“My work at SHEROES is built on two core insights: first, technology is a massive enabler, and second, women are not getting seats at the table.”
Sairee Chahal is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and advocate for women’s internet initiatives. As the founder of SHEROES, an online platform providing support, entrepreneurial opportunities, and employment resources for women, she has been empowering women since 1999.
Chahal is also associated with Mahila Money, a community neobank catering to women’s financial needs. In terms of what they do, Sairee says,
“Mahila Money is fuelling the growth of women entrepreneurs by reimagining their engagement as consumers of financial services.”
Her influence extends to the boardrooms of organisations like the Milaan Foundation and Paytm Payments Bank.
Globally recognised for her achievements, Chahal is an Aspen Leadership Fellow and a Braddock Scholar, with accolades including the Devi Award, Femina Achievers Award, and the Cartier Award.
She has been featured in Business Today’s Most Powerful Women in Indian Business and is an Editor’s choice for L’Oreal Femina Women’s Award. MIT SPR recently interviewed Ms. Chahal, delving into topics such as female entrepreneurship and relevant policies.
Getting started
In a candid interview, Sairee once shared that her foray into entrepreneurship was quite unexpected. Moreover, what set the stage for her career was her experience working with a company from concept to exit.
Inspired by successful social movements like Amul and cooperative microfinance institutions, she envisioned SHEROES as a technology-backed platform for women, leveraging the existing social network.
As shared by her, SHEROES’ initial focus was supposed to focus on a jobs and careers community for women seeking flexible work opportunities. Eventually, it turned into a broader women-exclusive platform.
Today, SHEROES is a high-trust online space catering to the cultural preference for “women-only” environments prevalent in India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.
Sairee’s community
Sairee Chahal’s profound insight into the challenges faced by women offline led her to leverage technology as a means of empowerment. In India, where women often face scrutiny in various aspects of life, Chahal recognised the transformative potential of a mobile device. For women with a mobile device, agency multiplies, offering them a space where they have control over their lives. Sairee highlights,
“The need for safety is a very big ask. A lot of people told us ‘you are shrinking your market size by limiting it to women,’ but that fundamentally dilutes the value we offer to this user. One of the most unique things we do is we run a free counseling helpline. It doesn’t make business sense rationally, but it is our way to tell our community, ‘We care. This is a safe space. This is a place of trust. And these are things that are important to us.’”
Chahal identifies a shared aspiration cutting across demographics, age, and class divisions in India, a collective desire to do something, encapsulated in the line “मैंकुछ करना चाहती हूं” (“I want to do something”).
The user base
SHEROES predominantly caters to a user base residing in rural and peri-urban areas, with 20-30% in metros. The platform’s users, aged between 21 to 45, are predominantly educated graduates, married, and often mothers.
Operating in small towns where job opportunities are limited and safety is a concern, these women view having children as a form of newfound freedom. Many married women with children seek additional avenues for personal and professional growth, often applying for loans to acquire smartphones or laptops. Sairee notes,
“We are actually an entrepreneurial country; more women are entrepreneurial than men because there are still more men in the informal workforce than women. Within SHEROES, beauty and related sectors are massive; they are the biggest forms of micro-entrepreneurship. They’ve gone mobile thanks to salon-in-a-box kind of things.”
