Shark Tank judge invested Rs 5,600 at 21, 10 years later she holds a net worth of Rs 420 cr

But every empire begins with a moment of wonder.

“My fascination with planes began at a very early age,” Kanika once shared, adding, “I think I was four when I first saw a helicopter land. That’s when my love for planes began.”

That childhood awe never left her. Kanika’s first dream was to sit in the cockpit herself.

“I wanted to become a pilot. But I come from a Marwari family. My parents thought, ‘Driver banegi?’ and it was a no,” she revealed. That rejection didn’t ground her—it redirected her.

“That inspired me to do something in aviation.”

As she grew older, Kanika envisioned something radical for India—an Uber for the skies. Her idea was simple yet revolutionary: buy private jets and rent them out, making private aviation more accessible, transparent, and efficient. In 2014, at just 21 years old, she founded JetSetGo.

What followed was not applause—but doubt.

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Speaking to The Times of India, Kanika Tekriwal recalled the early days of her business: “The time when I started my business, nobody understood it. I had a lethal combination—I was a girl, 21, in an industry dominated by men.”

Often, when she visited airports to inspect planes, she was mistaken for cabin crew.

“People would ask me, ‘Ma’am, are you in the cabin crew?’” she said, smiling at the irony. “I loved the colour red. I often wore red and carried red bags.”

Her confidence and presence didn’t fit the stereotype people had of a ‘plane owner’—and that made them uncomfortable. It was also the era when startups were obsessed with raising capital. Kanika tried too—and failed.

“When I went to raise money, they asked me, ‘What is the market size?’ Everybody shut the door on my face. Only one person believed in me,” she said.

In hindsight, she calls it the best thing that happened to her.

“A lot of people ask me how I did this without raising money,” Kanika said, adding, “Till date, I have invested only Rs 5,600, and we operate India’s largest fleet of private jets.”

JetSetGo today is far more than a charter service. According to its official vision, the company manages aircraft, guides ownership, offers exclusive membership programs, and is actively preparing for the next era of aviation—including electric and vertical take-off aircraft.