Renegades, Issue 13: Anu Duggal (Founder, Investor)

Championing women founders and brands to global heights

Anu Duggal

Founding Partner
Female Founders Fund

Welcome to Renegades, a series spotlighting Asian Pacific leaders and creatives who are carving their own paths and defying stereotypes along the way.

This week, we're featuring Anu Duggal, the Founding Partner of the Female Founders Fund. Anu shares with us her entrepreneurial ventures in wine, South Asian luxury fashion e-commerce, and Bollywood fitness, the motivation behind Female Founders Fund, and the qualities she looks for when investing and championing women-founded brands.

What did you want to be when you were growing up, and how does that compare to what you do today?

I've been entrepreneurial from a young age starting with my first lemonade stand at the age of 8. Now, when I look at the work we do at Female Founders Fund, it combines entrepreneurship with impact and resonates with me on multiple levels. It allows me to delve into various aspects that inspire me, such as identifying and tracking cultural shifts, collaborating with exceptional founders, fostering connections, driving diversity and change within an industry, and creating an ecosystem of incredible women who are shaping the future of companies.

Your professional background includes co-founding and leading organizations, such as the South Asian luxury clothing site, Exclusively.In, and Doonya, the Bollywood-focused dance and fitness company. How did your Asian Pacific identity shape your career path? 

Having spent my formative years in Hong Kong and Tokyo, I was exposed to different cultural perspectives on entrepreneurship and varying definitions of success at a young age. Regular visits to India while growing up highlighted the immense opportunities within the burgeoning middle-class consumer market and the vibrancy of Indian culture, spanning movies, music, food, fashion, and art. Additionally, my passion for the food industry & time spent working at a cooking school in France fueled my decision to move to India and start India's first wine bar at the age of 24. After completing business school in 2008, when e-commerce models like Gilt, One Kings Lane, and Rent The Runway gained prominence, I returned to India to co-found Exclusively.In, the first e-commerce player in India to bring globally renowned Indian brands online.

Your first entrepreneurial venture was a wine tasting room in Bombay. What are some notable differences or similarities of being a woman entrepreneur in both India and the United States?

Starting a company is challenging, but doing so in a country like India presents even greater obstacles in many ways. The basic infrastructure that we often take for granted in the United States, such as reliable electricity and water supply, can be a major challenge in India. Additionally, the wine business in India faces heightened scrutiny and regulations, particularly regarding licensing. Overall, being a woman entrepreneur in India requires navigating unique hurdles, but it also presents opportunities for growth and impact given the massive consumer market. 

As a woman founder and entrepreneur, you champion fellow women in the startup and venture capital space through the Female Founders Fund. How does this fund approach promoting diversity, not only in terms of gender but also in other aspects of underrepresented entrepreneurship?

At Female Founders Fund, we have curated a portfolio of over 70 companies led by female founders, with successful exits of companies like Billie, Bento Box, and Eloquii over the past eight years. We take pride in our track record of investing in women, but our commitment to diversity extends beyond gender. We actively seek out and support female founders who are Black, Latinx, LGBTQ+, and from other underrepresented backgrounds. By consistently tracking metrics related to our investments, we ensure transparency and accountability. We believe that the face of entrepreneurship should reflect the diversity of society as a whole.

What are one or two companies that you believe exemplify the Female Founder Fund’s mission and have achieved significant growth or impact? 

Two companies that immediately come to mind are Maven Clinic and Tala. We invested in Maven in 2014 pre-launch,  captivated by Kate Ryder's mission to create a patient-centric healthcare solution leveraging technology for women. At that time, the concept of women's healthcare as a venture capital category was virtually non-existent. Witnessing Maven's rise as the market leader, currently valued at $1.35 billion, has been extraordinary. Furthermore, this success has paved the way for more venture-backed businesses in areas like fertility, maternity, pediatrics, menopause, and beyond. Kate has not only proven the market for women's healthcare investment but has also catalyzed the emergence of a new category within venture capital.

The second company is Tala, a mobile lending platform targeting the unbanked consumers in emerging markets. From day one, Shivani had a big vision to bring financial services to millions of individuals who lack access to traditional banking resources, utilizing data and technology to establish creditworthiness. Today, Tala has facilitated $4 billion in loan origination for 8 million customers in Kenya, Mexico, India, and the Philippines.

Both Shivani and Kate are incredibly resilient sole founders, driven by their visions and have built teams of over 500+. They have demonstrated that it is possible to build big businesses and drive change by leveraging technology to provide access to underserved populations.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone branching out into the startup or VC space?

One valuable piece of advice I would offer to someone venturing into the startup or VC space is to invest in building a professional network of peers and mentors. Throughout my career, I have consistently sought out industry experts and surrounded myself with individuals who can provide guidance and advice. This applies across various work experiences, from hospitality and fashion to venture capital. By learning from those who have walked the path before us, we can gain invaluable insights and avoid common pitfalls. Additionally, a strong network can open doors to new opportunities, partnerships, and support systems that are crucial for success in this dynamic and rapidly evolving landscape.

What are you currently working on that’s exciting you the most? 
Outside of work, I'm currently finding great joy and inspiration in spending time working on my garden this summer. With over 150 plant species, it has become a constant source of delight and creativity. Not only does it serve as a relaxing outlet, but it also fuels my passion for nature and beauty.

Lightning Round

Daily habit
Sunscreen & 12 glasses of water every day

Most productive time of day
Early morning

Favorite city to visit
Paris

What are you currently reading?
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Varghese

Favorite gardening hack?
Instead of yanking new flowers or shrubs out of their plastic pots by their stems, use a sharp knife to cut down two sides of the pot to avoid tearing roots when re-potting. 

Red or white wine?
Champagne :)