Ananya Birla
Ananya Birla is an entrepreneur and musician. She is the founder of Svatantra Microfinance, a company that provides microfinance to woman in rural India.[1] She is also founder of CuroCarte[2] and cofounder of Mpower.[3] Birla has received awards for her work and entrepreneurship, including the ET Panache Trendsetters of 2016 award for Young Business Person.[4] She is the eldest child and daughter of industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and Neerja Birla and the sixth generation scion of the Birla family.[5] In 2016, Birla made her music debut with the international release of her single ‘Livin The Life’.[6]
Early life
Ananya Birla developed an interest in music at an early age, learning to play the santoor at the age of eleven.[7] She read economics and management at University of Oxford, United Kingdom.[8]
Career
Ananya Birla founded Svatantra Microfinance at the age of 17. The organisation makes small loans to women entrepreneurs based in rural India. As of April 2016, the company had more than 600 employees across 70 branches in four Indian states.[9] Under her leadership, Svatantra won the Gold Award for Best Start-Up (Skoch Financial Inclusion and Deepening Awards, 2014), Spirituality @ Work: Sach Bharat Samman (Sach Bharat Confluence 2015) and has maintained a quality loan portfolio, offering one of the lowest interest rates in the country.[10] Birla is also the Co-Chairperson of ASSOCHAM’s Microfinance Council of India.[11]
In 2016, Birla became the founder and CEO of CuroCarte, an inventory-based global luxury ecommerce platform.[12]
Musical Career
Ananya plays the guitar and the santoor. While at university, Ananya started singing and playing the guitar at pubs and clubs. She also began writing her own music.[13] Birla’s track ‘I Don’t Want to Love’ caught the attention of Universal Music India where she was eventually signed.[14] Her debut single, ‘Livin’ the Life’, was co-written, and produced, by Jim Beanz (who previously collaborated with Nelly Furtado, Cheryl Cole and Demi Lovato) and was recorded and produced at a studio in Philadelphia.[15]
Campaign Work
While in England, Birla became aware of a student helpline that supported young people suffering from anxiety and depression.[16]
After university, she returned to India and set-up – along with her mother – a mental health initiative called MPower aiming to stamp out the stigma towards people with mental illness across India. MPower is also responsible for opening a treatment centre for children suffering from mental health conditions.[17]
- ^ Chaudhary, Deepti (29 October 2015). "Ananya Birla: Her father's daughter". Forbes India.
- ^ "Ananya Birla ventures into luxury ecommerce business with CuroCarte". Forbes India. 8 September 2016.
- ^ "MPower urges India to #StampOutStigma on mental health". Campaign India. 19 February 2016.
- ^ "ET Panache Trendsetter Awards 2016: Ananya Birla wins the Trendsetting Young Business Person Award". The Economic Times. 25 October 2016.
- ^ Chaudhary, Deepti (29 October 2015). "Ananya Birla: Her father's daughter". Forbes India.
- ^ "Ananya Birla is India's newest musician on the block". Vogue India. 11 November 2016.
- ^ "Birla heiress hits the high note with musical debut". The Hindu BusinessLine. 25 October 2016.
- ^ "Meet India's Young & Successful Heiresses". Pursuitist.
- ^ "Making her Mark: Ananya Birla" (PDF). IndianCEO. April 2016.
- ^ "Ananya Birla paves her own path". IndianCEO. 27 September 2016.
- ^ "Young Business Woman 2016". CNBC TV18.
- ^ "Ananya Birla ventures into luxury ecommerce business with CuroCarte". Forbes India. 8 September 2016.
- ^ "Ananya Birla is India's newest musician on the block". Vogue India. 11 November 2016.
- ^ "Ananya Birla set to launch her debut single". Mid-Day. 12 November 2016.
- ^ "Ananya Birla launched a single in collaboration with Afrojack and Jim Beanz". Hindustan Times. 14 November 2016.
- ^ "What's in a name: I want to build my own legacy says Ananya Birla". India Today. 13 May 2016.
- ^ "Mpower homepage". Retrieved 23 January 2017.