From Neha Bansal to Meghna Agarwal: These 8 women founders are the richest in the Indian startup ecosystem

On most days, India’s business headlines are dominated by men — unicorn founders, market movers, dealmakers. 

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But scroll through the latest rich lists or funding announcements and a different story begins to surface: women entrepreneurs are not just building companies, they’re building fortunes.

Take a closer look, and the pattern is clear. From Delhi and Bengaluru boardrooms to co-working hubs in tier-2 cities, women founders are at the centre of some of the country’s most successful companies. 

And what makes this moment remarkable is not just the scale of the businesses they run, but the wealth they’ve created for themselves in a system that, until recently, often overlooked them.

Names like Neha Bansal of Lenskart, Ruchi Kalra of OfBusiness, and Meghna Agarwal of IndiQube now stand among the leading wealthmakers in the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, India. 

In this article, we spotlight the eight richest women in India’s startup ecosystem and the journeys that placed them here.

1. Neha Bansal (Lenskart)

Role & company -Neha Bansal co‑founded Lenskart, an omnichannel eyewear brand. She oversees merchandising and helped scale it into one of India’s largest eyewear retailers

Wealth figure - The M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025 ranked her among India’s self‑made women and reported that she and her family possess approximately Rs 5,640 crore (about $680 million) in wealth.

Notably, she is featured just behind Radha Vembu and Falguni Nayar in the list of self‑made richest women entrepreneurs.

Background & Education - Bansal completed her B.Com (Hons) from the University of Delhi and is a Chartered Accountant (ICAI). She co-founded Lenskart along with her brother Peyush Bansal, and Amit Chaudhary.

2. Ruchi Kalra (OfBusiness and Oxyzo)

Role & achievements - Ruchi Kalra co‑founded the B2B commerce and financing unicorn OfBusiness and the fintech firm Oxyzo. She currently serves as the CFO of OfBusiness and as the Whole-Time Director and CFO of Oxyzo.

Wealth figure - The M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025 lists the Kalra family’s wealth at Rs 9,130 crore (about $1.1 billion), making her the richest self‑made woman entrepreneur in the 2025 ranking. According to multiple reports, Ruchi’s net worth is estimated to be around Rs 4,000 crore.

Background - Kalra studied engineering at IIT Delhi and holds an MBA from ISB Hyderabad. She faced more than 70 rejections before raising capital for her ventures and runs the companies with her husband, Ashish Mohapatra.

3. Meghna Agarwal (IndiQube)

Role & company - Meghna Agarwal co‑founded IndiQube, a managed workplace solutions company. She is responsible for business development and expansion.

Wealth figure - Meghna owns a 15.99% stake in IndiQube Spaces Ltd (as of July 2025). Her shareholding is valued at around $90 million or Rs 800 crore (as of 30 September 2025).

IndiQube debuted on Dalal Street with a Rs 700 crore IPO in late July 2025. Her husband and co-founder, Rishi Das, sold shares worth Rs 50 crore as part of the offer-for-sale in the IPO.

Background & Achievements -Meghna holds an MBA in Finance from Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad. She is also a qualified Company Secretary from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. She is also the cofounder for HirePro Technologies and Ultrafine Minerals.

Over the years, she has received several accolades, including the Best Woman Performer in Business Innovations Award (2024), the Business Woman Excellence Award (2021), “Woman Entreprenuer of the Year Award” from Entreprenuer India, and the Young Achievers Award (2019) for excellence in real estate.

She has also been recognised as the Icon of Excellence at Forbes India W-Power 2025, featured among the Fortune India 100 Most Powerful Women, highlighted in Hindustan Times’ list of ‘Inspiring Figures,’ and named one of the ‘5 Startup Queens’ by India TV.

4. Namita Thapar (Emcure Pharma)

Role & achievements -Namita Thapar is the executive director of Pune-based pharmaceutical company Emcure Pharmaceuticals. Emcure has a long portfolio, manufacturing myriad medicines for an array of conditions, including A-Bec Tablet, a drug used in the treatment of HIV. She gained public recognition as an investor on the reality show Shark Tank India. 

Wealth figure - Based on the multiple media reports, Thapar’s net worth is estimated to be around Rs 600 crore.

Background - Thapar earned a Chartered Accountant (CA) qualification at ICAI and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She leads the India business of Emcure Pharma and invests in the Indian startup ecosystem.

5. Suhasini Sampath (Yogabar)

Role & journey -Suhasini Sampath co‑founded the health snack brand Yoga Bar with her sister Anindita and later co-founded FinAdvantage Consulting, a company specializing in accounting for startups. Yoga Bar became one of India’s best‑selling energy bar brands. 

Company valuation and wealth -In August 2024, ITC agreed to acquire a 39 % stake in Yoga Bar at a valuation of Rs 500 crore. Interestingly, ITC will acquire 100% stake over the next three years at the same valuation. Since Sampath co-founded the company, which generates over Rs 100 crore in annual revenue, her wealth stems from her remaining stake. 

However, there is no clear estimate of her personal net worth; based on the valuation, her stake could be worth roughly Rs 300-Rs 350 crore. 

In an interview with “Finance with Sharan” revealed that even though she owns two properties, she doesn’t put up in either of them. Instead, she lives on rent in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Education -Sampath is a Chartered Accountant (ICAI) and holds an MBA from London Business School.

6. Ghazal Alagh (Mamaearth)

Role & Achievements –Ghazal Alagh co-founded the personal-care brand Mamaearth, which focuses on toxin-free products. The company became a unicorn in 2021 and was listed on the stock market in October 2023. Notably, she also appeared as an investor on Season 1 of Shark Tank India.

Mamaearth's parent company, Honasa Consumer Ltd., also owns The Derma Co., Dr. Sheth's, Aqualogica, BBlunt, and Staze.

Wealth figure –Alagh owns a 3.06% stake in Honasa Consumer Ltd (as of June 2025). Based on the company’s market capitalisation of nearly Rs 9,300 crore, her shareholding is valued at around $31 million or Rs 280 crore (as of 30 September 2025).

Background – Alagh completed BCA from Punjab University and later attended the New York Academy of Arts. She co‑founded Mamaearth with her husband Varun Alagh in 2016.

7. Vineeta Singh (Sugar Cosmetics)

Role & achievements –Vineeta Singh is the co-founder and CEO of Sugar Cosmetics, an omnichannel cosmetics brand known for affordable, high‑quality beauty products. She became widely recognised after appearing as a judge on Shark Tank India.

Wealth figure – According to Planify, Vineeta Singh’s net worth is approximately Rs 270 crore ($30 million). She hasn’t disclosed the value of her personal investments in startups.

Background – Singh holds a BTech from IIT Madras and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. Before Sugar, she launched a beauty subscription service called Fab Bag. She is married to Kaushik Mukherjee, who helps run Sugar.

8. Upasana Taku (MobiKwik)

Role & company – Upasana Taku co‑founded MobiKwik, a digital payments and Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later (BNPL) company. She serves as the company’s chairperson and drives its payment gateway and financial products.

Wealth figure –Taku owns a 9.94% stake in One Mobikwik Systems Ltd (as of June 2025). Based on the company’s market capitalisation of nearly Rs 2,200 crore, her shareholding is valued at around $24 million or Rs 215 crore (as of 30 September 2025).

Background – Taku studied at NIT Jalandhar and earned a master’s degree in management from Stanford University. Before MobiKwik, she worked at PayPal and HSBC. She is married to Bipin Preet Singh, MobiKwik’s co‑founder.

Needless to say, India’s startup ecosystem is evolving faster than ever and women founders are no longer just part of the story; they are rewriting it. 

A recent Tracxn report shows that India is home to over 7,000 active startups with at least one woman founder, accounting for roughly 7.5% of all active startups in the country. Among those, about 2,900 have received funding, with cumulative capital crossing $26.4 billion.

The momentum is visible even at the top: women co-founders are now present in around 18% of India’s unicorns, a figure unthinkable a decade ago. 

And beyond valuations, their personal journeys highlight a broader shift. Many of these leaders started their careers in traditional corporate roles or academia before taking the leap into entrepreneurship. 

Today, several of them draw annual salaries in the range of Rs 2-5 crore, apart from the value of their equity stakes, placing them firmly among India’s highest-paid startup executives.

Yet the bigger story is not just wealth, but visibility and influence. 

When Neha Bansal, Ruchi Kalra, or Meghna Agarwal make it to the top of rich lists, they send a signal to investors, policymakers, and the next generation of founders: women-led businesses are not exceptions, they are part of India’s growth engine.