P ro f i L e s
MaLLika sriniVasan
Chairman & CEO, TAFE
Co-founder & Director, MobiKwik In 2009, Bipin Preet Singh was planning to set up MobiKwik to offer users a safe and easy method for making online payments. Upasana Taku, who had returned to India after working as a senior product manager at PayPal, joined him as co-founder in the venture. Originally launched as a mobile recharge website out of a small flat in Dwarka, New Delhi, MobiKwik has become the country’s largest independent mobile-payments network with over 30 million users and is accepted by over 1,00,000 online and offline retailers. Taku is focused on widening MobiKwik’s scope of services. It currently has 1,00,000 touch points across 1,000 cities where users can go to deposit cash in their MobiKwik wallet. Taku aims to reach 150 million users over the next two years—five times more that its present base. A move in that direction is evident with the recently launched lighter version of the MobiKwik app to benefit users on 2G connections and phones with less processing ability. Stanford-educated Taku believes that the scope for innovation in technology is still vast: “We don’t have an Indian version of Whatsapp or Facebook, and we, as a community of entrepreneurs, need to work towards making this a reality.” AT
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raDhika Ghai aGGarwaL
Co-founder, ShopClues Ghai Aggarwal has the rare honour of being the first woman entrepreneur to have a new-age Indian company cross a billion dollars ( 6,600 crore) in revenue. Her Gurgaon-headquartered firm was established in 2011 and reached the magic milestone in just five years. An online retail platform, which Ghai Aggarwal describes as being close to the concept of Walmart, ShopClues offers cost-effective shopping options to price-conscious masses. “Our customers are not brand-driven but value-driven,” she says. Nearly 60 percent of the company’s orders are in the categories of home, fashion and kitchen wave. In a single month, the e-commerce venture ships over 3.5 million items and experiences a traffic of more than 100 million—of which 70 percent comes via mobile. Ghai Aggarwal wasn’t new to retail when she co-founded ShopClues with her husband, former analyst Sanjeev Aggarwal, and Sanjay Sethi of e-Bay, having worked at upscale fashion retailer Nordstrom in the early 2000s. About the online marketplace, Ghai Aggarwal believes it has ventured beyond the metros and that ShopClues has provided a platform for tier-two cities to access online products and services. PG
photograph: gEtty iMagES
UPasana takU
Recognised as a visionary leader in the agricultural-machinery sector, Srinivasan is committed to the growth of the industry. Elected the Chairman and CEO of TAFE (Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited) in 2011, she has been at the forefront of remarkable growth in the field. Having been with the company for over 25 years, Srinivasan has played a vital role in establishing TAFE as a manufacturer of high-quality tractors, expanding its portfolio of products and building its manufacturing capabilities. The Chennai-headquartered firm has also invested in agricultural-equipment manufacturers from around the world. What began with a single tractor model in 1961 has now grown into a global business, becoming India’s second-largest—and the world’s third-largest—manufacturer of farm equipment. In 2005, Srinivasan led TAFE to acquire the tractor, engine and gears division of Eicher Motors in a bid to not just expand, but gain a stronger hold on the market for farm equipment. The firm reported sale of 1,50,000 tractors annually across more than 85 countries around the world. Acknowledged as a business leader with an eye for detail and exacting standards of excellence, Srinivasan believes that success lies in a hands-on approach, having a passion for the work, and also a focus on sustainability. Her steadfast approach and invaluable contribution in making TAFE a brand to be reckoned with has earned her the moniker of ‘tractor queen’. PG
18/11/16 8:00 pm