When Kiran Mazumdar Shaw wanted to become a brewer like her father, she didn’t realise there would be a strong protest against women working in this industry. Through the years, Ms. Shaw realised her dream might not come true, then she decided to change course and start working with biotechnology. Despite the change in her course, she believed in her company, Biocon, which did so well, it became one of the most successful companies in India. If you have a dream and work hard to make it come true, then here are some truly inspiring lessons from Ms. Shaw:
1. Fight against the ordinary
One of the primary lessons to learn from Kiran Shaw is that in order to succeed, you should have the ability to fight against the norms. Even though she knew she would face a great deal of opposition and gender discrimination, Shaw realised she didn’t want to cut her dream short. Instead, she pushed herself and made sure that while she could not succeed in achieving her initial goal of becoming a brewster, she would pursue her dream of becoming a biochemist.
2. Don’t be afraid of criticism
More often than not, one of the things which holds us back from achieving greatness is the fear of being criticised. If Shaw had listened to people telling her she couldn’t work in the industry because she was a woman, she would have given up long ago. However, because she kept fighting back, she became the great force she is today. Start being you and stop being anyone else because you are afraid of being told you are doing things wrong.
3. Make sure you have a differentiator
An important point to remember is, when you have a unique selling point, you always stand out. Before you start your business, make sure you choose that point which sets you apart. In Shaw’s case, she chose biotechnology because when she started her Company, there weren’t many people doing what she did. This is why she quickly rose up the ladder and made people take notice!
4. Don’t be afraid to take risks
Another thing we can all learn from Shaw is, in order to stand out, you should never be afraid of taking risks. Despite having only Rs. 10,000 in her savings account, she still pursued her dreams and made them come true. While the amount seems like a lot, securing it was not an easy task. Only after breaking her savings and borrowing money from her family, Shaw secured the funds to start Biocon. Not only did she manage to prove everyone around her that women can do it all, she also showed people that taking risks is an extremely important factor required to succeed.
5. Focus on innovation
When Shaw started Biocon, she realised there were very few people, let alone women, working in this industry. She saw the opportunity to create a truly unique niche for herself and by innovating on the idea she had, she created a phenomenon with her Company. From the very first day, she started working on changing the course of biochemistry and because of her Company, there are now several ways to cure multiple conditions like diabetes, for example.
From having nothing to having an entire Countrylove her Company, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is leading a truly inspiring life. If you learnt other lessons from this great leader, comment and let us know!
MobiKwik is venturing into the stock broking sector with the launch of its subsidiary, MobiKwik Securities Broking Private Limited (MSBPL), following approval from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on March 3, 2025. This move aims to diversify MobiKwik’s offerings beyond its core digital payments services and compete with established players like Zerodha and Groww.
MSBPL will provide a range of brokerage services, including trading in shares, securities, commodities, and derivatives. The subsidiary has an initial capital of Rs 1 lakh, with plans for an additional Rs 2 crore investment to support its operations.
As MobiKwik enters this competitive market, it brings a substantial user base of 172 million and a merchant network of 5 million. Despite recent financial challenges, including a reported loss of Rs 55.2 crore in Q3 FY25, the company aims to leverage its existing infrastructure and user engagement to capture a share of the growing investment technology market, projected to reach $74 billion by 2030.
This strategic expansion aligns with MobiKwik’s broader goals of enhancing its financial service
Nazara Technologies has sold its entire 71.54% stake in Sports Unity Private Limited, the company behind the multiplayer quiz game ‘Qunami’, for INR 7.15 lakh. This divestment, effective March 25, 2025, signifies a strategic shift for Nazara, which had previously acquired a controlling interest in Sports Unity in 2019 for INR 7.5 crore.
The decision to offload the stake comes as Sports Unity has faced financial difficulties, reporting no active business operations and a negative net worth of INR 0.45 crore at the end of FY24. This move aligns with Nazara’s broader strategy to streamline its operations and concentrate on more profitable ventures within the gaming sector.
This sale follows Nazara’s recent divestment of a 94.85% stake in another subsidiary, Open Play, to Moonshine Technologies for INR 104.33 crore. Despite reporting record quarterly revenue of INR 544.7 crore in Q3 FY25, Nazara experienced a 53.5% decline in net profit year-over-year.
Nazara continues to focus on enhancing its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and investments in high-potential gaming platforms while navigating the competitive landscape of the gaming industry.
Hypergro.ai, a Bengaluru-based marketing technology startup, has raised Rs 7 crore in seed funding led by Silverneedle Ventures, with participation from Huddle, TDV Partners, HME Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, FiiRE, and angel investors. Founded in 2022 by Rituraj Biswas, Neha Soman, Abhijeet Kumar, and Arijit Mukhopadhyay, the company aims to revolutionize digital marketing by addressing challenges like high Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) and low Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
The startup leverages AI to create hyper-personalized video ads using user-generated content (UGC). The fresh capital will be used to enhance Hypergro.ai’s AI capabilities, expand operations, and build a specialized team focusing on data analysis, predictive algorithms, and automation.
Since its inception, Hypergro.ai has collaborated with over 70 brands, including several from Shark Tank India. The company’s innovative approach has led to its selection for Google’s Startups Accelerator: AI First (India) program in July 2024, providing access to critical training, mentorship, and state-of-the-art AI tools.
Hypergro.ai’s platform now supports a community of over 300,000 creators across India and has partnered with more than 100 brands, significantly enhancing its AI model’s accuracy and improving revenue generation for clients. As it continues to expand and refine its AI-powered marketing solutions, Hypergro.ai is set to transform the digital advertising landscape, offering businesses more effective and efficient customer acquisition and engagement strategies.