This IIT, Harvard graduate quit her job to start Open Secret. Company now has Rs 100 crore turnover

Ahana Gautam, founder and CEO of Open Secret. (Image credit: LinkedIn)

Ahana Gautam was 30 when she decided to quit her well-paying job and launch her startup on healthy snacks. The IIT-Bombay and Harvard University graduate said that it was a risky decision but her mother's confidence in her gave her the courage to start Open Secret. Now, the company has recorded a turnover of Rs 100 crore.

In conversation with News18, Gautam said that the idea of "unjunking" Indian snacks occurred to her when she went to Harvard for her MBA. The gujjia-eating overweight woman from a small city in Rajasthan realised the importance of healthy eating after a visit to a Whole Foods store in the US. "They only had better-for-you products. They did not place any junk products in these stores and that made me wonder, why in India we don't have that access," she said.

Speaking about the role her mother played in her success, Gautam said that she even gave her the initial seed capital to start the company.

"Whatever I am today is because of my mother. She always used to tell me two things: Number one is that education levels the field. It doesn't matter what your gender is, or which small city you come from, if you have a great education, you can make a difference in the world. Those words inspired me and were the fuel for me to go to IIT-Bombay and Harvard Business School," Gautam said. "The second thing she always told me was to be financially independent. 'Once you're financially independent, you can make the decisions of your life.'"

Dive into the delicious secrets of Open Secret, where junk-free snacks are more than just a craving, they're a lifestyle!

Join Ahana Gautam (@GautamAhana), Founder and CEO, as she unveils the magic behind a business with over 100 crore turnover. Discover how empowered… pic.twitter.com/F0pFpZpeQN

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The founder and CEO of Open Secret added that her mother even acted as a shield and protected her when others insisted she get married before launching the company. "She told me: this is your dream, this is your passion, work at it. Her courage acted as a shield and protected me from biases."

Gautam's mother succumbed to Covid during the second wave.

Read more: IIT Madras alumnus Sunil Wadhwani gifts Rs 110 crore for Data Science and AI school