Shradha Sharma
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Shradha Sharma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | |
| Education | |
| Occupations | Journalist, entrepreneur |
| Known for | Founder and CEO of YourStory Media |
| Title | Founder and CEO, YourStory Media; Founder, The Bharat Project |
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Shradha Sharma is an Indian journalist and entrepreneur. She is the founder and chief executive officer of YourStory Media, a Bengaluru-based digital media platform focused on startups and entrepreneurship, which she launched in 2008.[1][2] She is a member of the Government of India's National Startup Advisory Council[3] and served as a chair of Startup20, the startup engagement group constituted under India's G20 presidency in 2023.[4] In 2025, she launched The Bharat Project, an initiative aimed at supporting entrepreneurs from non-metro India.[5]
Early life and education
[edit]Sharma was born and raised in Patna, Bihar.[1][6] She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in history from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and subsequently completed a programme at the Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) in 2004.[7]
Career
[edit]Early career in media
[edit]Sharma began her career in media and brand management. She worked as a brand advisor at The Times of India from 2006 to 2007, and then as an assistant vice president at CNBC-TV18 from 2007 to 2009.[7][6] During her time in television journalism, she observed that mainstream business media largely covered established corporations, while the stories of early-stage entrepreneurs went untold, an insight that led her to begin profiling startup founders.[6]
YourStory
[edit]Sharma founded YourStory in 2008 as a digital platform publishing stories of Indian startups and entrepreneurs.[1] She launched the venture with ₹2 lakh (US$2,100) of her own money as seed capital, and the company remained bootstrapped for its first seven years.[1][2] In 2009, she left her position at CNBC-TV18 to work on the platform full-time.[6]
In August 2015, YourStory raised its first external funding, a Series A round led by Kalaari Capital with participation from Qualcomm Ventures, T. V. Mohandas Pai and Ratan Tata.[2][8] The company said it would use the funds to launch a mobile-first portal publishing original stories in Indian regional languages including Hindi, Telugu, Bangla, Kannada, Tamil and Marathi.[8] In February 2017, the company raised a Series B round of about ₹20 crore (US$2.1 million) led by the UC-RNT Fund, a joint fund of the University of California and Ratan Tata's RNT Associates, alongside Kalaari Capital, marking the UC-RNT Fund's first investment in India.[9] In October 2017, YourStory raised a further ₹40 crore (US$6 million) in a round led by the UC-RNT Fund, Kalaari Capital, 3one4 Capital and Qualcomm Ventures.[10]
Under Sharma's leadership, YourStory grew into one of India's largest startup-focused media platforms, operating verticals including HerStory, SocialStory and YourStory Research, and organising ecosystem events including its flagship annual conference TechSparks.[10][11]
Public policy roles
[edit]Sharma contributed to the formulation of the Government of India's Startup India policy in 2015.[4] In January 2021, she was nominated as a non-official member of the National Startup Advisory Council, constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to advise the government on measures to build a strong startup ecosystem.[3] She was re-nominated when the council was reconstituted in December 2023.[12]
During India's presidency of the G20 in 2023, Sharma served in the leadership of Startup20, the G20's engagement group on startups, with a focus on inclusion.[4]
The Bharat Project
[edit]In April 2025, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal launched The Bharat Project, a national initiative by YourStory founded by Sharma, aimed at supporting one million entrepreneurs from Tier 2, Tier 3 and rural India.[5] The initiative includes an AI-powered platform for entrepreneurs offering guidance in Hindi and English, district-level activations, a nationwide "Bharat Ideathon" challenge, and a web documentary series titled Shuru-kar.[5]
Books
[edit]Sharma co-authored India Handpicked with Chhavi Mahajan, a book spotlighting the Government of India's One District One Product (ODOP) initiative and Indian craft traditions. The book was launched in September 2025 by Union Minister Piyush Goyal.[13]
Recognition
[edit]- Featured on Fortune India's "40 Under 40" list of entrepreneurs in India for three consecutive years.[14]
- Forbes India W-Power Trailblazers, 2018.[1][14]
- Featured on LinkedIn's Power Profiles list of most-viewed professionals in India in 2016 and 2017.[14][15]
Personal life
[edit]Sharma lives in Bengaluru, Karnataka.[7]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 "Shradha Sharma". Forbes India. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Ratan Tata reads YourStory, and writes a cheque for it". Business Standard. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 "Nomination of members to the National Startup Advisory Council" (Press release). Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Meet the Leaders of Startup20 India 2023". Startup20 India. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Union Minister Piyush Goyal Launches 'The Bharat Project' To Empower One Million Entrepreneurs From Rural And Tier 2, Tier 3 India". The Free Press Journal. 22 April 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Shradha Sharma: The Visionary Behind YourStory, Giving Entrepreneurs a Voice". Sovrenn. 23 October 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Shradha Sharma – Founder & CEO at YourStory". StartupTalky. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 "YourStory raises Series A funding". afaqs!. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ Sen, Sumanta (February 2017). "Of Ratan Tata, YourStory and the Media". The Ken. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 "YourStory raises ₹40 crore funding from UC-RNT Fund, Kalaari Capital and others". The Indian Wire. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Online publications The Ken and YourStory raise funding". MediaNama. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Govt reconstitutes national startup advisory council; nominates 31 non-official members". Deccan Herald. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "India Handpicked: Latest Book by YourStory's Shradha Sharma Spotlights India's One District One Product Initiative". The Week. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Shradha Sharma – Investor Profile". PitchBook. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Analyzing the trends of India's LinkedIn Power Profiles: Honorees for 2016 and 2017". LinkedIn Pulse. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
External links
[edit]- [sharmashradha Shradha Sharma] on LinkedIn