Radhika Aggarwal

Meet the first Indian woman to enter the unicorn club.

Radhika Aggarwal’s story starts in 1992, when her father, a retired Army officer, launched a health club in Chandigarh, India.

Radhika joined as a fitness trainer.

Five years later, she launched her own ad agency.

One of the few ways to be “enterprising” in a Tier 2 city at the time.

But she wanted more.

So she packed her bags.

Moved to the US.

And in 2006, launched FashionClues, a lifestyle site for South Asian women in the US.

It gave her a crash course in building e-commerce from scratch.

Then in 2011, she co-founded ShopClues with her then-husband, Sandeep Aggarwal, and Sanjay Sethi.

They started in Silicon Valley with just 10 people.

Amazon hadn’t even entered India yet.

Their vision?

Don’t build for India’s elite. Build for the millions who couldn’t afford to shop on Flipkart.

ShopClues went after the price-sensitive masses. Tier 2, Tier 3, rural India.

They offered unbranded goods. Everyday products. ₹300 towels and ₹400 homeware.

They sourced directly from manufacturers, cut out middlemen, and passed savings to consumers.

By 2016: 600,000+ sellers on the platform, 30M registered buyers, 4M products shipped every month, and a $1.1B valuation.

Radhika became the first Indian woman to co-found a unicorn.

She led as CBO, focused on strategy, brand, seller growth, and customer loyalty.

ShopClues secured funding from Tiger Global, Nexus Venture Partners, Helion, and even Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC.

But the cracks had already started to show.

Back in 2013, co-founder Sandeep Aggarwal was arrested by the FBI on insider trading charges tied to SAC Capital.

He stepped away from the company.

When he returned to India, he unleashed a storm, accusing Radhika and co-founder Sanjay Sethi of having an affair.

The headlines were brutal: Lawsuits. Adultery accusations. Defamation cases.

Their personal life became a public spectacle.

The IPO got shelved.

Then, after 2018, came the flood: Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm.

Unlimited capital. Deep discounts. Blitz-scale logistics.

ShopClues couldn’t keep up.

The company faded.

Radhika had to move on.

So in 2021, she launched Kindlife, a curated marketplace for clean, conscious beauty and wellness products.