From Side Hustle To Building A Fashion Empire w Eshita Kabra, Founder of By Rotation
Female Founders Rise ShowShow Notes
Eshita Kabra is the founder and CEO of By Rotation, the world’s largest peer-to-peer fashion rental app. She built it as a side hustle while working in finance, strategically walked away when the numbers made sense, and has since raised over £5 million - all while navigating the venture capital world as a South Asian woman who was told to "stick to her roots." In this episode, Emmie and Mae sit down with Eshita to talk about: The honeymoon in Rajasthan where she saw textile waste firsthand and knew something had to change
How she created a financial model to calculate exactly when to leave her six-figure finance career
What happened when her boss told her they could "pretend this conversation never happened"
Raising the hardest first million - and why her ex-colleagues became her earliest investors
The bias she faced from investors who wanted her to focus only on Indian-specific fashion
The UN speech that earned a standing ovation: "Women of color don't need mentorship - they need money"
How By Rotation's top lenders are funding IVF, home deposits, and life-changing milestones
Integrating pregnancy into her brand - maternity rentals, hiring a chief of staff, and rejecting the pressure to hide it
Why fundraising is glamourised and what actually matters: resourcefulness, hard work, and knowing how to spend your own money
This conversation is raw, honest, and packed with practical wisdom for any founder navigating startup funding, pitching investors, and building something bigger than yourself. About the Guest: Eshita Kabra is the founder and CEO of By Rotation, the world’s largest peer-to-peer fashion rental platform with over 500,000 users. Prior to By Rotation, she spent six and a half years as an investor in corporate bonds. She has spoken at the United Nations on sustainable fashion and is a champion for women of color in venture capital. Connect with Eshita → https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshitakabra/ By Rotation → https://byrotation.com Connect with us → Join Female Founders Rise Free: https://femalefoundersrise.com/ Emmie on LinkedIn → https://linkedin.com/in/emmiefaust Mae on LinkedIn → https://linkedin.com/in/mae-yip-9017b238 → Download the episode playbook → https://femalefoundersriseshow.com/ Female Founders Rise Show on Instagram → https://instagram.com/ffr.show Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/51thW8i
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