Unlike many others, Birla scion Ananya Birla chose to live her life on her own and not depend on her family name. Now, seven years later, she can easily say that she is much more than a businesswoman because her four singles as a singer-songwriter are all over speaking about the immense amount of talent in her.
While she is busy taking on the world one day at a time, here are 10 facts you need to know about the singer-songwriter and entrepreneur.
1. Ananya Birla is the eldest daughter of Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group, who also happens to be the 10th richest Indian.
2. At the age of 17, Ananya Birla founded Svantantra Microfin, a microfinance company to help women entrepreneurs in rural India.
3. The 24-year-old developed an interest in music at seven, when she first started learning how to play the santoor and the guitar.
4. After releasing her debut single Livin' The Life, the singer’s next song Meant To Be was certified platinum, making her the first Indian with an English song to go platinum.
5. Dutch DJ Afrojack remixed Ananya’s song Livin' The Life making her the first Indian artiste to get a worldwide release and hit over 14 million views on YouTube as of June 2017.
6. After studying at the University of Oxford, she returned to India and set up MPower, a mental health initiative to help people suffering from mental illness and is also responsible for opening a treatment centre for children affected by the different illnesses.
7. Ananya also owns a luxury fashion website called CuroCarte.com which is an e-commerce website for handmade products from over 12 countries.
8. Since her first single in 2016, the singer has already performed at over 70 gigs all around the world.
9. While earlier this year on March 1 Ananya released her third single Hold On, it was on June 7 that she released her fourth single Circles and it has already garnered 6.8 million views. It is the second highest after the Afrojack remix of Livin The Life which has got 14 million views.
10. Ananya Birla is not the only one to steer away from the family business, her younger brother, 21-year-old Aryaman Birla is a first-class cricketer in India and currently plays for Madhya Pradesh.