Women In Tech: App Makers Share Tales Of Triumph On International Women's Day

The theme of this year's International Women's Day is "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality," with the purpose of highlighting how innovative technologies and solutions are capable of promoting gender equality.

Indiatimes had the chance to catch up with app creators Surbhi Jain, the founder of Neend, and Ayushi Sinha, the co-founder of Alippo Learning on what it means to be a leading woman in the digital age and how to drive change in the future.

Kicking it off

Surbhi Jain's Neend addresses sleep-related problems and offers stories, soothing sleep sounds, meditation, and more in regional languages to ensure that users enjoy seven to eight hours of sound sleep. "I found out that India is the second most sleep deprived country in the world where 15-20% of the population are regularly insomniac and 30% are occasionally insomniac. These sleep issues can cause major physical problems like low immunity, poor cardiovascular health, memory loss and eating disorders," Jain said. Currently, Neend has over 5 lakh downloads on Google play and offers over 1000 sleep stories in five languages.

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Also read: Women's Day 2023: In Conversation With YouTube Creators Making Waves

Ayushi Sinha's Alippo Learning is helping women upskill and become micro-entrepreneurs in a series of fields. Alippo Learning has over a lakh downloads on Google Play. "What started as an experiment during the pandemic took the shape of a full-blown startup within a year. Being a husband-wife duo spending our entire time at home with our mother, we observed her passion towards learning new cooking recipes which her relatives were posting on social media. With quick experiments, we could see desperate demand from thousands of women homemakers to learn different skills and make an identity of their own. This is how Alippo was born," Sinha told us.

"Alippo is creating a unique interest-based community similar to a classroom where the women together learn, make friends, ask doubts, share work and feel motivated," she added.

Diving through challenges

"A woman entrepreneur faces additional challenges both at the personal and professional front. There is a lot of resistance from family for choosing a 'risky' path over a conventional career option. I¡¯ve personally had to tackle a lot of hard conversations with some of my dear ones, who thought I should get married sooner instead of hustling at Neend!" said Surbhi Jain.

"And if the woman manages to cross these barriers to step into the entrepreneurial journey, she faces a similar resistance within the professional ecosystem. The biases against women often result in the woman not being taken seriously - be it for hiring, fund-raising, or selling a product," she added.

Also read: Women's Day 2022: Women Startup Founders On Unique Challenges And Prejudices

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Ayushi Sinha claimed that people today are "far more receptive to having women in power. However, there is a long way to go. In a lot of startup meetups, there are hardly any women founders with me. Having said that, I have always been given fair respect in such events and did not face discrimination."

Surbhi Jain added the following - "In the end, power is a function of skills and effectiveness. So I would always focus on how I can add value without bothering too much about perception of my power!"

Looking at the future

"The number of women in technology and entrepreneurship is a fraction of the total, and it all begins with early childhood. The kind of support that a girl gets from family is the biggest factor in determining her future and her career success. If we want more women as app developers (or doctors or engineers or entrepreneurs), families need to be educated," said Surbhi Jain.

Highlighting how women are not the decision makers in most companies, Ayushi Sinha said that "companies should encourage more diversity at the fresher level and have constant mentorship sessions so that the young women can stay motivated and excited to learn and grow up the ladder."

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A message to entrepreneurs of the future

"Never get limited or defined by their gender. Move beyond the title of 'women entrepreneurs' and just focus on being entrepreneurs. Expect challenges but do not accept them. Expect favours (at times!) but do not accept those either. Stay true to your cause and focus on building skills, building teams and building a life that you're going to be proud of!" said Neend's Surbhi Jain.

Also read: Twitter Bot Exposes Pay Gap In Companies Tweeting About Women's Day

"Consistency is one of the most underrated skills and can be a game changer in taking you ahead," Alippo Learning's Ayushi Sinha claimed. "I would urge womenfolk to take due credit for what you deserve. Women often attribute their success to luck, timing, people, and situation. While it is good to be humble, it is also important to have those moments where you are truly proud of your accomplishments," Sinha added.

"The distribution of the app through Google Play Store was a key milestone for us to better engage our users and laid the foundation for our growth as a business," said Jain. Both apps are available to download on the Google Play Store.

What do you think - how far has the world come in terms of accepting women in tech? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.