“EPIC World is a platform uniquely placed to connect the dots – right from the voice of the customer to the catchment of the customer, to business models that work well in India, all the way to capital strategies that align with the entire chain. ”
— Jyotsna Krishnan
My guest today is Jyotsna Krishnan, the CEO and Co-Founder of EPIC World focused on empowering what she has termed “the unseen middle.” Jyotsna leads initiatives to change the financial systems for entrepreneurial households in India, creating replicable models for other regions that share similar market dynamics, like Latin America.
She recognized great potential in a segment that comprises 247 million households. According to EPIC World’s estimates, there is a $100 trillion opportunity over the next 20 years to serve Indian entrepreneurial households and harness their economic vibrancy.
No one would ever guess it all started with a simple train ride…
Jyotsna traveled into the heart of rural India with her mother, who was engaged in capacity training with local women. She was fascinated when she met women who managed not only to cope but to excel against all odds in challenging environments. They inspired Jyotsna to look for ways to better serve their needs.
Raised in Delhi by parents engaged in nonprofit work and educated at prestigious institutions like the Sriram College of Commerce and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, she was well-prepared for that mission.
Her role at HSBC, starting in wealth management and moving to strategic business analysis, deepened her understanding of the financial lives of diverse individuals. In fact, she understood both market needs and human aspirations, but didn’t feel she could do much to bridge the gaps while in HSBC.
Seeking to make a more significant difference, Jyotsna moved to Elevar Equity where she could actively support entrepreneurial households. (Sandeep Farias, founder and managing partner of Elevar Equity was my guest in one of the previous episodes. Listen in to learn more.)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, these households proved once again their resilience. Often overlooked as the “bottom of the pyramid,” they were in fact dynamic risk-takers, problem-solvers, and creators of multiple income streams. However, despite their economic potential, they lacked access to quality healthcare, education, financing, and business services, mainly because businesses didn’t figure out how to serve them effectively.
That’s when EPIC World was born.
Founded by partners from Elevar Equity and a co-founder skilled in deep tech and data, it acts as a scaling engine. It bridges the gap between businesses, investors, and entrepreneurial households by offering deep market intelligence, real-time data, and aligned capital strategies. Their goal is to help 50 companies scale up to become blue-chip firms that serve these entrepreneurial households, recognized as key drivers of India’s growth.
And the numbers showing the market’s potential are staggering: Entrepreneurial households in India alone contributed $8.8 trillion in transaction volume in 2023, and this figure rose to $10 trillion in 2024, with the potential to grow tenfold over the next 20 years.
It seems that Jyotsna’s vision can drive real change.
Over the last decade, she has witnessed a huge shift in the roles and perceptions of women in India. In her own words: “I’ve seen villages where, ten years ago, women would shy away from outsiders, wearing traditional veils. Now, those same women are CEOs, running businesses, and inspiring their daughters, who now confidently ride two-wheelers to school in jeans.“
Tune in for this interview with Jyotsna to learn more about the palpable change she’s making and how inclusive economic practices can genuinely uplift entire communities, creating new leaders from those who were once misunderstood, undervalued, and overlooked.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
- Connect with Jyotsna: LinkedIn
- EPIC World on Twitter/X
- EPIC World website
- Book: “Book: Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India’s Lonely Young Women And The Search For Intimacy And Independence”
- Episode #72 with Sandeep Farias
SHOW NOTES:
[00:00] Introduction
[03:56] A book (Cain and Abel) changed Jyotsna’s career path
[06:23] Joining HSBC
[13:19] The turning point that led Jyotsna to leave HSBC for impact investing
[13:35] Jyotsna’s first exposure to rural India and its impact on her worldview
[16:21] EPIC World – a high-level overview
[18:57] Defining entrepreneurial households and why they matter
[24:25] The biggest gaps in addressing the needs of the entrepreneurial households
[34:01] Setting up EPIC World and its mission
[44:36] EPIC World’s two key strategies
[52:26] The $8.8 trillion Epic Opportunity
[56:06] Dismantling biases
[57:35] Women’s growing role in economic decision-making
[01:00:07] Jyotsna’s vision for EPIC World over the next few years
[01:01:34] Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh
[01:04:06] Rapid fire question
MORE JYOTSNA KRISHNAN QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW:
“I would say India’s entrepreneurial households are still largely undercapitalized despite the huge potential they hold. Businesses focusing on these markets need both aligned capital and deep consumer insights to succeed and scale in this space. ”
— Jyotsna Krishnan
“India’s entrepreneurial households represent a massive market, with trillions of dollars in transactions taking place. We need many companies to be built to serve this space. So we said, if we can lead with the example of helping 50 companies scale up and become blue-chip companies, the market will follow through, and several more companies can look up to building for this segment. ”
— Jyotsna Krishnan
