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Pankhuri Shrivastava was an Indian entrepreneur who founded the women exclusive online platform ‘Pankhuri’ in 2019.
Wiki/Biography
Pankhuri Shrivastava was born on Friday, 17 August 1989 (age 32 years; at the time of death) in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. Her zodiac sign is Leo.
She did her schooling at St. Francis Inter College, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. She pursued Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Science) from Rajiv Gandhi Technological University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, from 2007 to 2011.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Brown
Family
Parents & Siblings
Her father, Rajneesh Srivastava, works as a bank manager. Her mother, Preeti Srivastava, works as a doctor. Her brother, Pranay Shrivastava, is a Chief Strategy Officer at Pankhuri.
Husband
On 2 December 2020, she got married to Aditya.
Career
After completing her graduation, she got various campus placement jobs. She even topped the MICA entrance exam for MBA, but she opted to volunteer for Teach for India program. In September 2012, she co-founded no brokerage rentals platform ‘Grabhouse’ in Mumbai, which was sold to Quickr, an Indian online marketplace and classified advertising company, in 2016. She was then appointed as the Assistant Vice President-Marketing at Quickr in Bengaluru, Karnataka. In March 2018, she joined the Bangalore-based buy now, pay later platform ‘ZestMoney’ as a marketing strategy consultant and worked there for around a year. She started a women exclusive online platform ‘Pankhuri’ in Bengaluru in September 2019. The platform enabled women to participate in various internet-based clubs and socialise with each other. She had raised around $3.2 million by accelerator programme, Surge for the Startup organised by Sequoia Capital.
Death
On 24 December 2021, she died of cardiac arrest. Many businesses people shared their grief on her demise including the founder of Kalaari Capital, Vani Kola. She tweeted,
My heart reaches out to her family at this untimely tragedy. Her demise is a loss for our startup ecosystem. We lost a bright and young founder, but I know her legacy will live on. It was truly a privilege to know Pankhuri. Rest in peace, Pankhuri.”
Rajan Anandan, Managing Director at Sequoia India, tweeted,
Deeply saddened and shocked by this sudden loss. Pankhuri was so full of life, ideas and passion and had a missionary zeal. We loved having Pankhuri in our Surge family and will miss you so dearly. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family in this very difficult time.”
Facts/Trivia
- In 2011, Pankhuri Shrivastava won the Miss Jhansi title.
- She was an avid book reader and had read more than 5000 books.
- She was a trained Indian classical dancer.
- Pankhuri did a TV commercial and wanted to work in Bollywood.
- She used to stay away from the public eye and had the least media interaction.
- In an interview, while talking about her, Kalaari Capital’s Vani Kola said,
She felt that the spirit of Jhansi Ki Rani was in her blood. She was incredibly satisfied that she opened an office in Jhansi & gave opportunities to girls to work in jobs that gave them a strong identity. She was proud of these girls and how much they could do if only given an opportunity. I saw in Pankhuri a young woman who continued to inspire and give back generously.”
- She had a red coloured Mercedes car.
- She was an avid animal lover and had two pet dogs.