These sisters turned down investors to keep 100% of their card game startup

When Mrinalini Mitra and her sister Nyonika built a card game in their Lucknow living room, they had one rule for growing it: no outside investors. The sisters deliberately chose crowdfunding to launch their startup, now known as Mithrasa, instead of raising external capital.

‘Women are often advised to accept the first cheque they are offered, which can lead to under-ownership. By validating demand through global pre-sales, we were able to retain 100% equity. Building a supply chain capable of serving customers in over 40 countries from day one was our biggest challenge,’ said Nyonika, who oversees operations, logistics and international fulfilment.

The strategy worked. Their debut card game has buyers in more than 40 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Canada, and the business has crossed the $100,000 revenue mark, all without a single investor meeting.

Mrinalini, an Oxford graduate, and Nyonika, a graduate of the London School of Economics, gave up internship opportunities and plans for careers abroad to return to Lucknow and care for their mother, who was battling cancer. ‘There is a persistent myth that work perceived as feminine or handmade lacks commercial rigour, but that has not been the case with our card games,’ Mrinalini said.

As first-time creators from India without a major publisher or significant advertising budget, the sisters say their success shows there is global demand for creator-led entrepreneurship from smaller markets.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Gamester81