The sixth Devi Katyayani is incarnated in the Janani Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. A girl from Pune who went on to become the 10 most powerful CEO of the world. The journey that will. Inspire many women entrepreneurs to walk her path.
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I was born in a family of Mazumdar and my father Rasendra Mazumdar was a brewmaster for India based United Breweries. I always a had a liking towards brewery and originally planned to follow in my father’s footsteps. I had strong inclination towards studies and achieving master’s degree so I pursued B.Sc in Zoology and earned an undergraduate degree from Bangalore University in 1973. I hoped to go to a medical school, but could not obtain a scholarship. My father suggested that I should study fermentation science, and train to be a brewmaster, a very non-traditional field for a girl in those times.
With the determination to study further, I went to Australia and got a Master degree in brewing from the University of Ballarat, Melbourne, in 1975.
I did have my share of obstacles till I got my first job and started working as a trainee brewer with Carlton and United Beverages. I worked with them for four years, post which my life took a new turn, and the most challenging journey began.
After returning to India, I found no companies willing to offer a brewing job to a woman. So I started doing consulting work, this journey as a consultant lead me to meet Leslie Auchincloss, then owner of an Irish firm, Biocon Biochemicals. He was very much Impressed by my drive and ambition, so within a year, Auchincloss took me on as a partner in a new venture, And I started the Indian arm of the company. Biocon India was launched in 1978 in a rented garage space in Bangalore and with an initial investment of Rs. 10,000. The company produced enzymes for alcoholic beverages, paper, and other products.
In 70’s rising India, biotechnology was a new field and women entrepreneurs were very rare. Hence I found it difficult to recruit employees in India to work for my start-up, men were not willing to work under a woman or take orders from her. Some vendors refused to do business with me and insisted to keep a male manager to do business. Investors were equally hard to invest in the woman run company. My first two employees were retired tractor mechanics because college graduates didn’t wanted to work for me initially. My credibility was questioned at all time and that lead to a huge credibility perception issues. Banks didn’t want to lend loan to me as they had trust issues with my business idea. Some would even ask my father to be the guarantor. I had to build that credibility and treat it like my life depended on it. It took me many months to get a loan. In order to stay focus and not lose hope, it was very important for me to stay committed and passionate about my business..
Another major problem faced in a county with poor infrastructure was interrupted power, lower quality water, no sterile labs, no imported research equipment and workers without advanced scientific skills. Still I did not give up and continued to work hard. The most complicated piece of equipment in my lab at that time was a spectrophotometer.
Soon Biocon became India’s first company to started as an industrial enzyme manufacturer and commenced exporting to USA and Europe. Within a first year, my venture started churning profits. I had enough money to buy a 20-acre property. Sadly the progress was slowed as I continued to face skepticism and discrimination. Nevertheless, the company had begun to turn a profit by the time Auchincloss sold his interest in Biocon India to Unilever in 1989. Imperial Chemical Industries bought Unilever’s stake in 1997 but eventually agreed to sell its shares to my husband John Shaw, who subsequently joined Biocon’s management team. Post this, there was no turning back. I was backed by my mentor veteran banker and former ICICI Bank chairman, N Vaghul. I used to talk to him and have frank discussions. When I was struggling to raise money to scale up my enzyme technology, he supported me.
Apart from Biocon, I have been involved with several philanthropic activities. I have created a CSR wing called Biocoin Foundation that focuses on health, education and infrastructure in rural areas. Currently I am working with Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee to bring CAR T-cell therapy to cancer patients in India. The greater purpose of entrepreneurship for me is societal, about making medicines affordable for people.
Due to my vision and philanthropic activities, I am highly respected in the corporate world and has been named among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. The Economic Times placed me at India Inc.’s top 10 most powerful women CEOs for the year 2012. Meanwhile The World Economic Forum recognised me as a ‘Technology Pioneer’ in 2000. Ernst & Young named me the best entrepreneur in the field of health care and life sciences in 2002. In 2005, I received the Padma Bhushan Award, one of India’s highest civilian honours, for her pioneering work in industrial biotechnology. I am the third Indian to win the EY World Entrepreneur of the year award after NR Narayana Murthy and Uday Kotak. Which I celebrated with my 89 year old mother who runs a business at this age.
Today I am a Covid warrior and successfully recovered from the virus. This made me spread more awareness and gave me a new purpose. I am honoured to say, that Biocon has received Indian regulatory permission to conduct phase 4 trials for its drug Itolizumab as a potential treatment for Covid-19.
This sounds quite a journey for an entrepreneur who began her journey as a trainee and is now the 92nd Most Powerful Woman in the World. And may be I will enter Rajya Sabha someday to make some fierce policies for women entrepreneurs.
Written by Anjusha Chaughule