instead of approaching it like a lecture, she used comics and storytelling to make learning simple and friendly.

Menstrupedia started small and was completely bootstrapped. She tested it directly with girls and schools before scaling. 

What makes the story even stronger is that it is not just impact-driven but financially sustainable too. Menstrupedia clocked around ₹2.8 crore in annual revenue in FY 2023-24, proving that education-focused businesses can also be successful enterprises.

Shwetha Poddar

Shwetha Poddar started CandidKnots in 2016 with just ₹10 lakh from her own savings. Men’s fashion rentals were still an unfamiliar concept. 

Coming from a textile business family, she understood sourcing and margins. She collaborated with premium designers and also built her own in-house labels to maintain control over costs. Today, CandidKnots runs with 12 team members and closes the FY 2024-25 with around ₹3 crore in revenue.

None of these women had an easy path. Bootstrapping meant personal risk, tight budgets, and slower growth. But it also made their businesses tougher and more grounded. While venture capital handed them barely 2 per cent of the pie, they still created companies worth crores and reshaped entire industries.

Views expressed by the author are their own.