Rejected 10+ years ago, this woman now heads Google's India Startups unit: Meet Ragini Das

Ragini Das, Head for Startups Google, feels the job is like “destiny” and has brought life a “full circle” after she was rejected during the final round of interviews at the tech giant in 2013. Today, she is excited to head its “mission to support thriving startups”.

Sharing a job update on professional networking site LinkedIn, Ragini Das wrote, “Life has come full circle, and I'm excited to share that I've joined Google as Head of Google for Startups - India”.

The journey: Zomato, leap.club to Google

Sharing her journey, Ragini Das said she interviewed at both Google and Zomato in 2013. “I didn't make it through Google's last round, but I did get into Zomato — and those 6 years changed everything for me.” 

She credits Zomato with helping her “identify my career moat," build lifelong friends, and develop the resilience to co-found leap.club, a women-led professional network.

Calling leap.club her “most defining chapter,” she said it gave her “purpose, an identity and, changed lives for thousands of women.”

She added, “Through this journey, I had the privilege of connecting with founders who are tackling some of India's most pressing challenges. When we paused operations in June this year, I wasn't sure what the next decade would look like. I took time to relax, create art, get back into fitness, travel, pick up a few passion projects and spend countless hours photographing my dog, Jimmy.”

According to Das, she came across her current role at Google in August and said it felt like “destiny” and “perfectly aligned with my journey”.

She added, “We're on a mission to support thriving startups around the world by connecting them to the right people, products and best practices to help them grow. More on what's coming up in India soon.”

Who is Ragini Das?

According to her LinkedIn profile, besides Zomato and leap.club, which she launched in 2020, Das has previously worked with Trident Group India and interned at Standard Chartered Bank and Aludecor.

Das earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (BBA) with First-Class Honours from Lancaster University. She completed her schooling at Chettinad Vidyashram in Chennai, where she also served as the Cultural Secretary.

Das also chairs the Women in Startups Committee at FICCI.