Flight Plan

Entrepreneur Kanika Tekriwal has shown that the sky really is the limit by launching a company that is revolutionising the private aviation industry in the country and the way Indians travel.

- Sneha Mahale

ALL KANIKA TEKRIWAL HAD, TILL ABOUT FOUR-AND-A-HALF years ago, was an idea, a few thousand rupees in her bank and a bunch of sceptics discouraging her. But she’d tell anyone who doubted her that she would be on the cover of Forbes magazine in five years. With JetSetGo, India’s first online marketplace for private jets, she accomplished just that, and much more. In the past year or so, the young entrepreneur has been featured twice in the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list, has found a place on BBC’s list of 100 most inspirational women in the world and has even made it to CNN’s 20 under 40 list, besides winning the National Entrepreneurship Award for 2016.

Looking back on her journey so far, Tekriwal says, “It’s been nothing short of overwhelming. We’ve gone from one flight a day to a JetSetGo plane in the sky every minute of the day. If I had to relive every moment of the past four years, there is absolutely nothing I would change. These years have taught me that if you believe in yourself and your ideas, absolutely no force in the world can stop you from achieving what you want.”

At the start

A Bhopal native, Tekriwal belongs to a typical Marwari family. Till a few years ago, theirs was a big joint family with industrial interests. Today, her father, Anil Tekriwal, runs various businesses with interests in chemicals and real estate, among others. Her mother, Sunita Tekriwal, is a housewife. Her younger brother, Kanishk Tekriwal, who Kanika Tekriwal proudly calls “the smartest out of the lot”, has established a construction business with friends. It is based out of New York.