The first woman in India to lead a payments start up, Upasana Taku, has played an instrumental role in building Mobikwik as one of India’s largest digital financial services platform, with a well-entrenched network of over 3 million direct merchants and 260 million plus users. She has made an indelible mark on the startup ecosystem in India and has demonstrated what it takes to live ones dream.
Taku is widely recognised amongst the top women achievers in India, for her unfaltering contribution as the chief anchor, innovator and leader at MobiKwik. In recognition of her achievements in the tech startup ecosystem in India, Taku had featured by Forbes as one of the ‘Asia’s Women to Watch in 2016’. She was also felicitated at CNBC Young Turks Conclave 2017 with the ‘Young Business Women Award’. More recently, in August 2017, she was conferred with the ‘Best Woman Entrepreneur Award 2017’ by ASSOCHAM. She has also featured in the Fortune 40 Under 40 List in the year 2016.
She was also amongst the 112 first ladies who were recently felicitated by the President of India & was recognised as the first woman in India to lead a payments startup. Upasana has recently featured in the global list of ‘Top 100 Women in Fintech’, announced by Lattice80, a Global Fintech Hub headquartered in London, in collaboration with Miss Kaya, a lifestyle driven financial platform for the modern woman – led by Gina Heng.
Upasana comes with a strong background in payments. She has worked as a Senior Product Manager at PayPal in the Silicon Valley. She has also been associated with HSBC in San Diego, USA. In 2008 she decided to return to India and contribute to the ecosystem back home. A year later she co-founded MobiKwik.
Upasana is a Bachelor in Engineering (B.E.) from NIT Jalandhar and holds a Masters in Management Science from Stanford University. She has 13 years of experience in Payments & Financial Services and has been an entrepreneur in India for close to 9 years.
Upasana is an inspiration to many young women who are dreaming to start something of their own and become entrepreneurs. She strikes a balance between work and life with a positive attitude.