Shradha Sharma is the founder, CEO and chief editor of YourStory, India’s leading media tech company for entrepreneurs and their stories.
Early life and education
Shradha Sharma was born on July 6, 1980, in a small town in Patna, Bihar. In 1997, Sharma moved to New Delhi to finish her studies. During her school days, Sharma was a top student in her class and very active in the speech and debate society. Sharma’s mother is a descendant of Mangal Pandey (soldier involved with the first war of Indian Independence), and her father was educated in England.
Sharma graduated from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in history and an MBA from Maryland Institute College of Art.
Early career
In 2006, Sharma worked as a Brand Advisor at The Times of India. In 2007, Sharma left to work at CNBC-TV18 as Assistant Vice President. In 2008, Sharma came up with the idea of YourStory and left her job to pursue it.
YourStory
Sharma founded YourStory in September 2008 and launched it the following month. The idea started while Sharma was still working at the CNBC-TV 18. Sharma knew the business practices used in TV channels and newspapers and applied those to YourStory. Sharma started YourStory to cover the stories of young entrepreneurs, startup owners, and change-makers.
YourStory also launched more products, including video formats on YourStory TV. YourStory has launched YourStory Germany, which has content on the startup ecosystem in Germany, which is viewed as one of the vital hubs in Western Europe’s technology and innovation. YourStory act as a bridge between entrepreneurs in Germany and India. The company partnered with Maren Lesche, a communication and start-up expert based in Germany for the launch.
In November 2015, YourStory acquired PapyrusEditor for an undisclosed amount in an all cash and stock deal.
YourStory has been named as “India’s biggest platform for startups and entrepreneurs-related stories, news, resources, and research reports.” Sharma was named “the biggest storyteller of India’s digital space.” Sharma featured in a techgig story as one of the “5 women Indian entrepreneurs in India you should know about.”
YourStory has launched another portal called HerStory, which is dedicated strictly to women. It highlights all the stories about women entrepreneurs and startups in India. In India, many female bloggers have their own stories and their achievements, which should be shared with the public.
In 2018, YourStory had a net worth of approximately $437,000. YourStory receives estimated traffic of more than 1.1 million users per month. In January 2019, Sharma got a chance to interview Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister in India.
YourStory has published over 70,000 articles in 12 languages, with more than 100 people on its rolls, collectively reaching (through text, videos, social media, and other digital platforms). YourStory attracts 12.5 to 15 million page views, and 6 million unique visitors a month. YourStory has been the most notable startup ecosystem builder in India, hosting over 220 events across TechSparks, YS Meetups, SheSparks, and MobileSparks.
Funding rounds
In August 2015, YourStory raised $4 million in a Series A round, led by Kalaari Capital. The round also saw participation from Ratan Tata, Qualcomm Ventures, Mohandas Pai, and 3one4 Capital. In this funding, YourStory aims to launch a platform to allow users to publish stories in Indian languages like Hindi, Bangla, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, and Tamil. In this round, it allowed users to narrate their stories through text, voice, or video.
In February 2017, YourStory raised $3 million in a Series B round, led by Ratan Tata. In October 2017, YourStory raised $6 million in a venture round, led by UC-RNT Fund, with the participation from existing investors Qualcomm Ventures, Kalaari Capital, and 3one4 Capital. With this round of funding, YourStory has targeted revenues of $4 million for 2017-2018.
YourStory has raised a total of $13 million in funding over three rounds. The company is funded by six investors. YourStory has $4 million in an estimated revenue annually. YourStory competes with Tech in Asia and e27.
Awards and achievements
Shradha Sharma received several awards, including NASSCOM Ecosystem Evangelist Award for her efforts in building an inclusive startup community, Villgro Journalist of the Year Award for her coverage of startups in 2010, L’Oreal Paris Femina Award’ in 2015 for online influence, and PAT Memorial Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2016. Sharma also listed amongst 500 LinkedIn Influencers across the world in 2015 and LinkedIn’s most viewed CEOs under Internet category in 2016.