Take a look around, we see women thriving in their professions and there are women who are thriving as homemakers. But there is a third side to the story, women who are ambitious but are stuck in the kitchen due to various reasons. Swathi Nelabhatla an entrepreneur is weaving a more inclusive story. One where every woman, regardless of her background, skills, or time constraints, gets a platform to thrive. The founder and CEO of SheJobs and now the mind behind the newly launched Sitha app, Swathi is on a mission to make work accessible and flexible for women across India.
Born and raised in the small town of Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh, Swathi grew up watching her father, who was a journalist, stand for truth and social impact. “He always believed that news should not just inform, but also serve people,” she shares. That sense of purpose stayed with her, even when life led her far from home.
After studying engineering and moving to the United States for her son’s medical treatments, Swathi faced a dilemma many women can relate to: ‘how do you balance caregiving with career growth?’ “My son has special needs. Managing therapy schedules and a full-time job just wasn’t feasible,” she says. So, she took the leap into self-employment.
Starting an IT company allowed Swathi not just to create space for herself, but also to build opportunities for other women in similar situations. That spark eventually grew into SheJobs, a tech-forward job portal designed to help women, especially those returning from career breaks, re-enter the workforce. It was a success. But Swathi wasn’t done yet.
“I started getting messages from women who weren’t from the corporate world. Teachers, home bakers, artists, makeup artists and many other women with talent and skills, but no platform to showcase them,” she recalls. That insight became the seed for her latest venture, Sitha.
Named after the goddess from Ramayana who stood strong through trials and turmoil, the name stands for ‘She Is The Hero Always’. “Every woman has something she can offer, and our platform helps her turn that into an income stream,” Swathi explains.
Available on iOS and Android, the Sitha app enables women to list services or products be it tuitions, handmade jewellery, baking, decoration, or dance classes and directly connect with customers. “You don’t need to be a techie or even have prior business experience. If you have a skill, that’s enough,” she adds.
What makes Sitha unique is its dual economy model: it supports both service providers and product sellers, all within a single app. “Whether you’re a journalist who also teaches classical dance, or a homemaker who bakes amazing cupcakes, Sitha gives you visibility and a marketplace,” Swathi says.
For women worried about using tech or navigating a digital platform, Sitha offers handholding too. “If someone sends a message on WhatsApp, our team will call and help them create their profile. We even upload their services for them in some cases,” she says. Importantly, there’s no charge for this.
The app is currently live in India and offers over 20 categories of services. The goal is to keep expanding, building based on real feedback from the community. “Right now, we’re focusing on infrastructure — giving women a place to start. Next, we’ll help with branding, leads, and building a customer base,” Swathi shares.
And it’s all built with heart. The journey to launching Sitha took about a year. From researching market gaps to multiple design iterations, every step has been led by one core belief ‘work should be accessible to every woman’. “Not everyone wants a 9-to-5 job. Life is unpredictable, you might lose a job, or need to take a break. Sitha is that gentle fallback that says, ‘Hey, you still have something to offer. Let’s make it work’,” the entrepreneur reminds.
Swathi’s earlier venture, SheJobs, has already made its mark, with recognition from the state of Virginia and a growing community of women in tech. But for Swathi, Sitha is personal she says. It reflects the challenges she’s lived through, and the solutions she wishes more women had access to.
And in a world where the gig economy is still largely male-dominated or urban-centric, Swathi believes Sitha can be a bridge — connecting skill-rich women in classrooms, kitchens, and courtyards to paying customers, without forcing them to fit into rigid job structures.
“Sitha isn’t competing with other platforms, but we’re complementing each other. One Sitha is not enough. We need many initiatives like this, if we’re serious about uplifting women at scale,” she says.
She’s also looking ahead experimenting with AI integrations, expanding the app’s reach across tier-2 and rural areas, and exploring new service verticals like delivery, content writing, and event support.
Whether you’re a college student, a working mom, or a retiree with time and talent to offer, Sitha is for everyone women because you can start from where you are, with what you have.