“When you build with purpose, profits follow naturally.”
– Upasana Taku (Co-Founder, MobiKwik)
If you have heard of MobiKwik, you must know the woman behind this fintech unicorn brand – Upasana Taku, who has played a pivotal role in transforming the way Indians make digital payments. Upasana, along with Bipin Preet Singh, founded the company in 2009 with the aim of helping millions of people adopt cashless transactions.
Early life
Upasana grew up with a mix of cultures. She has Kashmiri roots but studied in Gujarat schools. Later, she lived in Punjab, which built her strong will. First, she pursued engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar. To deepen her knowledge of technology and management, she went to Stanford University in the US for higher studies. There, she learned about business and tech. Back in India, she worked in finance jobs before starting her own path.
After completing her studies, Upasana began her professional career in the technology and financial sectors. She worked with companies like PayPal, one of the world’s leading digital payment platforms. PayPal gave her the exposure to understand more about online payments and financial technology. She learnt how digital payments could simplify transactions. At the same time, it made her realise that India was still in the early stages of adopting such technology.
She could see people in India relying heavily on cash. Online payments were limited, and many people found digital transactions complicated or unsafe. Upasana began to see a big opportunity: what if there was a simple platform that allowed people to pay and recharge online easily?
The birth of MobiKwik
In 2009, Upasana founded MobiKwik with a simple goal to make digital payments easy for everyone. A platform that people would use to pay for services like mobile recharges, utility bills, and online purchases.
At that time, this concept was quite new in India. The digital payments ecosystem was not very developed, and many people were hesitant to trust online platforms with their money. Thus, Upasana knew that building MobiKwik would require patience and persistence. She played a key role in developing the technology and product experience behind MobiKwik. As she had a strong background in engineering and payments, it helped her build a secure and user-friendly platform.
Challenges in her way
Like many startups, MobiKwik’s early journey was full of challenges. Building a fintech company required strong infrastructure, regulatory understanding, and consumer trust. Another challenge was convincing merchants and customers to adopt digital payments. Many shopkeepers in India preferred cash payments, and customers were also used to traditional payment methods.
Upasana, along with her team, started by building partnerships with merchants and service providers. Slowly, the network began to grow. More businesses started accepting MobiKwik payments, and more users began downloading the app.
Growth and expansion
Over time, people started trusting MobiKwik. They started paying bills, transferring money, shopping online, and even accessing financial services. As smartphones became more common and internet access expanded, more people started using mobile apps for everyday transactions.
Under Upasana’s leadership, the company continued to innovate. It introduced new services such as digital credit, buy-now-pay-later options, and financial products aimed at making digital finance accessible to a wider audience.
Awards and recognitions
- Featured in Forbes Asia list of “Women to Watch” (2016)
- Honoured with the Best Woman Entrepreneur Award (2017) by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India
- In 2018, she received recognition from the President of India for becoming the first woman to lead a payment gateway startup in India
- Named among Forbes Asia’s “Power 25 Businesswomen” (2019)
- In 2024, she was honoured with the “Unstoppable Icon” award
- In April 2025, she was featured in Fortune India’s “100 Most Powerful Women in Business 2025”
- She has also been appointed Vice-President of the Executive Committee at the Unified Fintech Forum
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