HTLS: Market ecosystem extremely male-centric, says MobiKwik COO Upasana Taku

Upasana Taku, the co-founder of digital payments company MobiKwik, that this year and the years to come will create a new story for tech start-ups in India, and a positive one. She was speaking on Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS) to Shruti Mishra, Deputy Editor, CNBC-TV18.

“The journey has been quite interesting. I think there’s a lot of process involved but my key learning while preparing for the IPO was that private market investors have a slightly different lens than public market investors. Investors in the capital market are looking for companies where the business model is very clear, the financial performance has been demonstrated year over year and there is a clear path to profitability,” said Taku.

She added that it was her pleasure to bring the Mobikwik story to the world, having been following a sustainable growth strategy for four-five years.

“One thing is, however, common – between private markets and public markets. It is still very a male-centric ecosystem. As a founder of a tech company, I can tell you that it is going to become easier as we go forward. I hope there are more women-led companies that come to that capital market,” said Taku.

Talking about Mobikwik IPO, she said that investors will provide the right valuation to the right companies. “Like the say that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, the capital markets will also be in the hands of investors,” said Taku.

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Delving on the issue on less women-led start-ups, Taku said it’s an exhilarating journey. “Thinking of doing a start-up, coming up with the idea, getting a team – it’s a completely different experience. For me, it has been the most exhilarating life experience.”

Talking about her own experience, Taku said that she has been construed as being the EA, the HR manager, the receptionist, the sales person “everything else except the founder of the company”. “After you reach a certain scale, that possibly changes. But overcoming all of that requires a lot of grit and perseverance. You break quite a few ceilings doing that. I hope that inspires more women to follow the path.”

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She then spoke about how and why it is so tough to launch a start-up. “The start-up journey is dozens of people telling you to turn back. But despite all of that, you keep going forward. Building Mobikwik is like that for me - against all odds, Bipin and I decided to go ahead with a digital wallet in 2009. Imaging, the whole would have thought we are crazy because India was a completely cash driven economy at that time. Bu lo and behold, India today has 250-300 million digitally paying users and if I could say, 100 million or more are on our platform,” the entrepreneur said.

There are opportunities for founders to set their vision and build their company to their liking, she added.