👋 Hi, I'm Mausmi

2x SaaS Founder.
Published Author.
Ecosystem Builder.

18+ years building companies, writing books, and shaping India's startup ecosystem. Co-founded ThreadSol ($12M exit to Coats PLC) and ZapScale. Now CEO of Shifu Foundation — unlocking tech founders from every district of India.

🚀 2x Founder 💰 $12M Exit 📚 3 Books 🏆 9 Awards 🌎 40+ Countries
Mausmi Ambastha
Hello 👋

If you're here, you're probably wondering who I am.

I'm Mausmi — a 2× founder, fashion technologist, teacher, and endlessly curious builder. I grew up in Patna where the career menu was simple: engineer 👩‍💻, doctor 🩺, or IAS 🏛️. Startups weren't really on it.

Curiosity pulled me into a strange but fascinating mix of technology + fashion + manufacturing.

I co-founded ThreadSol, building algorithms that help garment factories cut fabric smarter ✂️. At one point factories using our software were producing ~1% of the world's garments 🌍. ThreadSol was acquired by Coats PLC for $12M.

Today I'm building ZapScale 🚀 and Shifu Foundation, trying to spark one tech founder from every district of India.

When I'm not building, I'm usually reading, writing, exploring ideas, or spending time with family.

Still curious. Still building. ✨

🎯 Current Roles
CEO, Shifu Foundation · Co-Founder & COO, ZapScale · NFDI Advisory Board
🎓 Education
M.F.Tech, NIFT Delhi (2004–06)
B.Tech CS, AKTU (2000–04)
💰 Backed By
Narayana Murthy (Infosys) · Rajan Anandan (Sequoia) · Blume Ventures · Catamaran Ventures
🤝 Community
SaaSBoomi Volunteer · GrowthX Mentor · Customer Success Collective
📍 Based in
New Delhi, India
💼 Career
18+ Years of Building
From consulting and academia to founding two venture-backed startups and leading global teams.
2024 — Present
CEO
Shifu Foundation

A nationwide movement to inspire and enable one technology founder from every district of India — through documentary screenings, founder cohorts, mentorship, and a patron network across 806 districts.

Current806 Districts
Feb 2022 — Present
Co-Founder & COO
📊 ZapScale

AI-first Customer Success platform for B2B SaaS. Raised seed round from Blume Ventures, Veda VC and others. 29 G2 badges.

CurrentSeed Funded
Jan 2019 — Aug 2020
Senior Director, Customer Services
🌎 Coats Digital / Coats PLC

Part of $1.5B Coats PLC (UK). Led global Customer Services — 800+ customers, 40+ countries. Managed post-acquisition integration of 80+ people across 3 companies and 20 geographies. Reported to CEO of Coats Digital.

Global Leadership
Aug 2011 — Jan 2019
Co-Founder & COO
🚀 ThreadSol (IntelloCut)

Built from 4 to 100+ people, 150+ enterprise clients across 16 countries. 60% CAGR, 30% EBITDA margin. AI-powered fabric optimization — ~1% of world garment production. Raised seed and Series A from Narayana Murthy, Blume Ventures, Rajan Anandan and others.

$12M Exit → Coats PLC~1B garments/yr
Jul 2009 — Aug 2010
Assistant Professor
🏫 NIFT Delhi

Taught fashion technology and garment manufacturing. Co-authored 3 books. Continue as guest lecturer & jury member.

Aug 2007 — Jul 2009 · Aug 2010 — Aug 2011
Consultant → Senior Consultant
⚙️ Methods Apparel Consultancy

Operations management, process reengineering, factory setup across Southeast Asia. SEAM initiative (Ministry of Rural Development). These journeys through India's interior shaped the conviction behind Shifu.

Jun 2006 — Jul 2007
Consultant
👕 Triburg

Sourcing & vendor management for international fashion clients — Liz Claiborne, Ann Taylor, and others.

Awards & Honors
Recognized by CNBC, Business Today, TiE, Grace Hopper, Microsoft, and leading industry organizations.
📚 Published Author
Books
Three co-authored books on apparel manufacturing. Cited in academic research worldwide.
📘

Cutting Room Management in Apparel Manufacturing

Co-authored with Dr. Prabir Jana · Apparel Resources, 2020

📗

Performance Measurement in Apparel Manufacturing

Co-authored with Anand Deshpande · Apparel Resources, 2020

📙

Productivity Improvement in Apparel Manufacturing

Contributing author · Multi-author volume

📖

Featured in: The Economy Class Founder

By Manasij Ganguli (Juggernaut, 2023). ThreadSol's journey — 119 investor rejections, near-bankruptcy three times, to a $12M exit. Rated 4.9/5 on Amazon.

Amazon → · Goodreads →
Published Articles
15+ articles across leading apparel and technology publications. Cited in 10+ academic papers globally.

Cited in Research Worldwide

Articles and books cited in peer-reviewed journals and university theses from India, Sri Lanka, Finland, Italy, USA, and more.

"Ethiopia as a Newly Emerging Global Textile Centre"

Diriba et al. · IJRTE, 2019

Cited by 11
"Integer Quadratic Programming Model for Cut Order Plan"

De Silva et al. · Univ. of Sri Jayewardenepura

Cited by 5
"Reduction of Fabric Consumption & Minimizing Wastage"

Janarthanan et al. · IRJET, 2020

"How Can IoT Reduce Waste in Supply Chain?"

McCullough · Univ. of Tennessee thesis

"Vietnam's Garment Manufacturers: Upgrading in GVCs"

Do Thi · University of Padova thesis

"Automation in Apparel Industry"

IJCRT, 2022 · Cites IntelloCut technology

🎤 On Stage
Speaking & Panels
Keynotes, panels, and workshops at industry conferences, universities, and ecosystem events.
🎤

BharatTex 2024

Young Entrepreneurs Panel Discussion

2024
💡

SaaSBoomi / AIBoomi Annual

Workshop: Revenue-Led Growth with Product Outcomes

2024
🚀

Blume Ventures "Build Better"

Panel: Diversity and Its Challenges

2023
☁️

SAASCON23

Speaker — SaaSInsider Conference

2023
🌎

Customer Success Festival

CS Collective, San Francisco

2023
🏫

ICEIL 2018, Amity University

Conference Committee · Young Entrepreneur Award

2018
🏆

Grace Hopper Celebration 2013

WEQ Winner Presentation, Bangalore

2013
💻

Intel Panel

Panel with Aswini Asokan (AI / Technology)

🌎

Asia Society Workshop

Entrepreneurship — India, Hong Kong, China Partnership

🎓

IIT Jammu · Parul University · NIFT Delhi

Guest Speaker · Guest Lecturer · Faculty Training · Jury Panel

Multiple Years

Podcasts & Video

Host, guest, and content creator across audio and video platforms.

Press & Media Coverage

Featured in Business Today, CNBC, YourStory, Inc42, Textile World, and 20+ publications.

Business Today CNBC TV18 YourStory Inc42 Textile World Fibre2Fashion PR Newswire
💼 Ventures
Companies
Three ventures spanning fashion-tech, B2B SaaS, and ecosystem building.
Shifu

Shifu Foundation

CEO

A nationwide movement to inspire and enable one tech founder from every district of India.

📊

ZapScale

Co-Founder & COO

AI-first Customer Success platform for B2B SaaS. Raised seed round from Blume, Veda and others. 29 G2 badges.

🚀

ThreadSol

Co-Founder & COO · $12M Exit

AI-powered fabric optimization. ~1B garments/yr. Acquired by Coats PLC for $12M.

Let's Talk

Whether it's startups, SaaS, manufacturing, or ecosystem building — I'd love to connect.

✉️ mausmi.ambastha@gmail.com