Radhika Aggarwal : Shopclues Founder is India’s 1st woman entrepreneur in the Unicorn Club

Radhika Aggarwal is the co-founder of Shopclues.com and Kindlife, her new venture that she started in 2021.

Table of contents

• Radhika Aggarwal Biography
• Radhika Aggarwal Founded Shopclues
• Radhika Aggarwal Founded Kindlife
• Other women entrepreneurs in Unicorn Club

Biography

Radhika Aggarwal was born into an Army family. Her father served in the Indian Army, while her mother worked as a dietician. Due to the nature of her father’s occupation, she attended several schools during her childhood while growing up in various locations. With an MBA from Washington University in 1999, Aggarwal graduated in public relations and advertising. She has engaged in marketing for organizations such as Nordstrom and Goldman Sachs, and has 14 years of expertise in a variety of fields including fashion, lifestyle, e-commerce and retail.

Her foray into entrepreneurship began in 1992 when her father made the decision to open his own health club. She initially worked as a fitness trainer in her father’s company.  In 1997, she opened her own advertising startup in Chandigarh. As an entrepreneur and co-founder of the online marketplace ShopClues, she is the first Indian woman to join the Unicorn Club. She is currently the Chief Business Officer of ShopClues.

Radhika Aggarwal received various accolades in 2016 including Outlook Business Woman of Worth at Outlook Business Awards, Woman Entrepreneur of the Year at Entrepreneur India Awards, Exemplary Woman Entrepreneur of the Year at CMO Asia Awards and CEO of the Year Award at CEO India Awards.

On her personal front, she met Sandeep Aggarwal in college whom she later married. But the pair ultimately divorced in 2017.

Radhika Aggarwal’s Start-ups

a) Shopclues

Radhika Aggarwal Shopclues Co Founder started a fashion and lifestyle website, Fashion Clues in 2007 which was her first independent project. Being an experienced entrepreneur by then, she launched ShopClues in 2011 with her ex-husband Sandeep Aggarwal and Sanjay Sethi. The company started as an Indian online marketplace with a team of 10, and gradually witnessed a steady increase in workforce, clientele, investment and revenue. With a $1.1 billion valuation, Shopclues became the 4^th unicorn company in India between 2015 and 2016. She is presently the co-founder of Shopclues and holds the position of CBO in the company. Shopclues got sold out in 2019 in an all-stock deal to a Singapore based company Qoo10 at a valuation of only $70-100 Million.

b) Kindlife

Radhika Aggarwal launched her new startup, Kindlife in 2021. Kindlife is regarded as a market place for organic goods from different domains. Along with a listing of available items, their website has pages and forums covering a range of subjects including nutrition, beauty, wellness and others.

Also read: Leena Nair : The youngest ever first female CEO of Luxury Brand Chanel.

Other women entrepreneurs who entered unicorn club

Women have increasingly created and owned businesses in India’s start-up ecosystem in recent years. Numerous women have joined the unicorn club by shattering the glass ceiling and leading their organizations.

• Upasana Taku

Upasana Taku and Bipin Upreet Singh founded Mobikwik, a digital payment firm in 2009. The business, which has a current valuation of $1 billion, plans to acquire Rs 1,900 crores soon.

• Falguni Nayyar

Falguni Nayyar founded Nykaa in 2012 which is the first women-led company to debut on the National Stock Exchange. It is also the first company founded by a woman to join the unicorn club in 2020. The $13 billion e-commerce company specializes in women’s lifestyle and beauty products with Nayyar serving as the Managing Director of the company.

• Divya Gokulnath

Divya Gokulnath and Byju Raveendran started Byju’s, the leading Ed-tech company in 2011. With a valuation of $21 billion, CB Insights analysis places it as the 13th most valuable company in the world. The company has obtained various Ed-tech startups throughout the years, the most recent being Aakash Institute.

• Priyanka Gill and Naiyaa Saggi

Priyanka Gill, Naiyaa Saggi and Darpan Sanghvi established The Good Glamm Group in 2015. It is the biggest content-to-conglomerate in South Asia and joined the unicorn club as the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) cosmetics and personal care company in India. The firm is valued at $1.2 billion and is home to a number of well-known brands including MyGlamm, Plixoo, Scoopwhoop, POPxo and Baby Chakra.

• Gazal Kalra

Gazal Kalra and Deepak Garg launched Rivigo in 2014 which became India’s 25th unicorn in 2019. The firm, which has its headquarters in Gurugram and serves the logistics industry, is worth more than $1.07 billion. Rivigo provides intercity long-distance service and operates on the relay-as-a-service paradigm.

Some lesser known facts about Radhika Aggarwal Shopclues & Kindlife Founder | Net Worth | Education

Also read: Top 5 Entrepreneurs That Have Transformed The Indian Start-Up Ecosystem.