Women

Voices

The latest voices stories from the Women desk.

Neha Narkhede — The Pune‑Born Engineer Who Co‑Created Apache Kafka and Built a ₹70,000 Crore Tech Empire

From an engineering college in Pune to co‑creating Apache Kafka at LinkedIn and founding Confluent — a data streaming platform valued at over ₹70,000 crore — Neha Narkhede’s journey is a masterclass in technical entrepreneurship. This article chronicles how a young woman from Maharashtra navigated the male‑dominated world of Silicon Valley deep tech, co‑founded one of the most influential enterprise software companies of the past decade, and continues to reshape fintech security with her subsequent venture, Oscilar. We analyze her technical contributions to open‑source infrastructure, her leadership as CTO of Confluent, and her recognition as one of Forbes’ America’s Richest Self‑Made Women.

Women

Motherhood, Money and the Modern Indian Workplace: How Women Are Rewriting the Rules of Leadership and Independence

Motherhood increasingly appears reshaping workplace leadership conversations, raising broader questions around financial systems, professional identity and how capability itself gets recognized.

Women

Sollisai Sistahs: The All-Women Rap Crew From Tamil Nadu Taking On Caste, Misogyny and Climate Injustice

Born out of an eviction in Chennai, Sollisai Sistahs has become one of the most distinctive voices in Tamil hip-hop, fusing parai drums with street rap to confront caste, patriarchy, menstrual taboos and the climate crisis.

Women

UN Marks First-Ever International Day of the World's Indigenous Women and Girls

The United Nations observed the first-ever International Day of the World's Indigenous Women and Girls on September 5, recognising their role in preserving culture, biodiversity and community knowledge.

Women

From a ₹7,500 Phone to a Crore-Rupee Empire: The Kaushalya Chaudhary Story

In 2017, a homemaker in a small Rajasthan village picked up a smartphone that cost ₹7,500. She had no formal business training, no investors, no pitch deck, and no idea what a "startup" even meant. All she had was a kitchen, a cardboard box stand, some aluminium wire, and a dream that seemed impossible in a village where women were told to stay indoors. Today, she is the founder of Sidhi Marwadi—a clean-food brand with 50 outlets, a turnover running into crores, and a global customer base. Her YouTube channel has over 1.6 million subscribers. Her products are reaching homes across the world. And she is empowering 35+ rural women—giving them jobs, dignity, and a future they never imagined. This is the story of Kaushalya Chaudhary. And it is a story that proves one thing: in India, if you have the will, even a ₹7,500 phone can build a crore-rupee empire.

Women

Google and Women in Film India Launch an AI Filmathon, With Five Films Headed to IFFI Goa

Women in Film India, led by Guneet Monga Kapoor, has partnered with Google to launch the WIF India × Google Flow Filmathon, inviting filmmakers to make original AI-assisted films; the top five will screen at IFFI Goa in November.

Women

African Female Founders Face Persistent Funding Gap as Grants Offer an Alternate Path

Less than 1 percent of total venture capital raised in Africa in 2025 went to female founders, according to industry data, prompting renewed calls for founders to combine grants and equity strategically.

Women

All-Female Founding Teams Received Just 2.3% of Global VC in 2024, Data Shows Persistent Funding Gap

New data shows all-female founding teams captured just 2.3% of global venture capital in 2024, even as female entrepreneurship rises broadly — a gap that highlights how far the venture ecosystem remains from parity.

Women

Nearly Half Of India's Recognised Startups Now Have A Woman Director Or Partner, Government Data Shows

Government data shows 1,02,054 of India's 2,12,283 recognised startups have at least one woman director or partner, with ₹2,995 crore in AIF funding for women-led ventures.