From Silicon Valley To Salt Lake

In 2012-13, iMerit was registered with its headquarters in Kolkata and there’s been no looking back since. “If getting the trickle-down benefits of India’s IT revolution to move into India’s smaller towns and cities is one pillar, reducing the gender gap and building an inclusive workforce has been the other”, explains Radha. The company with a CAGR of 35 per cent has been profitable for the last five years and has over the years raised around US $ 25 million through investors including Indian American businessman and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, Omidyar Network India, British International Investment and Dell. She says at any point the company has stuck to the discipline of growing on the strength of its internal resources and funds in the bank with two feet firmly on the ground: one foot maniacally focussed on delivering the best possible solutions using artificial intelligence and the other on the most inclusive workforce based out of India. Shilpa Kumar, partner, of Omidyar Network India, an investor in the company and an alumni of IIM Kolkata points out that tech start-ups like this have to always be on their toes to “keep the business model dynamic”.