Kiran Mazumdar shaw is nicknamed as the ”BioTech queen of India” by the prestigious newspaper, The Economist. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from Bangalore and then went abroad to Australia to study brewing and soon qualified as a master brewer.

The turning point of her life came in 1978 when she joined as a trainee manager in an Ireland firm, Biocon Biochemicals Limited. She then collaborated with the same Irish firm establishing, the now famous company, Biocon India with a meagre capital of just 10,000 Rupees in her garage in the same year, 1978.

Initial Hurdles:

When Kiran Mazumdar Shaw approached for bank loans to sustain her business, she was rejected for 3 reasons:

1. She was a woman and since woman entrepreneurs are a rarity, the bank officials were not in a position to have a favourable opinion about her business prospects.

2. Biotechnology, in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s was yet unheard.

3. Her company lacked reliable assets.

But, she did not waver. She persevered and conquered all the odds. The initial operation she undertook was to extract an enzyme from papaya. From then on there was no looking back. Today Biocon has an unbeatable lead in the area of biotechnology and is the biggest biopharmaceutical firm in India.

In 2004, Biocon went for an IPO and the issue was over-subscribed by over 30 times. Post-IPO, Shaw held close to 40% of the stock of the company and was regarded as India’s richest woman with an estimated worth of Rs. 2,100 crore (~U.S. $ 480 million).

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