“There are not many musicians from India who are working internationally in pop. My aim is to change that and show the world that we have so much more to offer.”
Ananya Birla, 30, the eldest child of billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, is the director of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.
Entry into Family Business
Apart from her role as the director of Aditya Birla Fashion, Ananya is also the founder of Svatantra Microfin, a company aimed at providing microfinance to women from rural areas. She said,
“Svatantra was the very first company that I founded with a vision to provide financial services to every woman in every corner of Bharat, to bank the unbanked.”
One of her recent works includes introducing Sophius, the beta version of the AI platform that plans to expand nationally. Apart from this, she is also associated with several other Aditya Birla Group companies, such as Grasim and Hindalco.
Looking back on her journey, regarding the expectations of being a 5th-generation entrepreneur, she reveals,
“I think all the expectations are self-imposed. No one has made me feel that pressure; I have done it to myself.”
Ananya’s Background
Ananya or Ananyashree Birla made her first single debut in the year 2016, and since then, Ananya has collaborated with names like Sean Kingston, Afrojack, and Mood Melodies.
Ananya is an alumnus of the American School of Bombay, Mumbai, and has also studied at the University of Oxford, England.
She was also the first Indian to sign with Maverick Management in Los Angeles back in 2020. Some of her major milestones include winning the ET Panache Trendsetters of 2016 award for Young Business Person and getting listed as one of GQ’s Most Influential Indians of 2018.
Birla’s musical talent has crossed international boundaries, accumulating an impressive total of over 350 million combined streams. Her noteworthy achievement lies in being the inaugural Indian artist to attain platinum status in India for an English-language single. However, Ananya has faced a lot of prejudice against her talent due to her family name. She opens up,
“Every single A&R in the music world that I met said, ‘Drop your last name. No one’s going to want to listen to your music.’ And I’m like, ‘You know what? This is who I am. I am a Birla.”
The singer, however, announced in 2024 that she would be leaving her music career to focus more on her businesses. Till now, Ananya has tried on many hats, and the journey has not been easy at all. She shares,
“I think I’m still trying to figure out the best way to balance it all. Every day is a new challenge, every day looks a little bit different, and that’s what keeps me going as well.
Creating Impact
Svatantra Microfin successfully finalised the acquisition of Chaitanya India Fin Credit. With combined assets under management (AUM) soaring to Rs 12,409 crore, Svatantra Microfin now serves an extensive base of over 3.6 million active customers.
Apart from Svatantra Microfin, Ananya Birla is also dedicated to creating an impact across diverse social domains.
With the hope of achieving much more in the future, she shares a note with entrepreneurs:
“It’s your life. Live it on your own terms because, at the end of the day, when you go to sleep, it’s just you and your pillow. The human condition is meant to be messy, and the sooner we embrace that, the more we can make of it. Personally, I have learned and grown the most through tough times. I don’t believe life is black and white; instead, it’s filled with shades of grey, and it’s okay not to be okay in that grey. If you feel a certain way, it’s important to embrace it.”
Quotes taken from several of Ananya Birla’s interviews.
