From battling cancer at 22 to becoming a Shark Tank India judge. Read the inspiring story of Kanika Tekriwal, who started JetSetGo with just ₹5,600 and revolutionized Indian aviation.
Rashmeet Kaur Chawla
Picture this: A 21-year-old woman walks into India's male-dominated aviation industry with just Rs 5,600 in her pocket, fresh from battling cancer, and announces she's going to revolutionize private aviation. Today, Kanika Tekriwal's net worth exceeds Rs 420 crore, she owns a fleet of ten private jets, and has just taken her seat as a judge on Shark Tank India Season 5. But the journey from family ridicule to becoming "The Sky Queen" is a masterclass in turning rejection into rocket fuel.
When a Four-Year-Old's Aviation Dream Collided With "Driver Banegi?" Mockery
Kanika Tekriwal's love affair with aviation began at age four when she witnessed a helicopter landing a moment that planted an impossible dream in a little girl's heart. Growing up in a traditional Marwari business family in Bhopal, where her father Anil Tekriwal ran a successful real estate business after the family's Maruti dealership empire was divided, young Kanika dared to dream differently.
"I wanted to be a pilot. But I was from a Marwari family," she recalls. The response from her own family cut deep: "Driver banegi?" (Will you become a driver?). In conservative business families where daughters were groomed for wealthy marriages rather than cockpits, her aviation dreams were dismissed as foolish fantasy.
But rejection has a strange way of revealing character. Instead of surrendering her passion, Kanika pivoted.
“If she couldn't fly planes, she'd own them.”
After completing her education at Lawrence School, Lovedale, and Jawaharlal Nehru Senior Secondary School in Bhopal, she graduated from Coventry University in the UK with an MBA, where she simultaneously worked at Aerospace Resources, absorbing every lesson about international aviation operations.
At 22, Kanika was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma—a potentially fatal cancer that attacks the lymphatic system. For most young people, this would be a life-ending prognosis. For Kanika, it became a life-defining moment.
During chemotherapy sessions, while other patients contemplated mortality, Kanika contemplated possibility. When doctors gave her grim statistics about her survival chances, she responded with characteristic defiance: "I will come and see you after 40 years." The cancer didn't break her spirit—it crystallized her resolve. If she was going to survive, she wasn't going to play it safe. She was going to soar.
The experience taught her invaluable lessons about managing uncertainty, maintaining focus under extreme pressure, and the true meaning of risk. Fighting cancer at 22 made entering a capital-intensive, male-dominated industry seem less daunting by comparison. After all, what's industry skepticism compared to chemotherapy?
Her Core Belief: "If life has already tried to stop me and failed, what chance does doubt, rejection, or tradition have?"
This became Kanika's operating system. When family said "Driver banegi?", she heard "prove them wrong." When cancer said "game over," she heard "game on." When investors said "impossible," she heard "not tried yet." Rejection wasn't an ending—it was permission to rewrite the rules entirely.
The Rs 5,600 That Launched a Fleet — Because She Believed Resources Matter Less Than Resourcefulness
In 2014, Kanika Tekriwal and co-founder Sudheer Perla founded JetSetGo, starting as India's first transparent marketplace for private aviation. The vision was audacious: create an "Uber for the skies"—a technology-driven platform that would bring transparency, efficiency, and accessibility to India's fragmented private aviation market.
The problem? Nobody believed in it. Nobody except Kanika herself.
When she approached investors for funding, the response was brutal. "What is the market size?" they'd ask dismissively before showing her the door. Some investors didn't even discuss her business. In boardrooms dominated by middle-aged men, a young cancer survivor woman pitching private jet aggregation seemed like a punchline, not a business plan.
Why did she bootstrap with Rs 5,600 when she could have waited for funding? Because she believed that waiting for permission is how dreams die. Cancer taught her that time is the only non-renewable resource. So, she didn't wait.
"Many people ask me how I did this without raising money," Kanika reflects. "To date, I have only invested Rs 5,600, and we operate India's largest private jet fleet."
That microscopic investment wasn't just about money—it was about proving a point. With Rs 5,600, she built an app. For the first two years, she took advances from clients and credit from vendors. She offered consultancy services, advising high-net-worth individuals on aircraft purchases. She worked the margins, creating value where others saw only gaps.
The strategy was unconventional but brilliant: instead of owning aircraft initially, she created a marketplace connecting aircraft owners with customers. She became the bridge in a fragmented industry where trust was scarce and transparency was non-existent.
She did this because she believed: If cancer couldn't stop her with zero resources, investor rejection wouldn't stop her with Rs 5,600.
The aviation industry greeted Kanika with condescension. At airports, people assumed she was cabin crew. "Ma'am, are you in the cabin crew?" became a question she heard repeatedly. She'd show up at business meetings in her favourite red dress with a matching red bag, and watch male executives struggle to process that this young woman was their boss, not their assistant.
Because she believed that assimilation is capitulation. She'd already adapted once—pivoting from pilot to entrepreneur. She wasn't going to adapt her identity to make men comfortable.
But Kanika developed a remarkable approach: she didn't fight the system head-on. She quietly became indispensable within it. She delivered exceptional service, leveraged technology as a differentiator, and let results speak louder than gender.
JetSetGo was conceptualized to bring efficiency and transparency into an otherwise opaque industry, systematically helping aircraft owners, governments, and corporations change how they travelled. While traditional aviation companies relied on phone calls and manual processes.
Kanika built a digital platform that allowed seamless booking, transparent pricing, and quality control. She did this because she believed: You don't need their respect to take their market. You just need to serve their customers better than they do.
By 2024, JetSetGo had grown from a startup to one of India's leading private aviation companies, now managing nine private jets and two helicopters. The company evolved from a simple aggregator into a comprehensive aviation solutions ecosystem, offering aircraft management, maintenance, ownership consultancy, exclusive memberships, and pioneering services like empty leg flights—discounted routes where aircraft would otherwise fly empty.
The company has managed more than 6,000 flights and served over 100,000 passengers since inception. But numbers tell only part of the story. JetSetGo democratized private aviation in India, making it accessible beyond just ultra-high-net-worth individuals to businesses, medical emergencies, and time-sensitive corporate travel.
Because she believed the biggest opportunities exist where industries don't yet exist.
The company's innovations extended beyond charters. During COVID-19, JetSetGo launched JetSetRescue for medical evacuations. They partnered with Boeing HorizonX for SkyShuttle, envisioning inter and intra-city air connectivity. They opened JetSet Learn Academy for pilot training, creating pathways for the next generation of aviators—especially young women who heard "Driver banegi?" from their own families.
Most ambitiously, JetSetGo is pioneering the private aviation category with significant investments in technology and exploring eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) aircraft for urban air mobility—the future of city transportation.
The SkyShuttle vision is to create a transportation platform for inter and intra-city air connectivity, on-ground infrastructure mapping and development to enable Urban Air Mobility, enabling multimodal point-to-point last-mile connectivity and supporting regulatory transition toward autonomous air traffic management.
She did this because she believed: Kanika strongly believes that a market is not simply taken over, but rather created and curated, nurtured and nourished, and allowed to thrive. She didn't compete in existing markets—she built new ones.
Kanika's achievements haven't gone unnoticed. She has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, named to Forbes Asia's 30 Under 30, BBC's 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World, CNN's 20 Under 40, and received the National Entrepreneurship Award from the Government of India. Entrepreneur magazine honoured her with the title "Sky Queen"—recognition of her contributions to aircraft leasing and private aviation.
She is recognized among the youngest women on the Hurun Rich List, a testament to wealth built entirely through bootstrapped entrepreneurship. But perhaps the most significant recognition came recently when Tekriwal joined Shark Tank India as a judge for its 5th season, which started on January 5, bringing her expertise in scaling capital-intensive, niche businesses to a mainstream platform.
On Shark Tank, Kanika brings a unique perspective. Unlike sharks who've raised venture capital or inherited family businesses, she represents the ultimate bootstrap success story. Her first pitch as a judge, she admits, was "the worst," but other sharks advised her to trust herself rather than be afraid—advice she's internalized throughout her career.
Adapt, Modify, Never Give Up—The Operating System That Built an Empire
"Kanika is a woman who believes in adapting and modifying her plans rather than giving up, but never losing sight of the vision," reads her company bio. This philosophy distinguishes her leadership approach.
When the cancer diagnosis threatened her pilot dreams, she adapted to aviation entrepreneurship. When investors rejected her marketplace model, she modified the approach to bootstrapping. When the industry questioned her credibility, she focused on operational excellence and impeccable safety records. When traditional aviation resisted change, she introduced technology and transparency.
Her leadership combines strategic vision with operational excellence, emotional intelligence with data-driven decision-making, bold ambition with calculated risk management. She's hands-on—literally taking charge when an employee fell from an aircraft during an interview, ensuring proper medical attention before resuming the conversation. She's empathetic—understanding that entrepreneurship is about people, not just profits. And she's visionary—seeing urban air taxis when others still question private jet viability.
Creating Pathways for Women in Aviation—Because Representation Isn't Optional
Kanika hasn't just succeeded in a male-dominated industry—she's actively changing it. Under her leadership, JetSetGo employs women across various roles, from pilots to senior management, challenging industry norms and setting new standards for inclusive workplaces.
Her presence as a Shark Tank India judge sends a powerful message to young women entrepreneurs: Capital-intensive industries aren't reserved for men with inherited wealth. Innovation, resilience, and strategic thinking matter more than gender or initial capital.
She's vocal about the importance of diversity in business, not as a quota to fill but as a competitive advantage. Different perspectives drive innovation. Inclusive teams build better products. Diverse leadership creates sustainable growth.
How Her Belief Resolved Her Conflict
Kanika's core belief—that rejection is redirection, that adversity reveals advantage—didn't just help her survive. It helped her dominate.
The family that said "Driver banegi?" didn't understand: she wasn't trying to become a driver. She was trying to own the entire fleet. When they rejected her pilot dreams, they inadvertently pushed her toward something bigger—entrepreneurship that would change an industry, not just participate in it.
The cancer that could have ended her story at 22 instead clarified it. Fighting for survival taught her that business risks are laughably small compared to life-or-death stakes. Investors rejecting her? Customers doubting her? When you've stared down mortality and won, everything else is just paperwork.
Today, Kanika Tekriwal stands as living proof that the biggest limitations exist not in circumstances but in imagination. But she's not done. The girl who once watched helicopters with wonder now envisions cities connected by electric air taxis. The entrepreneur who faced closed boardroom doors now opens them for others as a Shark Tank judge. The cancer survivor who defied grim statistics now inspires millions to defy their own impossible odds.
Her story isn't just about business success—it's about redefining what's possible when you refuse to accept other people's limitations as your own. When you adapt without surrendering, pivot without compromising, and persist without giving up.
The sky was never the limit. For Kanika Tekriwal, it was just the beginning.
The Bigger Takeaway: A Story Bigger Than One Woman
Kanika Tekriwal’s journey is not just a story about aviation or entrepreneurship.
It is a story about how human potential responds to resistance.
At some point in life, almost everyone hears a version of the same message:
The difference is not in who hears these words—but in who accepts them.
Some people wait for circumstances to improve.
Others move forward and force circumstances to catch up.
What Kanika’s story ultimately teaches is this:
The most powerful insight is perhaps this:
You don’t need everything in place to begin. Often, you need to begin so that everything else can fall into place.
Kanika didn’t just build a company.
She demonstrated that background does not determine trajectory,
that gender does not define capability,
and that limited resources do not limit ambition.
In the end, this is not a story about flying aircraft.
It is a BIGSTORY about refusing to stay grounded by other people’s expectations.
And that is why it resonates far beyond one industry, one founder, or one moment in time.
Kanika didn't survive cancer and industry rejection despite being a 21-year-old woman with Rs 5,600. She built a Rs 420 crore empire BECAUSE she was a 21-year-old woman with Rs 5,600 who survived cancer.
The constraints were the strategy. The rejection was the fuel. The impossible odds were the permission slip to rewrite every rule.
The sky isn't waiting for you—you're keeping it waiting.
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