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NORTH AmERIcAN Newsline OCTOBER 08, 2021 | The Indian Eye 30

female founders 100

community women make it

to Inc. magazine’s coveted list

The list features inspiring, creative, and tenacious role models in entrepreneurship

our Bureau

San Francisco
nc, magazine has released
its Female Founders 100
Ilist which includes “Raised
the Bar,” “Built a Better Prod-
uct,” “Lifted Up Other Wom-
en,” “Tackled the Pandemic,”
“Triumphed Over Adversity”
and “Made the World Better.”
Among those recognized in the
Raised the Bar category were
Devaki Raj of CrowdAI, Avani
Sarkar of Modi Toys, and Aish-
warya Iyer of Brightland.
CrowdAI managed to raise a
Series A within days of the pan-
demic’s hitting the U.S., while
interest in the former Googler’s
business drove Raj to double her
team—all while the entire staff
worked remotely, her profile
notes, according to a report in
India West. Avani Sarkar of Modi Toys
Before Sarkar had her daugh-
ter, she hardly thought about among the honorees. Saujani,
children’s toys at all. Avani and the founder of Girls Who Code,
her co-founder brother Viral, has long worked to close the
both first-time parents, couldn’t gender gap in technology. But
find any toys on the market that after seeing the exhaustion on
connected to their specific cul- the faces of many moms on her
tural experience. So, they started team as the pandemic unfold-
Modi Toys, a children’s brand of ed, she was inspired to use her
plush toys and books rooted in nonprofit to tackle the broader
the Hindu faith, the feature said. challenges women face in the
Since launching in 2018, they’ve workforce, the profile said.
sold nearly 40,000 products They earn less than men; they
across 49 states and 27 countries, get passed over for promotions
including to celebrities Mindy more than men; and they tend to
Kaling and Jay Sean, the report take on more of the caregiving
said. responsibilities for children and
In the Built a Better Prod- elderly parents. The pandemic
uct category, Indian Americans made things worse. On Dec. 7,
recognized included Sharmi programmable toy robots feature said. 2020, Saujani wrote an op-ed for
Albrechtsen of Smartgurlz. Al- teach young girls computer In the Lifted Up Other The Hill asking for paid family
brechtsen, chief executive and science and other STEM skills, Women category, Girls Who leave, affordable child care, and
founder of Smartgurlz, whose focused on building sales, the Code’s Reshma Saujani was pay equity policies.

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