Ladies Who Lead raises seed funding from Akasa Air co-founder Aditya Ghosh

Platform for India's top and emerging women leaders appoints him as Chief Mentor

Ladies Who Lead, a members-only platform for India’s top and emerging women leaders, has raised seed funding from industry leader and entrepreneur Aditya Ghosh and also appointed him as Chief Mentor. The quantum funding was not revealed in a press release issued by the platform.

Ladies Who Lead provides access to carefully curated monthly calendars with panels, talks, and more. These experiences are safe spaces for female leaders to share their experiences and collaborate for growth, the press release said.

Its notable members include Anjali Singh, MD-Deutsche Bank, Sakshi Chopra, Managing Director- Sequoia Capital, Tara Singh Vachani- Executive Chairperson, Mallika Sadani, Founder & CEO-The Moms Co. and Preeta Sukhtankar-CEO & Founder - The Label Life.

Aabha Bakaya, Founder, Ladies Who Lead, was quoted in press release as saying, “We are thrilled to have Aditya Ghosh join our platform that endeavours to encourage outstanding female leaders constantly making a difference in their respective fields. A pioneer, committed to excellence in every venture he undertakes. Aditya’s presence will not only add distinction but also open doors to a plethora of experiences and cognizance from diverse fields for our women founders.”  

Ghosh is the co-founder of Akasa Air, the airline along with Vinay Dube and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.

He is also the founder of Homage Advisers, Homage Ventures (the company that extended the seed funding to Ladies Who Lead), Homage Foundation and Homage Aviation.

Ghosh currently sits on the Board of Directors at Fabindia and OYO and is also the chairperson of SEWA Central, working with the social enterprises of Self-Employed Women’s Association, the Social Enterprise Central body of SEWA - a member-based organisation of 1.9 million self-employed women across the rural and urban sectors.

Ghosh has been a strong advocate of creating diversity at workplaces and supporting Women-led businesses as well as creating opportunities for women leaders.He has invested in a number of women founded and led ventures such Slurrpfarm, CreditEnable, Juggernaut and Blue Tokai.

Ghosh said in the press release, “I have been observing Ladies Who Lead from a distance for some time now and have nothing but respect and admiration for all that they have achieved in such a short period of time. I have also known Aabha Bakaya for over two decades now and there could not be a more passionate and capable leader who is so committed about the mission of supporting and encouraging women leaders.”

He added, “At Homage, we have a positive bias towards partnering with women leaders and entrepreneurs across sectors. We aspire to serve as a catalyst in creating an army of women leaders. I am delighted to have the opportunity to not only participate in LWL as a key investor but also thrilled to have the privilege of serving as the Chief Mentor.”