Aatmanirbhar Bharat: These women-led startups offer Diwali gifts your loved ones will cherish
From personalised gift hampers to home décor products that celebrate Indian handicraft, these platforms by women entrepreneurs offer the perfect options for gifts this festive season.
With most of the year spent in isolation and social distancing due to COVID-19, the immediate light and hope of the festive season seems to lie in the gifts you will give and receive.
With the clarion call for Aatmanirbhar Bharat by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the gifting space brimming with creativity, there is no reason not to make the best of this opportunity to buy the perfect gift for your loved ones.
This Diwali, here are four women entrepreneurs whose startups may have just the gift you are looking for. Swadeshi, quirky or personalised – take your pick.
Prachi Bhatia, Chokhat
Fancy home décor is the classic Diwali gift and entrepreneur Prachi Desai offers affordable designer products priced between Rs 500 and Rs 3,000.
These include trays, ceramic bowls and tea sets, coasters, baskets, and planters. For Diwali, Chokhat has launched two new products, the crown tray and a pineapple basket with general sales picking up during the festive season.
Based in Ghaziabad, Prachi is a graduate of product design from GD Goenka University in Gurugram. After spending odd hours commuting to college, dabbling part time jobs and gaining experience in export houses, she founded Chokhat in 2018.
Chokhat launched the crown tray and pineapple basket during the festive season.
Started with an initial investment of Rs 1 lakh, the entrepreneur ramped up her digital marketing efforts amid COVID-19 and has shipped more than 11,000 orders across India so far.
Mithra, Kottanz
Bengaluru-based Kottanz is a gifting platform that specialises in handicraft designs, perfect choices to celebrate a truly Indian Diwali with swadeshi products.
While managing a luxury handbag manufacturer FIBERKRAFT, Mithra saw a huge potential for Indian handicrafts in the urban gifting space and developed a network of 78 women to work on the craft.
With Kottanz products being delivered to over 115 countries, the entrepreneur hopes to bring 1,001 women on board by 2021.
Founded in 2012, it has a range of natural products like grass trays, cushion cover, jute bags, corporate gifting and stationery items, and gift hampers as well.
Surbhi Gupta, Kalakar Gift Studio
Surbhi Gupta, Founder of Kalakar Gift Studio
From getting creative with used and waste products, Surbhi Gupta is now using her passion for craft to design the perfect gift with Kalakar Gift Studio.
Growing up in Alwar, Rajasthan, her inclination towards art and designs were not appreciated, let alone Surbhi’s entrepreneurial dreams. Her parents wanted her to have a stable future, which involved either pursuing an MBA or landing a government or a teacher’s job.
In 2019, she moved to Bengaluru to study at the Srishti Institute of Arts and Design. Having delivered more than 400 customised and personalised gift hampers so far, Surbhi says her gifts add emotional value to materialistic pleasure.
Started with Rs 4,000 she had saved from the little sums her grandfather had gifted her on various occasions claims to have made over Rs 1.2 lakh in revenues so far. As the business grows, Surbhi hopes to employ women to help them financially.
Shaloo Reddy, Giftcart
Firecrackers are banned and restricted in several Indian states all for the right reasons. However, firecracker-shaped chocolates can do no harm to keep things celebratory. In addition to the firecracker shaped chocolates, Gurugram-based Giftcart offers a wide range of gift products and hampers including sweets and dry fruits, and lamps with motifs of Hindu gods.
Founded by Shaloo Reddi in 2011, the gifting ecommerce platform caters to all celebrations like traditional festivals and anniversaries, housewarming functions, birthdays, as well as corporate gifting. Giftcart also offers wide options like eco-friendly products, personalised cushions, mug and lamps and furniture and stationery. It also makes sure not to miss out on what millennials want with fun and quirky designs that include the internet slang as well.
Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan