In the latest episode of the Simple Hai! show, Mahila Money founder Sairee Chahal shared her journey and vision to empower women in India through technology, community and access to finance. Speaking to veteran finance journalist Vivek Law, she spoke of how digital platforms can open doors for women entrepreneurs, particularly those from smaller towns and traditional backgrounds.
From Liberal Arts Graduate to Entrepreneurial Leader
When Law asked about her career path, Chahal revealed, "People look for jobs; entrepreneurship found me." Despite holding an MBA and an MPhil, Chahal's entry into the startup world was accidental yet fueled by relentless hustle and determination. Coming from a non-business family in Uttar Pradesh, she faced the typical challenges of convincing her family about her career choice.
Chahal's first startup was a revolutionary idea in the early 2000s: Newslink, a newspaper for mariners in New Zealand. She described this experience as her "real school," where she learned everything from product building to logistics and managing a remote-first company. Balancing intense work with her studies, Chahal's journey was marked by long hours and little social life, yet it laid a strong foundation for her entrepreneurial future.
Women's Role in Indian Society and the Internet Opportunity
Chahal emphasised the deeply entrenched division of labour in India, where men traditionally entered factories and women were confined to domestic spaces. She noted, "This division of labour has been very clear for 200-300 years. India has a huge historical background of women-only spaces, like the cooperative banks and women's organisations that operate offline."
Recognising the internet's potential to disrupt this age-old paradigm, Chahal and her team dreamed of creating - SHEROES- a women-only online space in 2012, when India had around 9-10 million internet users and barely a million women online. "It was a crazy idea then, but you always find people who back your crazy ideas," she told Law.
SHEROES: A Safe and Scalable Digital Community for Women
SHEROES began as an online extension of offline women-only groups, designed as a safe space where women could learn, connect and work remotely. Chahal described it as "an online club, a community for women, like Reddit but with a safe space and hooks for personal and career growth."
The platform offers free counselling to over three million women, remote work opportunities, and programs with major companies like Airbnb, Unilever, and Google to skill women in digital entrepreneurship. SHEROES also hosted annual summits and roadshows, creating an open ecosystem welcoming all partners working with women.
Chahal shared, "SHEROES became an internet hub for women, always free for them. We built business models around enterprises paying for remote work programs, not charging women. It was about enabling and opening doors, not prescribing paths."
SHEROES grew from a million users in 2012 to over 24 million lifetime users today, encompassing three crore women on the platform. Chahal's persistence illustrates the essence of grassroots entrepreneurship and community empowerment.
Mahila Money: Addressing the Financial Inclusion Gap
Building on the success of the SHEROES community, Chahal launched Mahila Money in 2023 to address another critical barrier for women entrepreneurs: access to capital. She explained that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many women in their community faced financial distress, with shops closing and jobs lost. "I started Mahila Money as an experiment, putting ₹5 lakh from my personal account into a new account to fund interest-free loans for women," Chahal recalled.
Mahila Money focuses on providing productive loans digitally to women entrepreneurs running small, neighbourhood businesses, such as beauty parlours, preschools, tailoring shops, cloud kitchens, and home bakeries, segments that banks and financial institutions traditionally underserve.
Chahal highlighted the unique nature of this emerging segment: "It's not microfinance or Mudra loans. It's a new aspirational segment, digitally savvy, using WhatsApp and online payments, but lacking access to formal finance." The platform emphasises trust and readiness, avoiding pushing credit on women before they are prepared, aiming to "create microfinance 2.0 digital, individual, and entrepreneur-focused."
Power of Compounding: Persistence & Consistency in Entrepreneurship
During the discussion, Chahal shared a powerful analogy related to the "power of compounding," often used in financial contexts but equally applicable to work and life. She said, "Keep at it, be consistent. Like ants working every day, check emails, call users, and do the work. It's not genius, but doing it 350 days a year makes a difference."
Advice to Young Women Dreamers and Doers
When asked about advice for young women with dreams and ambitions, Chahal's message was clear and empowering:
Be action-biased: Don't wait for tomorrow. Start today, start now.
Embrace experimentation: There are many free tools and AI resources. If you have a phone and internet, you can do anything.
Learn by doing: Confidence comes from action. Fail, pivot, ask for help. Learning is not in books but in experience.
Become a lifelong learner: The world changes fast. Keep your ego in check and keep learning.
Understand money: Money is not just for survival but for independence. Learn about how money works, leverage, and compounding.
Chahal emphasised that the traditional playbook of education and stable jobs is outdated. The internet offers a more equal playing field regardless of gender, location, or background.
Continuing the Revolution
Law expressed hope and admiration for Chahal's work, noting, "The picture is still unfolding. The revolution you started is ongoing." Chahal agreed, acknowledging that her work is "life's work" that will evolve with the market and community needs.
The interview closed on a hopeful note, highlighting the shift in India toward a more entrepreneurial, digitally connected, and gender-inclusive economy. Chahal's journey from a small-town girl to a leader impacting millions of women epitomises the potential of combining technology, community, and capital to unlock economic empowerment.
Through SHEROES and Mahila Money, Chahal has created platforms that not only provide women with skills and community but also the financial resources necessary to thrive in today's digital economy.
As Chahal aptly puts it, the internet is the new electricity for civilisation, and women must not be left behind. With leaders like her at the helm, India's women entrepreneurs are poised to soar higher than ever before.
