4 bootstrapped businesses by women entrepreneurs that clock revenue in crores

Every successful entrepreneur emphasises the need to obsessively solve problems rather than aimlessly chase money. Ironically, these are also the entrepreneurs whose startups deliver enviable milestones and have steady flow of  capital. 

The same seems to apply to India’s booming direct-to-consumer (D2C) market today. Women entrepreneurs with deep commitment to solving specific problems eventually bring in money for their companies as well. 

Here’s a look at four women entrepreneurs who are raking crores in revenue in the skincare, home furnishing, health and wellness, and food industry.

Radhika Koolwal, Urban Space

Radhika Koolwal noted that India’s home furnishing products existed in two extremes: either the big retail brands which are expensive or the local products of poor quality. 

This prompted her to start Urban Space, an Ahmedabad-based home decor and furnishing brand, in 2018. The idea was to fulfill the middle-class population’s longing to decorate their home spaces.  

Her first tryst with entrepreneurship, Radhika worked as a computer engineer at Infosys and went on to pursue MBA in marketing. 

Today, Urban Spaces has a wide range of products such as bedspreads, curtains, comforters and quilts, table linens, and cushion covers. Priced between Rs 699 and Rs 2,499, the products are sold on ecommerce marketplaces like Myntra, Flipkart, Pepperfry, and Ajio, in addition to its own website. The entrepreneur is now looking to penetrate into the retail space.

Bootstrapped so far, the startup has clocked a revenue of Rs 25 crore in the financial year ending 2022. 

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Ramya and Shwetha Ravi, RNR Donne Biryani

Two sisters Ramya and Shwetha Ravi took a leap of faith by starting RNR Donne Biryani, a food delivery brand serving naati-style Karnataka biryani, during the pandemic.

The duo wanted to popularise the Karnataka biryani by replicating their grandmother’s recipe and offering it at an affordable price of Rs 189-259.

In the first month of operation, the brand received 10,000 orders. This despite the unique challenges of operating during the pandemic and high attrition rate in the food and beverage industry when most people are wary of what they consume due to health concerns

At present, in addition to 14 cloud kitchens throughout the city, they opened RNR Donne Biryani restaurant in Jayanagar 4th block in September 2021. The business is now set to clock Rs 10 Crore in revenue in the financial year, ending March 2022.

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Suditi Sharma, The Himalayan Organics

College friends Suditi Sharma and Vaibhav Raghuwanshi founded The Himalayan Organics due to one shared challenge: lack of dietary supplements in the Indian market for vegetarians. 

Their direct-to-consumer brand set out to address this problem for themselves and about 400 million Indians identifying as vegetarian by formulating a range of organic and plant-based supplements at affordable rates.

Priced between Rs 450 and Rs 1,100, the dietary supplements are available on 20 odd marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, Purplle, Nutrabay, 1MG, Pharmeasy, and its own website.

Having served more than 10 lakh customers since inception, the entrepreneurs claim that 75 percent of its current buyers are repeat customers. Started with an initial investment of Rs 40 lakh, the bootstrapped venture is set to close the financial year ending March 2022 with a turnover of Rs 40 crores.

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Arthi Raghuram, Deyga

In Erode, Tamil Nadu, entrepreneur Arthi Raghuram is on a mission to combine practices of ancient India with modern technology to design personal care products using only natural ingredients. 

After all, it was the tall, falsified claims of most skincare brands in the market that upset her and set her on an entrepreneurial journey by founding Deyga in 2018.

An MBA graduate, Deyga sources raw materials from local farmers or from Deyga’s own farms which are quality checked before the formulation begins. 

Priced between Rs 250 to Rs 1100, it sees an average basket size of three to five products and the business now clocks an annual revenue of Rs 20 crore.