India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem has witnessed a tectonic shift in the past decade, and startup founders today are being celebrated across the board for creating billion-dollar companies, generating millions of jobs and spurring innovation.

Trying to create a niche in this competitive landscape of Indian startups is the country’s growing band of trailblazing women entrepreneurs. From Nykaa’s Falguni Nayyar to Ruchi Kalra of OfBusiness, women leaders are at the forefront of driving India’s innovation and economic growth.

As per government data, of the 1.6 Lakh startups recognised under the Startup India initiative, more than half have at least one woman director. An Inc42 report estimates that women-led startups raised more than $930 Mn across 136 deals in 2024, up 93.75% from $480 Mn raised across 118 deals a year ago.

This evident spike in women-led startups is also reflected in the increasing strength of female investors in the country today. Many women cofounders, after successfully running many big companies, have also transitioned to the role of investors, helping India’s growing tribe of women cofounders grow even further.

For instance, Swati Nangalia Mehra of Sixth Sense Ventures, Mamaearth’s Ghazal Alagh, and Vineeta Singh of SUGAR Cosmetics, among various others, are making their mark in the world of investing, helping to shape the future of India’s startup ecosystem.

At Inc42, we’ve compiled a list of women investors who are making waves in the startup ecosystem, leveraging their playbook to build a more equitable future while leaving no stone unturned in their mission.

If you are a women investor or want to nominate a women investor in the startup ecosystem, reach out to us at editor@inc42.com. This is a running list, and we would love to add more women who are changing the investing landscape in the Indian startup ecosystem.

Note: This is not an exhaustive list or ranking of any kind. We have placed investors in alphabetical order.

Here Are The 46 Women Investors Spearheading The Startup Investment Game In India

1. Aarti Gupta

As a veteran investment strategist, Aarti Gupta has been at the forefront of driving the business of her family office, DM Gupta Family, Jagran Group, since 2011.

Gupta also serves as the chief investment officer at Anikarth Ventures, an angel-investing firm that backs early-stage startups focussed on transformative solutions.

She also holds multiple positions ranging from being a National Head for FICCI FLO Startups, which focus on women founders and investors, to her association with Jindal Stainless Steels as an independent director.

Besides, Gupta leverages her investment strategy skills to contribute to several boards of family-owned businesses and startups. Furthermore, she also champions initiatives for women’s financial literacy, entrepreneurship and job readiness.

Gupta’s academic credentials include a PhD in Economics from IIT Kanpur, a post-graduate diploma in business studies from Harvard University and a Master’s degree in Economics from Northeastern University.

2. Anisha Singh

Anisha Singh is the founder of women-focused VC firm She Capital. She founded the VC firm in 2020 to stimulate more women founders to enter India’s startup ecosystem. Some of the portfolio companies of the VC firm are BrainSight AI, Clovia, Samosa Singh, Spark Studio, Elev8 India Sportz, and Nova Nova.

Earlier, she founded ecommerce platform MyDala and also headed B2B startup Kinis Software as its CEO. She has also worked as a manager with Centra Software.

She is mostly seen talking about women’s empowerment and supporting women-focussed businesses and startups.

3. Alia Bhatt

Bollywood superstar Alia Bhatt has also donned the hat of an investor and has quite an interesting portfolio. One of her prominent investments was in the beauty ecommerce marketplace Nykaa. Her investment grew more than 10X within months to INR 54 Cr when Nykaa got listed on the Indian bourses.

Bhatt’s portfolio also includes Mumbai-based personal styling platform Style Cracker and Kanpur-based biomaterial startup Phool.

Besides investing in other startups, Alia Bhatt has also set up her own startup in 2020, Ed-a-Mamma, which operates in the kidswear category.

4. Anjali Bansal

Founder and chairperson of climate-focused venture capital firm Avaana Capital Anjali Bansal has been actively investing in Indian startups. So far, Avaana has funded electric mobility startup Kazam, agritech platform FarMart, and HR tech unicorn Darwinbox.

The investment firm also marked the final close of its early-stage fund, called the Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund at $135 Mn (around INR 1,135 Cr) in October 2024.

In addition to the aforementioned startups, Anjali has invested in various startups – Delhivery, Urban Company, Darwinbox, and Nykaa, to name a few.

Currently, Bansal is a member of the ONDC steering committee. She is also on the board of various Indian companies such as Tata Power, Nestle India, and Piramal Enterprises. She has also worked with TPG Growth, Spencer Stuart, McKinsey, and Dena Bank

5. Anjali Sosale

Anjali Sosale, partner at Waterbridge Ventures, plays a pivotal role in shaping the success of early-stage technology companies for the VC firm. With a special focus on consumer tech, ecommerce, and marketplaces, Sosale wants to enable the next wave of rural Indian internet users.

She is an active investor in startups such as BigFatPhoenix, BimaKavach, BitClass, EloElo, and Yellow Metal.

In her previous stint, Sosale served as a senior director at Jabong (acquired later by Myntra) and also oversaw the brand accelerator programme at Myntra. Prior to that, she spent over a decade with EY as the vice president of transactions and corporate finance.

6. Ankita Vashistha

Ankita Vashistha is the founder of Saha Fund and StrongHer by Arise Ventures, which backs female-led early-stage startups operating in the fintech, health tech, consumer tech, and Web 3.0 segments.

She is currently associated with multiple names such as MySpaces, Tholons Capital, NASSCOM, Aureos Capital, and Abraaj Group. In her nearly two decades of professional journey, she has worked with tech ventures, private equity and VCs across the UK, the US, and Asia.

Her startup portfolio comprises startups such as Licious, Uniphore, Fitternity, LoveLocal, Zumata, and Insta Health.

She got her master’s degree from the Cranfield School of Management, Stanford University, and is an alumna of Ramaiah Institute of Technology.

7. Archana Jahagirdar

Archana Jahagirdar is the founder and managing partner of Rukam Capital, an early-stage consumer-focussed VC fund. As one of the few women general partners in venture capital in India and globally, she is at the forefront of transforming the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem. Since founding Rukam Capital in 2019, Jahagirdar has invested in over 18 startups across sectors, including Sleepy Owl, Go Desi, BECO, Pilgrim, Curefoods, Yoho, among others.

Her contributions to the startup landscape have earned her national recognition, including being nominated to the National Startup Advisory Council (NSAC).

Earlier in her career, Jahagirdar headed companies like Textron, Angelworks, and Espace Corporate, and worked as a journalist with major media outlets like The Times of India and Business Standard. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. Her experience and sharp market intuition continue to shape India’s vibrant startup ecosystem.

8. Archana Priyadarshini

Archana Priyadarshini is a founder of Forward Slash Capital, which backs pre-seed to pre-Series A stage tech startups. The fund invests $50-100K into pre-seed and seed-stage technology-based companies.

Over the years, she has participated in more than 40 startup deals, which include Bare Anatomy, goNuts, Janni.ai, and BiteSpeed, to name a few.

At the moment, she is working as a partner at Endurance Capital. She has also worked with companies such as Wells Fargo, Bootcamp Fitness Studio, IBM and CGEY. She has done her B.Tech in chemical engineering from IIT Kanpur

9. Bala C Deshpande

Bala C Deshpande is the founder partner of Megadelta Capital, which is an India-focussed mid-market growth fund. It typically invests $15 Mn to 25 Mn of growth equity in startups across sectors such as consumer, healthcare, and enterprise tech.

Megadelta Capital’s portfolio includes startups such as ecommerce unicorn Firstcry and health tech startup GOQII, among others.

Deshpande has nearly two decades of experience in investment advisory. She started her investing career with ICICI Venture in 2001. Later, she joined global VC firm NEA to set up their India platform where she headed the practice for ten years and helped NEA US in investing and backing startups in the mid-market space.

10. Bharati Jacob

Bharati Jacob is the founder and managing partner of Seedfund, which invests in startups operating in diverse industries. She holds more than 25 years of experience in venture investing, marketing, and financial services.

Earlier, she worked with venture capital firm Infinity Venture Fund, investment bank Lazard, and aviation company Northwest Airlines.

An XLRI graduate, Jacob completed her MBA in marketing from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

11. Bhawna Bhatnagar

Bhawna Bhatnagar is the cofounder of We Founder Circle (WFC), which invests in pre-seed........

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