Unconventional thinking is one of the key strengths of Biocon billionaire Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, an inspiration to women entrepreneurs in particular.
By Nichola Marie

A garage is a place to park your car; in the case of Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, it was where she began her biotech journey back in 1978. Four decades on, the first-generation entrepreneur and global business leader powers on, a pioneer of the biotechnology industry in India and head of the country’s leading biotechnology enterprise.
An unconventional thinker, Mazumdar-Shaw went from being a brewer to making enzymes, before moving the business into manufacturing medicines. Today, she is recognised as a global thought leader for biotechnology. Under her stewardship, Biocon has evolved since its inception from an industrial enzymes company to a fully-integrated, innovation-led, emerging global biopharmaceutical enterprise committed to reduce therapy costs of chronic conditions like diabetes, cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Making A Mark
A global influencer and Padma Bhushan, Mazumdar-Shaw has consistently featured on international power lists including being the only Indian on Forbes’ list of ‘World’s Self-Made Women Billionaires’.
As a prominent advocate for women’s empowerment, she has actively worked towards breaking barriers for women in business and science, inspiring aspiring entrepreneurs and scientists. At Biocon, she strives for equal representation of genders in the workforce. In her experience, she cites limited access to capital as the biggest hurdle that woman entrepreneurs encounter, noting, “Capital is in the hands of men and there is a gender bias when it comes to providing access to that capital.” Women-led businesses also have to initially contend with a wariness in thinking, making it difficult to build strong teams, she believes.

In Service
A leading name in philanthropy, in 2015 she joined The Giving Pledge, promising that at least half of her wealth will be dedicated to philanthropy. The Biocon Foundation, the corporate social responsibility wing at Biocon, started in 2004, focuses on health, education and infrastructure, especially in rural areas of Karnataka which lack healthcare facilities.
Motivated by the loss of near and dear ones to cancer, she established a 1,400-bed cancer care centre for affordable treatment in Bangalore, collaborating with Dr Devi Shetty.
In 2011, she added a centre for advanced therapeutics with a bone marrow transplant unit and a research centre.
As Mazumdar-Shaw continues her onward and upward journey in business and social impact, she lives by her truth: “I believe in never giving up, no matter what the odds. My mantra is, ‘Failure is temporary. Giving up is permanent’.”