In an exchange statement on 25 October, Ola Electric Mobility stated that the board had authorised funding up to INR 1,500 crore through the issuance of securities. A plan to raise money through the issuance of shares or convertible securities, including warrants, through rights issues, qualified institutional placements, private placements, or any other method allowed by applicable laws has been reviewed and approved by the board, according to the Bengaluru-based electric vehicle manufacturer. No more than INR 1,500 crore will be raised in total. The EV manufacturer did not reveal why the money was being raised.
Ola’s Fund Raising History
The board of Ola Electric authorised the issuing of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) or any other suitable debt securities on May 22 of this year in order to raise 1,700 crore. Additionally, the business stated that it will raise money through working capital facilities and term loans.
The company had stated in a filing that the Board of Directors of Ola Electric Mobility Limited (“the company”), at its meeting on May 22, 2025, has, among other things, considered and approved the proposal of fundraising by borrowing funds within the borrowing limits approved by the shareholders of the company. This fundraising will be conducted through the issuance of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) or any other eligible debt securities in one or more tranches, on a private placement basis, or through such other methods as may be permitted under applicable laws.
Ola Electric to Expand Through Fund Raising
Ola Electric was founded in 2017 and raised more equity when it went public in August 2024. Market share erosion and regulatory enquiries, such as discrepancies between reported sales and car registrations, have been challenges for the company since listing.
Due to increased competition from car giants like Bajaj Aito and TVS Motor Company, the company’s market share has also decreased. As the electric scooter manufacturer struggled with a steep decline in sales, Ola Electric reported a larger net loss for the April–June quarter (Q1) of 2025–26 (FY26). The company’s consolidated loss for the same time last year was INR 428 crore, up 23% from INR 347 crore.
Quick Shots
•Ola
Electric’s board has approved raising INR 1,500 crore through shares or
convertible securities.
•Total
amount to be raised capped at INR 1,500 crore.
•In
May 2025, Ola Electric raised INR 1,700 crore via Non-Convertible Debentures
(NCDs) or other debt securities.
•Additional
funds were raised through working capital facilities and term loans.
•Founded
in 2017, went public in August 2024.
•Faces
market share erosion and regulatory scrutiny over sales vs. registration
discrepancies.
•Q1
FY26 net loss: INR 428 crore (up 23% from INR 347 crore last year).
•Competition from Bajaj Aito and TVS
Motor Company impacting sales and market share.
On October 15, Ola Electric shares are anticipated to be the subject of attention due to signs that the firm plans to enter the energy sector in addition to its primary electric vehicle business. Ola Electric, the largest pure-play EV firm in India, said in an official statement that it would like to notify you that on October 17, 2025, it will introduce a new product in the energy sector through a social media premiere.
This comes after remarks made by Bhavish Aggarwal, the chairman and managing director of Ola Electric, who recently alluded to a strategic change away from the business’s current electric vehicle activities. Power in India is shifting “from utility to deep tech — intelligent, portable, and personal,” according to Aggarwal’s tweet, implying a wider reach in the energy sector.
According to industry sources, Ola Electric’s planned announcement might be related to the company’s foray into the Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) market. Despite its infancy, the Indian energy storage market is expected to grow to a value of over USD 30 billion by 2030, according to industry projections.
Ola Likely to Use 4680 Bharat Cell Technology
According to other sources, the business may use the 4680 Bharat Cell technology it now has, which was created at its Gigafactory in Tamil Nadu, for this possible new endeavour. According to reports, the company’s 5 GWh manufacturing capacity may be modified for storage applications without requiring a significant financial investment, and its current network of Ola Electric outlets might serve as distribution centres for energy solutions for homes and businesses.
Compared to conventional BESS infrastructure projects, the model under consideration is anticipated to be asset-light, potentially enabling faster market entry. The growing need for distributed energy solutions throughout India is reportedly the main driver of the Total Contract Value (TCV) movement in this sector.
How this Could be a Game Changer Move for Ola?
Ola Electric may profit from its current infrastructure and domestic manufacturing skills if it decides to enter the energy storage business. Such actions are also perceived as being supported by the Indian government’s concentration on domestic production. After Aggarwal formally announces the intentions on October 17, which might be Ola Electric’s official entry into the energy storage market, more details are anticipated. Ola Electric Mobility’s stock ended Tuesday’s trading session flat on the BSE at INR 50.08.
Quick
Shots
•Ola Electric shares draw attention
amid reports of entry into the energy sector.
•Ola to unveil a new energy product on
October 17, 2025, via social media.
•Chairman Bhavish Aggarwal hints at a
strategic shift from EVs toward intelligent, portable, personal energy
solutions.
•Indian energy storage market
projected to exceed USD 30 billion by 2030.
•Likely use of 4680 Bharat Cell
technology from Ola’s Tamil Nadu Gigafactory.
The Economic Times recently reported that in a second round of layoffs, Krutrim, the artificial intelligence startup started by Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola, had let go of around 100 workers. A significant portion of the firm’s linguistics staff, which had just recently arrived, was impacted by the layoffs.
The decision was made only a few weeks after more than a dozen positions were eliminated in Krutrim’s initial wave of layoffs in June. The ET further reported that the most recent layoffs were a result of a “strategic realignment” and an effort to create leaner teams in order to better manage resources. The existing round of layoffs started soon after Kruti, the company’s AI helper, was introduced in June.
Why the Linguistics Team Was Hit Hard?
The report went on to say that the company no longer requires as many employees as they once did because nearly 80% of the training has already been completed for the AI helper Kruti. This implies that as the product approaches completion in its early stage, the company’s requirement for linguistics personnel has decreased.
Strategic Realignment: The Real Reason Behind the Cuts
Prior to this, Krutrim had declared significant efforts to develop its AI capabilities. When Bhavish Aggarwal established Krutrim AI Labs earlier this year, he committed INR 2,000 crore to AI development, with ambitions to double that amount to INR 10,000 crore the following year. In 2024, the business became a unicorn after raising $50 million from venture capital firm Z47 Partners.
Tech Layoffs in 2025 Globally
Particularly at a time when many software companies worldwide are cutting budgets and shrinking staff, the layoffs are perceived as a change in emphasis from team expansion to effective capital use.
Even though artificial intelligence is still one of the most talked-about development sectors, many startups and big businesses are having trouble controlling costs while attempting to grow rapidly.In 2025 alone, the tech industry’s current wave of layoffs has resulted in over 100,000 job losses worldwide.
As they prioritise AI integration and adjust to shifting market conditions, major companies like IBM, Intel, and Microsoft continue to reduce their workforces.
AI’s Growing Role in Workforce Reductions
Microsoft, for example, just announced 9,100 layoffs that will impact its Xbox and gaming operations, among other departments. These layoffs serve as a reminder of the continuous difficulties businesses have in the quickly changing tech sector.
Additionally, IBM has been laying off some 8,000 workers, primarily from its human resources division. This comes after an internal shift towards automation, where jobs that were formerly handled by human staff are progressively being replaced by AI systems.
This change demonstrates how AI is increasingly affecting employment positions and the strategic realignments that tech businesses are undergoing. AI integration is changing the nature of work and the skills needed in the tech sector.
Ola Electric, a premier name in India’s electric vehicle sector, is facing a severe regulatory setback. The Maharashtra Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) took a hard look at the company’s outlets, a total of 146 spread across the state. What they found was alarming: 121 of these outlets were supposedly running without the most basic legal documents, a trade certificate, that every outfit in this sector is required to have under the Central Motor Vehicles Act. 75 of these outlets have been put on notice, told to close up, with a total of 192 scooters impounded as part of the revenue recovery effort.
The inspections began in early March 2025, in response to reports of growing numbers of vehicle dealerships operating without trade certificates or using a single certificate among several stores, notably in Mumbai and Pune. Under the law, an authorized trade certificate must be displayed at each location where a dealership sells or services vehicles. Pratap Sarnaik, the Maharashtra Transport Minister who led this crackdown, has made clear that not complying with this law will no longer be tolerated.
Regulatory Lapses Spark Government Action
The matter peaked on April 16 when the joint transport commissioner of Maharashtra told all RTOs to shut down Ola Electric showrooms and service centres that were operating in violation of trade certification norms. The move came after a show cause notice and was meant to take immediate effect, with RTOs reporting back within 24 hours that they had closed any offending centre. The commissioner also indicated that any such centres found to be using their trade certificates in a manner that was not intended should have their trade certificates cancelled.
This action has brought the overarching matter of regulatory compliance into the spotlight; we now see it very clearly, indeed, and the electric two-wheeler market must take note. Ola Electric attained meteoric upward movement in not too long a time, but this swift success may have outpaced the setting and meeting of internal compliance standards that ensure, above all, customers working in the marketplace are safe, also ensuring that the company functions in accordance with the law.
Ola’s Response and Market Resilience
Ola Electric is facing increasing pressure, but it has attempted to remain steady. The company has responded to the media reports by saying that the allegations are speculative and misplaced. A company spokesperson reiterated Ola’s commitment to working with the state’s transport authorities to address what has been reported. The EV maker also stated that it is in the process of obtaining trade certificates for all its operational centres within the state, a procedure they claim was already underway before the enforcement operation.
Even in the middle of this controversy, Ola is charging ahead with its innovation-driven strategy. The brand recently unveiled the Roadster X, its first all-electric motorcycle lineup. With such features as brake-by-wire technology, cruise control, and even reverse mode, the Roadster X positions Ola pretty squarely as a tech-savvy disruptor in the motorcycle market. And at prices between INR 84,999 and INR 184,999, the lineup is pitched at a broad spectrum of consumers.
Ola Electric declared that it secured a 30% market share by registering 3,44,005 electric scooters in the fiscal year 2025. However, even with those impressive numbers, the Bengaluru-based EV manufacturer fell to third place in the race for March 2025 sales. Only Bajaj Auto and TVS managed to sell more units of something in that March than Ola Electric did.
Trailing Bajaj and TVS
Data from the VAHAN portal reveals that Ola Electric sold 23,430 units in March 2025. Meanwhile, Bajaj Auto maintained its lead in the electric two-wheeler (E2W) segment with 34,863 units. Not too far behind, TVS racked up sales of 30,454 units. This puts the market share of Ola Electric in March at 17.9%; Bajaj’s share is 26.76%, and TVS holds 23.3%.
This is not the first time Ola Electric has lagged behind Bajaj. This December, for the first time, Bajaj beat Ola in market share, selling 18,276 units for 24.93% of the market. Meanwhile, in March, Ather Energy sold 15,446 units. Hero MotoCorp and Greaves reported 7,977 and 5,641 units, respectively.
Overcoming Registration Challenges
Ola Electric accepted that the preliminary sales results for February were affected by the transition to vehicle registrations done in-house. The company claims that nearly all the February sales backlog has been completed and that by the end of this month, April 2025, the remaining February to March registrations will all be done.
An Ola Electric company spokesperson stated, “Demand across urban and rural markets remains robust, even in March 2025. We have almost completely resolved our February backlog and are moving quickly to serve the customer registrations that we have yet to fulfill. Our operations are now fully on track.”
Launch of Gen 3 Scooters and Technological Advancements
Notwithstanding the registration challenges it faces, Ola Electric continues to enjoy a strong position in the electric vehicle market. The company has begun fulfilling orders for its latest offering, the S1 Gen 3 scooter, which boasts a number of technological improvements over its forerunner. The new model features a mid-drive motor (a huge step up from the previous model’s hub motor), which, combined with a chain drive, makes for a more reliable e-scooter and a more enjoyable ride.
Ola asserts that the Gen 3 scooters provide a 20% uptick in peak power, an 11% dip in pricing, and a 20% increase in range when stacked against their forebears. But look: they are all but a few PowerPoints and a shiny “new for 2022” paint job distinct from the two other recently refreshed scooters on which they are built. You shouldn’t be fooled, then, into thinking the Gen 3 lineup is a major reworking of the previous models. But even if they are all underwhelming, each scooter still does at least one thing well.
The S1 Gen 3 range is available in three prices, starting with the 2kWh model at INR 79,999. At the high end, the S1 Pro+ 5.3kWh variant, which features Ola’s custom 4680 Bharat Cell, is available at INR 1,69,999. As competition grows stronger, Ola Electric will have to harness its technological progress and operational efficiency to restore its market leadership.
In response to recent media coverage of their February 2025 sales numbers, Ola Electric denied any regulatory concerns and provided explanation on what it refers to as a temporary registration bottleneck. The company stated in a statement issued on March 21 that it is working to alleviate the backlog that resulted in disparities in vehicle registration data and that sales are still high. Ola claims that this backlog is being cleared up and that it was not brought on by any internal operational problems. The company’s daily registration numbers have now surpassed 50% of its typical daily revenues over the last three months. According to the most recent information, 40% of the backlog from February has already been cleared, and Ola Electric anticipates that the problem will be fixed completely by the end of March 2025.
Ola Claims Current Situation has been Misrepresented
Additionally, Ola Electric claimed that some “vested interests” and media outlets had distorted the situation as a regulatory matter. In a press release, the company defined the backlash as a “coordinated effort to create confusion and trigger unnecessary scrutiny.” This escalated after the company terminated contracts with two nationwide vendors that were in charge of its registration process as part of Ola Electric’s strategy to streamline operations and drive profitability. The business reaffirmed its dedication to effectively clearing the backlog and upholding openness with clients and authorities.
Tough Time for Ola Electric
According to a media agency, Ola Electric Mobility Ltd., under the leadership of Bhavish Aggarwal, is laying off over 1,000 staff and contract workers in an attempt to reduce the company’s growing losses. As the electric two-wheeler (2W) manufacturer goes through a significant reorganisation, the employment cutbacks impact several departments, including procurement, fulfilment, customer relations, and charging infrastructure. In less than five months, this is the company’s second round of layoffs. About 500 workers were let go by Ola Electric in November 2024, and the most recent round of layoffs represents more than 25% of the company’s 4,000-person employment as of March 2024. However, since they are not included in the company’s formal disclosures, contract workers are not included in this statistic.
A representative for the company told the media outlet that Ola had automated front-end processes to boost customer satisfaction, cut expenses, and increase margins while removing unnecessary positions to increase efficiency. They did not; however, state how many employees were impacted. The layoffs occur as Ola Electric, which is supported by SoftBank, faces several difficulties. In the December 2024 quarter, the company’s net loss increased to INR 564 crore from INR 376 crore in the same period the year before. The business has also had to contend with increasing competition, which has caused it to lose its top spot as India’s largest seller of electric scooters. According to government data from December 2024, TVS Motor Co. and Bajaj Auto Ltd. both surpassed Ola Electric as the market leaders. Ola Electric argues that it is still a major player in spite of these failures. The business recorded sales of more than 25,000 units in February 2025, gaining a 28% market share. Aggarwal had set a monthly sales goal of 50,000 units to reach breakeven in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), but this is well below that amount.
Our India stands as the second-largest population in the world with a rapidly thriving economy over the past few decades. Before India’s Independence, agriculture played a vital role in developing the economy.
Following the 21st century, we have witnessed numerous entrepreneurs arising in every corner of India with a motive to bring a prosperous future for Indians.
Conscientiously, India became the third-largest in terms of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) after the United States of America and China. Because of this fact, our entrepreneurs are the sole reason for the success of the Indian Economy, which stated that over 58.5 million entrepreneurs are there in India, of which nearly 13% are women.
Without any background or experience, some self-made business people took the determination to create a miracle in burgeoning the economy and ultimately becoming the richest entrepreneur at a very young age.
Net Worth – $1.5 Billion Founded – Zerodha Education – Graduation in engineering
Nithin Kamath – Youngest Billionaire in India
With an aim of breaking all barriers which are faced by investors and traders in India regarding cost, technology and support. Nithin Kamath, a Chartered Accountant (CA) took part in building a hassle-free online discount brokerage firm- Zerodha. He is the Founder as well as the CEO of Zerodha. He is mostly known for tweeting educational and informative content on social media.
Ultimately, the company became India’s first discount brokerage firm, after it was founded in the year 2010. As of 2021, Zerodha is said to have over 5 million active clients. The net worth of Nithin Kamath is INR 14500 Crores.
Nikhil Kamath
Net Worth – $1.5 Billion Founded – Zerodha Education – School Dropout
Nikhil Kamath – Youngest Billionaire in India
Nikhil Kamath is the Co-founder of India’s biggest trading platform, Zerodha. Although he dropped out of his school at a young age, he hustled and secures a job in a call centre, when he was just 17. Nikhil Kamath, after getting into trading along with his brother founded Zerodha. When he got into stock markets, he decided to start trading.
Zerodha solves all the problems and barriers faced by traders and investors. The current net worth of Nikhil Kamath is INR 11100. Zerodha was founded by Nikhil Kamath and his brother in the year 2010. He is one of the richest self-made billionaires in India at the age of 40.
Divyank Turakhia
Net Worth – $1.76 Billion Founded – Media.net Education – Graduated from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics
Divyank Turakhia – self made Billionaires in India
Divyank Turakhia being tech-savvy, began his career in coding at the age of 8 and mastered every aspect of computer programming. He was born on 29th January 1982 and did his schooling at Arya Vidya Mandir in Bandra and holds a degree in the field of Commerce and Economics from Narsee Monjee College in Mumbai. He founded media.net and later sold it to Chinese consortium for $900 million.
According to IIFA Wealth, He is the second richest self-made entrepreneur under 40, and his net worth is estimated to be 12,500 crores.
Ankit Bhati
Net Worth – $615 Million Founded – Ola Education – IIT Bombay
Ankit Bhati – Youngest billionaire in India
Ankit Bhati is the Co-founder and was the former CTO of one of India’s most popular and used ridesharing Ola Cabs. Ola Cabs was founded in the year 2010. . Recently, Ankit Bhati has launched a new SaaS startup named Amnic. The net worth of Ankit Bhati is INR 1600 Crores. With the increasing demand for ridesharing systems, Ola Cabs are one of the two ridesharing companies that are dominating the Indian market.
Bhavish Agarwal
Net Worth – $990 Million Founded – Ola Education – IIT Bombay
Bhavish Agarwal – Youngest billionaire in India
In recent times, Ola resulted in a turning point in the development of the Indian economy, where people encountered comfortable rental transport at an affordable rate. Bhavish Aggarwal commenced their idea of innovating technology-based cab services in India and started Ola and became one of the richest entrepreneurs with a net worth of close to INR 7500 Crores.
Net Worth – $1.3 Billion Founded – Paytm Education – Bachelor of Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering
Vijay Shekhar Sharma – Youngest billionaire in India
Vijay Shekhar Sharma is one of those Indian billionaire businessmen who achieved many things at such a young age. He is none other than the founder and chief executive officer of the financial technology firm, Paytm. He sold the website that he created while in college, named indiasite.net for $1 million.
He then started One97 Communications where they provided people with exam results, cricket scores, ringtones and jokes. In 2010 it became the parent organization of Paytm. In 2017, Forbes ranked him as India’s youngest billionaire and in the same year, he was headlined in Time Magazine’s World’s 100 Most Influential People 2017 List.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffet subsidized $300 million in the business in 2018. And again in 2020, Forbes featured him as the 62nd richest person in India and his net worth is $2.3 billion.
Binny Bansal
Net Worth – $1.3 Billion Founded – Flipkart Education – Graduate from IIT Delhi
Binny Bansal – Self-made Billionaires in India
Binny Bansal is the founder of the e-commerce platform named Flipkart. He co-founded Flipkart in 2007 and now he has become one of the biggest names in the Indian e-commerce industry. At first, Binny Bansal worked at Sarnoff Corporation, Binny Bansal completed his degree in computer engineering from IIT Delhi. He was the former CEO of Flipkart.
Flipkart was launched in 2007, at first it was more like a small book store, then it become an e-commerce platform. In 2018, Walmart acquired Flipkart. Today the valuation of Flipkart is around $37.8 billion.
Sachin Bansal
Net Worth – $1.3 Billion Founded – Flipkart Education – Graduate from IIT Delhi
Sachin Bansal – Self-made Billionaires in India
Sachin Bansal is an Indian entrepreneur who co-founded one of the most popular Indian e-commerce platforms Flipkart. Flipkart is an e-commerce company that is famous for selling consumer electronics, fashion, groceries and lifestyle-related products. Flipkart was acquired by Walmart in 2018. Sachin Bansal got his degree in Computer Engineering after attending IIT Delhi and founded Flipkart along with Binny Bansal. The net worth of Sachin Bansal is INR 8848 Cores.
Ritesh Agarwal
Net Worth – $1.1 Billion Founded – Oyo Rooms Education – College Dropout
Ritesh Agarwal – Youngest Billionaire in India
This 27-year-old Ritesh Agarwal is one the youngest billionaire in 2021 in India. He is the Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms. He commenced OYO Rooms as a small lodging portal under budget.
In 2012, it was added to the accelerator program by Venture Nursery. In 2013, it won $100,000 in the Thiel Fellowship program and in 2013, he launched OYO Rooms. The company was a success and the stakes tripled when Agarwal purchased $2 billion worth shares in the company.
He is named in the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Asia and also is nominated for the Business World Young Entrepreneur Award. As per reports, Ritesh Agarwal’s net worth is around $1.1 billion.
Net Worth – $650 Million Founded – Zomato Education – Graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Deepinder Goyal – Self made Billionaire in India
Deepinder Goyal is the founder of Zomato, which delivers food from restaurants to every corner of the city. Foodiebay was the name of the firm when they initially started, that is in 2008 and later in 2010, they renamed the company Zomato when the company gained popularity among the people.
It also acquired Cibando, Gastronauci, Poland’s restaurant search assistance in 2014, and Seattle founded Urbanspoon, it turned out to be their massive gain. As per the report, Deepinder Goyal’s current net worth is around Rs 2,200 crore.
Conclusion
Our entrepreneurs are the sole reason for the success of the Indian Economy. Many fresh talents are rising from the corners of the country and are giving a hand in creating a prosperous. As of 2021, there are many such successful entrepreneurs, here we have just mentioned a few.
FAQs
Who is the youngest self-made billionaire in India?
Nikhil Kamath, the co-founder of Zerodha is India’s youngest billionaire at the age of 34.
Who is the youngest self made billionaire entrepreneur in the world?
Austin Russell founder of Luminar Technologies is the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
Who is India’s youngest millionaire entrepreneur?
Sunil Butolia is India’s youngest millionaire at the age of 18.
Who are self made entrepreneurs?
Self made entrepreneurs are the people who have started with a lack of money, education, or social status and have become both rich and successful through their own efforts.
Who is the world’s youngest billionaire?
The world’s youngest billionaire is German heir Kevin David Lehmann, who is just 19.
How many Indian billionaires are there now?
Currently, there are 215+ Indian billionaires, with 58 new additions, as of March 2022.
Indians are fixated on the startup culture. People are choosing entrepreneurship over mundane, 9-to-5 jobs. However, not everyone succeeds as an entrepreneur. A survey revealed that approximately 11% of the Indians are engaged in ‘early-stage entrepreneurial activities’. And only 5% of these early-stage entrepreneurs actually went on to establish their startup.
But keeping these statistics aside, some Indian startups have gone on to dominate their target segments. This post is dedicated to some of the most successful entrepreneurs from India whose ventures have revolutionized the daily life of millions, if not billions, across the globe. The path to name and fame wasn’t easy for them; it involved several trials and tribulations.
Ritesh Agarwal founded OYO rooms in 2015. He was the recipient of the TiE – Lumis Entrepreneurial Excellence Award (2014), became the first Asian to win ’20 under 20’ Thiel Fellowship (2013), was named one of the top 50 entrepreneurs by TATA First Dot Awards (2013) and became the world’s youngest CEO at the age of 17. Ritesh Agarwal, an Orissa boy coming from a business-oriented family, went to Kota to become an engineer.
But unlike other JEE aspirants, his passion caught hold of him and he did not take JEE preparation seriously. Instead, he wrote a book called ‘Indian Engineering Colleges: A Complete Encyclopedia of Top 100 Colleges’; the book became immensely popular on Flipkart.
He was just 16 when he was selected for the Asian Science Camp held at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). With a penchant for traveling and having lived in tons of hotels, Ritesh observed a common problem at the places he stayed – the exorbitant price of the hotel room was not proportional to the facilities provided. He felt that majority of the hotels in India couldn’t satisfy the basic needs of a traveler on a budget.
Thus, he started Oravel Stays,his first venture in 2012. He improvised his business model and re-launched Oravel as ‘OYO’ which is short for ‘ON YOUR OWN’. Ritesh Agarwal became one of the most revered Indian entrepreneurs through OYO. At the age of 26 he became a billionaire.
Net worth of Ritesh Agarwal as of now is $2 billion. He became the second youngest billionaire after Kylie Jenner in the world.
An epitome of courage and wisdom, Shradha Sharma was at the top of her career while working with famous news media houses such as Times of India and CNBC (Mumbai). During her stint with these organizations, she noticed that no one was willing to promote and air the stories of entrepreneurs—both successful and not-so-successful. She figured out that there are millions of stories storming around but no medium to share them with the masses. Shradha decided to create YourStory, an online portal that hosts entrepreneurial stories and other share-worthy content.
YourStory was started in 2008 and has allowed over 70,000 stories to come to the fore. Shradha Sharma leads a team of 100+ people who work together to offer content in 11 Indian languages. YourStory’s aim is to provide a voice to the roller coaster of emotions that an entrepreneur goes through. Shradha Sharma is the recipient of the L’Oreal Paris Femina Award and has been included in the list of Worlds’ Top 500 LinkedIn Influencers. She is one of the most followed female entrepreneurs in India. Her channel has earned more than 26 million individual views.She is one of the most followed female entrepreneurs in India.Her net worth is of $1.3 billion.
Bhavish Aggarwal, an IIT Bombay alumnus, co-founded the most popular cab aggregator in India – Ola Cabs – with Ankit Bhati. He is the recipient of the Billionth award in 2013, Best startup of the year by IAMAL, and was listed in Forbes30 under 30 list. Bhavish revolutionized the idea of cab-hailing in India by making use of smartphones. Ola Cabs was different from the other cab services at that time in the sense that it leveraged smartphones and GPS technology; thus, it became easy for people to book cabs from anywhere, at any time. Bhavish Aggarwal left a well-paying job at Microsoft to work on Ola Cabs. No one supported his idea but it was his strong will, determination, and eagerness to take risks in life that led him to the pinnacle of success. Bhavish Aggarwal is counted amongst the most successful Indian entrepreneurs. According to Time magazine Bhavish Aggarwal is one of the 100 Most Influential People this year. His Net worth is $ 500 million.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the founder of Paytm, the cornerstone of digitized payments in India. Vijay is from Aligarh, India. A graduate of the Delhi College of Engineering, Vijay worked on several projects and at a small startup before taking the entrepreneurial plunge. He put in USD 2 million to get One97 up and running. One97 is the parent company of Paytm. The payments platform gave Indians access to a mobile wallet, the facility of making payments using QR codes, simplified bill payments, and a lot more. These features made Paytm wildly popular. In this manner, Vijay Shekhar Sharma became an inspiration to budding entrepreneurs all over the globe. He Won the Best Serial Entrepreneur Award at the Rural and Urban Development Summit and Awards 2022 presented by the Minister of State for Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India.
Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, founders of Zomato
Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah revolutionized the food delivery segment in India through its first foodtech unicorn Zomato. The duo are IIT Delhi graduates. Zomato started out as ‘Foodiebay’ and was first launched in Delhi. It was later extended to Mumbai and Kolkata. Now, there is not a single place in India where Zomato doesn’t render its services. Zomato’s mobile app is its USP; the app has an excellent user interface that lets you order food from the restaurant/eatery of your choice and make hassle-free payments. In Jan 2020, Zomato acquired one of its competitors- Uber Eats in India for a valuation of $300 million. In July 2022, Zomato went public with its stock listing at a premium of 53% over its issue price and it commanded a market cap of Rs 43,000 cr as of Mar 2023. In 2018, Prakash Chaddah left Zomato to venture into different fields. Net worth of Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal is estimated to be Rs 2,000 cr as of Mar 2023.
Kunal Shah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Wilson College, Mumbai, and briefly pursued an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies before dropping out. Shah’s first startup was a company named Paisaback, which provided cash-back promotions for organized retailers. Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon are the founders of one of India’s most innovative business models – Freecharge. CRED is Shah’s second venture after he sold Freecharge to Snapdeal in 2015 for $400 million. He is definitely one of the most famous entrepreneurs in India.
Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, founders of Flipkart
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal are the founders of Flipkart. The e-commerce segment in India underwent a drastic change courtesy of Flipkart. Sachin and Binny found discrepancies while searching for products on Amazon’s online store. The duo realized that the USP of their e-commerce initiative would be the timely delivery of products complemented by a simplistic user interface that leveraged the latest technology. Both the founders have now stepped down from their positions in Flipkart after it was acquired by Walmart in 2018. Flipkart is still giving a tough fight to all the e-commerce platforms out there and continues to win the hearts of Indians. India Today ranked them 50 Most powerful people of 2017 list.
Deep Kalra is the founder of MakeMyTrip. The credit for the introduction of online train bookings in India goes to Deep Kalra. A graduate of St. Stephen’s College with an MBA degree from IIM Ahmedabad, Deep worked for GE Capital and ABN AMRO bank. But the office culture and 9-5 job couldn’t captivate him enough. With a $2 million investment from eVentures and his co-founders, Deep Kalra founded MakeMyTrip, (earlier known as ‘India Ahoy’) in the year 2000. The company was listed on NASDAQ in August 2010. After IRCTC joined the race, Deep diversified MakeMyTrip by introducing hotel bookings. MakeMyTrip has mergers with MyGola, TrulyMadly, and the ITC group, to name a few. Deep Kalra is the chairperson of the NASSCOM Internet Working Group, a member of the Executive Council of NASSCOM, and is part of CII’s tourism sub-committee. He was ranked no 1 in a list of most powerful digital influencers in India by KPMG in 2011. His net worth is $ 136 million.
BYJU’S has helped thousands of students who struggle with subjects such as mathematics and science crack some of the hardest entrance exams like the JEE, NEET, and UPSC, CAT, IAS, and international examinations such as GRE and GMAT. BYJU’S has dominated the online education vertical for quite some time now. Byju Raveendran is the founder of BYJU’S. He is an engineer who worked in a shipping firm and accidentally stepped into the field of teaching when he assisted his friends with their CAT exam. Raveendran’s friends cleared the exam with flying colors and this motivated him to take up teaching on a full-time basis. Byju Raveendran started BYJU’s with an initial investment of just INR 2 lakhs. The startup’s valuation has recently crossed $22 billion as of March 2022, and the company have over 115 million registered students.In January 2022, the company joined Simplilearn, Unacademy, upGrad, PrepInsta Prime and Vedantu to become one of the founding members of IAMAI’s India EdTech Consortium.
In March 2022, the company signed a contract with Qatar Investment Authority to establish a new edtech company and a R&D center in Doha.
The concept of bringing the grocery store to one’s doorstep has done wonders across the globe. With it, the problem of waiting in long queues at groceries has now gone for a toss. Indians too now prefer the online route for grocery shopping. And who has dominated this segment? BigBasket. Hari Menon is the founder of BigBasket. With sales of over INR 150 crores per month, BigBasket has cemented its place as one of the big shots in the Indian e-commerce domain. It is operational in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata at present. In 2021 Tata Digital buys 64% stake in BigBasket His company received a lot of awards such as Consumer Internet Company of the Year by VC Circle Awards 2016, Best Online Grocer at Coca Cola Golden Spoon Awards 2016, Best retail and e-commerce app of the year at AWS Mobility Awards 2017, etc.
Albinder Dhindsa wanted to provide the services of a grocery, bakery, and general store through a consolidated platform. His dream took the form of Grofers, an Indian online grocery service. Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar founded Grofers. The duo worked hard to infuse new ideas into the online delivery system in India. Grofers is worth around $650 million today. The company has shifted from a B2B to a B2C business model. Grofers was named one of the Top 10 startups in Delhi and Gurgaon in 2014. Grofers had attained unicorn status or $1 billion in valuation, after raising over $120 million from food aggregator Zomato Ltd. On December 13, 2021, Grofers changed its brand name to Blinkit. As of 2021 Albinder holds 5-10% stake in the company.
Sanjiv Bajaj is known as the Chairman and Managing Director of Bajaj Finserv. Born into a family of the Bajajs, a business house started by Jamnalal Bajaj, who led the Bajaj Group to glory, Sanjiv had the zeal to raise their family business to amazing highs. Sanjiv is the son of Rahul Bajaj and great-grandson of Jamnalal Bajaj. After completing his Btech. in Mechanical engineering, followed by a Masters in manufacturing systems from the University of Warwick and an MBA from Harvard Business school, Sanjiv started his career with Bajaj Auto in 1994.
He had been a promising businessman from the very first, which helped him scale numerous prestigious designations within the organization. He had brought the American-style supply chain management to Bajaj Auto. Bajaj is currently serving as a non-executive director of Bajaj Auto.
Along with Bajaj Auto, Sanjiv also contributed to Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, Bajaj Finance for which he was appointed as the Chairman and Vice-Chairman. Sanjiv even led Bajaj Allianz General Insurance to emerge as the 2nd most profitable insurance company in India. Being an accomplished entrepreneur, Bajaj won a range of awards for the same, like the Entrepreneur of the Year” Award 2015-16 from Bombay Management Association, Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2017, Economic Times Awards for Business Leader of the Year 2018. Therefore, Sanjiv Bajaj can be regarded as one of the greatest entrepreneurs and business leaders that India has seen to date. Sanjiv Bajaj has a revenue of over ₹ 36,692 crore ($ 4.4 billion) and profit of over ₹ 2,866 crore ($ 348 million) for H1 FY2022-23.
PolicyBazaar has certainly grown to become one of the best insurance aggregators and a global technology company but it might not have secured the illustrious position that it now stands on if it was not for the Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder of the company, Yashish Dahiya. Dahiya was a student of IIT Delhi, from where he did his Bachelors in Engineering. He then went on to complete a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM Ahmedabad, which was followed by an MBA from INSEAD in 2001.
Yashish was the MD of the pan-European travel distributor, ebookers.com, and had previous experience of working as a strategy consultant of Bain & Co. in their London office before he founded PolicyBazaar in 2008. Yashish Dahiya had a major contribution to PolicyBazaar since he founded the company along with Alok Bansal and Avaneesh Nirjar in 2008, which has successfully become a key influencer in consumer decisions around insurance now. Furthermore, the platform hosts over 100 million visitors a year on average on its platform.
Dahiya was honored with the EY Entrepreneur of The Year (EOY) 2019 award in the Financial Services category and more for all that he had done for PolicyBazaar. Yashish Dahiya is also an extraordinary sportsperson along with a celebrated entrepreneur. He is the Indian masters swimming champion and has taken part in several world masters swimming championships representing India. Furthermore, Dahiya also boasts of having the 3rd fastest half ironman timing and the 5th fastest Ironman timings amongst Indians across all age groups along with having the fastest timings in his age group. In June 2021, Policybazaar obtained the insurance broking license from IRADA and announced that it would set up 100 offline outlets across India. The company also surrendered its web aggregator license. PB Fintech Ltd, the parent company of Policybazaar, opened its initial public offering (IPO) and raised ₹5,625 crore(US$700 million).Shares of PB Fintech Ltd began trading on National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in November 2021.
It seems nothing less than a dream when we talk about a fan of Manchester United, Mumbai Indians, and the Indian cricket team, who founded a company named Dream11 for the love of sports that he nurtures. Yes, it happened with Harsh Jain, who with his founding partner, Bhavit Sheth, founded Dream11 and Dream Sports, India’s no. 1 sports fantasy platform for sporting enthusiasts. That allows users to play fantasy cricket, hockey, football, kabaddi, handball, basketball, volleyball, rugby,futsal, American football,and baseball.
Harsh was the son of Anand Jain, an Indian business magnate previously associated with Mukesh Ambani. He was born in Mumbai, India, and was an engineering student at the University of Pennsylvania, after which he went for an MBA from Columbia Business School. Harsh began his career with Microsoft from where he completed a 2 months Summer Internship from June 2006 to August of the same year after which he went to work in Jai Corp Limited as a Marketing Manager. His father, Anand Jain was then the Chairman of the company. Jain worked at Jai for 13 months, when in 2008 he decided to establish Dream11.
Harsh is currently serving as a Culture Enforcement Officer (CEO) & Co-Founder of Dream Sports (Dream11, FanCode, DreamX, and more) and one of the leading entrepreneurs of India. Harsh is a major inspiration for the budding entrepreneurs of the country for sure. In April 2019, Dream11 became the first Indian Fantasy sportcompany to become a unicorn.In November 2021 Dream11 was valued at $8 billion.In December 2022, Dream11 had 160 million active users in India.
Supam Maheshwari is better known as the CEO and Co-Founder of Firstcry, India’s online marketplace for baby products. Supam was a postgraduate student from IIM Ahmedabad and started Brainvisa, as his first company with Amitava Saha, back in March 2000. The Pune-based company witnessed a steady growth before it was acquired by the US-based group, Indecomm Global in 2007.
Supam served as the Co-founder and the CEO of Brainvisa till December 2009 in order to found another company. He founded FirstCry.com in August 2010 along with Amitava Saha, Prashant Jadhav, and Sanket Hattimattur.
The idea of establishing an eCommerce company focused on baby care products was rooted deep in his personal experience as a first-time parent, who faced numerous challenges in sourcing the best product for his baby. Firstcry has grown to be a market leader when it comes to baby products online. The company currently boasts of over 380 stores across India.
His net worth could be estimated at 190 million USD.The baby products marketplace’s valuation stands at 1.9 billion USD after an equity funding round of 13 million USD with pi Ventures As of 2021.
FirstCry had increased its IPO size from around $700 Mn to $1 Bn, aiming at a valuation of around $6-7 BnIN Aug 2022
Richa Kar is the face of one of India’s largest online lingerie stores, Zivame. Richa was born in a conventional family in Jamshedpur. Kar was an engineering student, who completed her graduation from BITS Pilani and eventually went for a corporate job in Bangalore. Richa eventually left her job in order to pursue an MBA, after which she joined Spencers Retail and then SAP Retail.
Her exposure in the retail industry helped her develop knowledge and practical skills beneficial for the retail industry. While working with SAP, Richa was intrigued about Victoria’s Secret, America’s largest retail company for women’s lingerie, and the success it enjoys. Soon after, she realized that India hasn’t got any such websites empowering women to shop for their own lingerie online smoothly and fearlessly.
Though Richa had a considerable experience of around 8 years by then in the retail industry, her parents didn’t get the concept of selling lingerie and weren’t sure how they would speak of her daughter, who is involved in such a profession to others. Therefore, she gravely lacked any support from her family but with her strong will and zeal to found a startup, she ultimately managed to establish Zivame with Kapil Karekar in 2011. Zivame has now become an online leader in its segment, offering more than 5,000 styles, 50 brands, and 100 sizes. Zivame products come at affordable prices with high quality.
The company that initially started with Rs 35 lakhs, which Richa borrowed from her friends, is currently one of the best women’s lingerie marketplace in India. Zivame has received $69 million in funding at a valuation of $98.6M and her net worth is Rs 749 crores, according to reports. The company currently holds about 26% of the market share of the women’s online lingerie market in India, which stood at Rs 430 crore in FY19.
Ashish Hemrajani is an Indian entrepreneur, popularly identified as the Co-founder and CEO of Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., the parent company of India’s biggest online entertainment ticketing platform BookMyShow. Ashish Hemrajani completed his MBA with Marketing as his specialization from Sydenham University in 1997.
As soon as he completed his MBA, he went to work with J. Water Thompson. However, after working in the client management segment of the firm for 2 years, Ashish left the company in order to start his new venture with Bigtree Entertainment and BookMyShow in 1999.
BookMyShow still stands as a leading online ticketing solution for Indians. Under the leadership of Ashish, the company further expanded to New Zealand, UAE, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. BookMyShow also had a feature to buy tickets of sports matches like IPL, ISL, etc. They now have employ over 400 people across offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore. Ashish Hemrajani Net worth is estimated at Rs.3000 Crore as of 2021.
Shiv Nadar is a founding member of HCL Technologies and a prominent Indian entrepreneur, billionaire industrialist, and the recipient of India’s 3rd highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan. Shiv Nadar is the 3rd richest person of India, as of September 2021 with a net worth of around US$29.3 billion. Nadar goes by the nickname “Magus” (meaning: wizard in Old Persian), which he received from his friends.
Nadar was educated in the St. Joseph Boys Higher Secondary School, Trichy, and received his pre-university degree from the American College, Madurai. He again pursued Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, and received his Bachelor’s in engineering.
Walchand Group’s Cooper Engineering Ltd., Pune, which he joined in 1967, marked the start of Nadar’s career. However, he soon left his job role and founded Microcomp, a company that focused on selling teledigital calculators in the Indian market. Soon after that, he founded HCL in 1976 in collaboration with several friends and colleagues and with an investment of Rs 187,000.
The company made revolutionary advancements in the Indian IT landscape and is still regarded as one of the best among the homegrown IT companies whereas Shiv Nadar stands tall and towering as one of the top entrepreneurs of India.
The founder and CEO of the cyber security company, TAC Security, Trishneet Arora, was named in Forbes 30 Under 30 2018 Asia list and also in Under 40 List of India’s Brightest Business Minds 2019 by Fortune magazine, in 2020 Entrepreneur of the Year in Service Business-Security, 2021 Fortune India 40 Under 40 and 2022 he was Awarded as global leader of tomorrow.
Arora failed in the 8th standard but his relentless love for computers and coding drove him through the path of glory to become a professional ethical hacker and a renowned cybersecurity expert. Arora dropped out of school but continued with his studies along with fixing computers and cleaning up software.
Trishneet was only 19 when he founded his own company, TAC Security Solutions in 2013 and he has never looked back since then. The cybersecurity company, TAC Security offers protection to numerous corporations like Reliance Industries, CBI, Gujarat Police, and Punjab Police and others, against network vulnerabilities and data theft. Trishneet Arora’s net worth is $5 million as of now.
The founder of Reliance Industries, Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, or Dhirubhai Ambani, as he is popularly known, was a successful entrepreneur and business tycoon, who took Reliance public in 1977. Dhirubhai has been recognized with numerous awards and accolades heaped on during his lifetime and was also awarded the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honor after he died in the year 2002.
Dhirubhai was a student of the Bahadur Khanji school. After the completion of his studies, he left for the Port of Aden, Yemen, to work for A. Besse and Co., for which he was later involved in selling shell and Burmah oil products. However, he left Aden and came back to his motherland to start his own company. Initially starting with “Majin” in partnership with Champaklal Damani, Dhirubhai eventually set up Reliance Commercial Corporation in 1966, which was later rechristened as Reliance Industries in May 1973.
Also, it was Dhirubhai who launched the popular textile brand ‘Vimal’. Dhirubhai died when he was 69 and was worth around $2.9 bn upon his death.
Lakshmi Niwas Mittal is the Executive Chairman and CEO of the largest steel-making company in the world, ArcelorMittal, and an Indian steel magnate based in the United Kingdom. Besides, Mittal also serves as the Chairman of Aperam, a stainless steel manufacturer, which spun out of ArcelorMittal. Mittal owns around 38% stakes in his company along with another 20% stakes in the EFL Championship football club, Queens Park Rangers.
Lakshmi Mittal has also been appointed as a member of the board of directors of Goldman Sachs since 2008. Mittal was recognized with titles, honors, and awards of various kinds from time to time including “the third-richest person in the world” as announced by Forbes in 2005. He was also announced as the “Business Person of 2006” by Sunday Times, “Person of the Year” by Financial Times, In 2008 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, and more.
Born in a Marwadi family, Lakshmi studied at Shri Daulatram Nopany Vidyalaya in Calcutta and graduated from the University of Calcutta affiliated St Xavier’s College with a B.Com degree in the first class. Mittal first chose the business way by founding the steel factory PT Ispat Indo. He went to purchase numerous companies from abroad, like the Irish Steel plant, starting from the state-owned steelworks in Trinidad and Tobago, all of which were successful initiatives.
Mittal ultimately succeeded to come out triumphant in a hostile takeover bid of Arcelor and later renamed it to ArcelorMittal, which is currently responsible for bringing a lion’s share of revenues for Mittal. As of 2022, he was ranked as the 15th richest man in India by Forbes with a net-worth of US$17.8 billion.
Informally known as the Czar of the IT industry of India, Azim Premji is the face of Wipro. Premji is known as an entrepreneur, investor, engineer, business tycoon, and philanthropist who was responsible for cementing the position of Wipro as one of the most prestigious of the Indian multinational corporations through more than four decades of growth and diversification.
Azim Premji is the founding Chairman and a non-executive member of the board of the company and has been twice listed by Time Magazine among the 100 Most Influential people.
Premji went for a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University but he had to come back to take charge of Wipro, which was then termed as Western Indian Vegetable Products. He expanded the business to a large scale and later on discovered the vacuum that IBM left on its expulsion from India. He filled the gap by developing the IT wing of Wipro.
Premji is one of the most successful Indian entrepreneurs whose total wealth was estimated $9.3billion and $25 billion respectively as of feb 2023. Moreover, he is also recognized for his philanthropic nature. He makes most of his donations to the Azim Premji Foundation and had agreed to give away half his wealth by signing the Giving Pledge in 2013. In 2019, he dropped from the 2nd position in the Forbes India Rich list to 17th position after giving away a huge amount to charity.
He topped the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List for 2020
We all have heard about Dunzo but do you know who founded it? The 24/7 delivery app was founded in July 2014 by Kabeer Biswas, Ankur Agarwal, Dalvir Suri, and Mukund Jha. Kabeer Biswas is the CEO and Co-founder of Dunzo, who completed his B.E from the University of Mumbai and followed it with an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS).
He started his career with Bharti Airtel, Videocon Telecommunications, and then went on to found Dunzo. Dunzo currently provides its delivery services in eight Indian cities including Bangalore, Delhi, Gurgaon, Pune, Chennai, Jaipur, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
In August 2021, Dunzo launched a new service, Dunzo Daily, to deliver essentials and household items in 19 minutes. January 2022, Reliance Retail led a US$240 million funding round along with Dunzo’s existing investors Lightbox, Lightrock, 3L Capital and Alteria Capital. Reliance Retail invested US$200 million for a 25.8% stake in Dunzo.
Ratan Tata is the former Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Group and is still the head of the charitable trusts of the company. A scion of the Tata family, Ratan Tata was the son of Naval Tata and later adopted by Jamsetji Tata.
He is well-known as an Indian industrialist, philanthropist, and one of the few business tycoons who are synonymous with success. Tata was the recipient of two of the highest Indian civilian awards – Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan.
Ratan Tata was a student of the Cornell University of Architecture and completed his Advanced Management Program from the Harvard Business school in 1975. Tata was the apparent successor of J.R.D Tata, who started with the shop floor of Tata Steel and was responsible for expanding the company on a massive scale.
Largely credited with the diversification and growth of Tata, Ratan Tata helped the company acquire numerous businesses and companies including Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover, and more, and scaled the company to unimaginable heights. Ratan Tata is currently featured among the top entrepreneurs of India and an inspirational figure for all the budding entrepreneurs and other individuals.
Nithin Kamath is the Co-founder of the biggest stock-broking company in India, Zerodha, an inspirational entrepreneur, and is famous as one of the self-made billionaires of India. Nithin along with his brother, Nikhil Kamat has also been declared as the richest self-made billionaire in India under 40, according to IIFL Wealth and Hurun India’s 40 & Under Self-Made Rich List 2020 with a combined wealth of Rs 24,000 crores, as assessed in 2020. In year end march 2022 zerodha net profit was 2094.3 crore.
The company has valued itself at $3billion, based on the valuations of employee stock option. Nithin Kamath was a student of Bangalore Institute of Technology but he was never quite inclined to academics. Kamath got into the world of trading at the early age of 17 and eventually, his love for trading grew.
Nithin was successful in trading but also lost quite a lot of his money in the early 2000s. Kamath then returned to a fixed job at a call center, where he worked for 4 years before joining Reliance Money as a franchisee in proprietary trading and advisory services. He worked hard and saved his capital to establish his own company Zerodha in 2010 and emerge at the top of his game with Nikhil.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is an Indian billionaire entrepreneur distinguished for being the executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited. Furthermore, she was also recognized as the former chairperson of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Kiran was the recipient of the Othmer Gold Medal for her contributions to the fields of science and chemistry.
Financial Times listed her among the Top 50 women in the business list while Forbes listed her as the 68th most powerful woman in the world. Furthermore, Kiran was also named the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year in 2020.
After completing her graduation from Bangalore University with a bachelor’s degree in Zoology, Kiran went to the fermentation science and brewing at Melbourne University and topped her class emerging as a master brewer in 1975. She struggled to join as a master brewer in India after serving Carlton and United Breweries because the breweries here believed that the job of a master brewer is a “man’s work.”
However, Kiran discovered huge opportunities abroad and joined Biocon Biochemicals Limited, and eventually started Biocon India. In 2015, she joined The Giving Pledge, promising that at least half of her wealth will be dedicated to philanthrop. In 2019, she was listed as the 68th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. She received Firodia Lifetime Achievement Award 2022 for her contributions to science and technology.
In January 2020 Kiran received the international award and became the fourth Indian citizen to be honored with Australia’s highest civilian award. In year 2023 they start
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw scholarship for the students who study in the fields of science, technology or mathematics at the Mount Helen Campus. By 2022 she has a net worth of $3.1 billion.
Back in 2010, paying gas, electricity, telephone bills, and recharging our mobiles, DTH, and more wasn’t as easy as it is now. Then, Freecharge was one of the companies that came into being, which greatly helped the Indian masses to empower their digital ways. Sandeep Tandon was one of the founders of this precursor of today’s digital payments app, Freecharge, which he founded in 2010 with Kunal Shah.
A technology investor and one of the most successful entrepreneurs of India, Sandeep Tandon was a student of Bombay Scottish, after which he pursued a Bachelor’s and then Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. Sandeep started his career with a Los Angeles startup where he worked as an application manager.
However, it wasn’t long before he left the company and initiated his own venture, Celetronix but that was again sold to Jabil Circuits.
Freecharge was the next company that he founded, which emerged as the fastest-growing mobile payments app in India. After a short but successful period, Freecharge was acquired by Snapdeal and then eventually acquired by Axis bank, which currently owns the company.
Being a successful entrepreneur with years of experience, Sandeep Tandon is currently serving as the Managing Director of Tandon Group, as an Angel investor, and a mentor to the young entrepreneurs.
As eccentric as its name, Bewakoof boasts of an incredibly successful run as a casual wear and accessories hotspot for the current generation and undoubtedly a major part of its success goes to its Founder Director, Prabhkiran Singh. He along with Siddharth Munot founded Bewakoof.com back in 2010, which has since been a raging success for its unique printed t-shirts, joggers, funky mobile covers, and other accessories.
Both being civil engineering graduates from IIT Bombay, Prabhkiran and Siddharth were well-known to each other. In fact, both of them started with their independent startups right after they completed studies but none of them truly worked before Bewakoof was launched, which disrupted the Indian markets, promoting the “silliness” when it comes to fashion.
The estimated annual revenue of Bewakoof in 2020 was INR 200 Crores. The net worth of Bewakoof is estimated at INR 100 Crores.
The Indian traditional consumer products market was all saturated and boring, hoping for an upcoming disruption, which Mamaearth brought with its honest, organic, and safe products. The initial idea emerged out of a real-life problem that Varun and Ghazal Alagh faced while raising their own baby.
All of us want to extend our utmost care and best quality products to a newborn and Varun and Ghazal Algh wanted the same for their baby. However, it was when they were expecting their baby that they found the reality about the Indian baby products, none of which met the safety standards required to be applied on a baby. They first started to import baby products from the US but that was neither feasible nor less of a burden to their finances.
This made the research, apply for proper certifications and resulted in the launch of Mamaearth after 4 years of hard work and R&D. Mamaearth is currently hailed as the first Asian brand with the MadeSafe certification for its toxin-free and entirely herbal products. Furthermore, it boasts of having served over 1.5 million customers across 500+ cities of India. The parents turned entrepreneurs, Varun Alagh and Ghazal Alagh have achieved an envious success and are looking forward to a brighter way ahead as one of the most successful Indian entrepreneurs.
The company has expanded into offline distribution through multi-brand retail outlets and exclusive stores, to both online and offline markets. Their next step is to expand the offline business to 100,000 outlets and 100 Indian cities. The company has estimated revenue of INR964 crore in FY22, a growth of 109% over the past year.
PhonePe is akin to digital payments in today’s India. This market leader of a UPI-based digital payments platform was founded by Sameer Nigam, along with his co-founders, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer in December 2015.
Sameer Nigam has an MBA in Entrepreneurship from The Wharton School. After completing his schooling at DPS Noida, Sameer went to study Computer Engineering at the University of Mumbai and then completed a Masters of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Arizona, finally finishing his MBA in 2009.
Sameer served as the Director of Search Product Development at Shopzilla for a little over 6 years, after which he launched Mime360, an online social media distribution channel. Mime360 was eventually acquired by Flipkart, where he again served as a Senior Vice President, Engineering but he left the company after one and half years to start his own company, PhonePe.
PhonePe has since been a roaring success! PhonePe continues to be the top player in the Indian payments ecosystem and accounted for nearly 50 percent of all UPI transactions processed in December 2022, According to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Conclusion
We hope this list of famous Indian entrepreneurs motivates you to act on that startup idea you have in your head. Who else do you think should be featured in this list? And what makes you go gaga over him or her?
Contact: shubham@startuptalky.com
FAQs
Who is the youngest entrepreneur in India?
Shravan Kumaran and Sanjay Kumaran are the youngest entrepreneurs in India. They co-founded the company called ‘GoDimensions’ a development unit, in 2011 at their home at the age of 10.
Who is the world’s richest person?
The world’s richest person is none other than the founder and CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, who boasts of a net worth of $223 billion, as of February 28, 2022.
Who is the richest Indian?
Mukesh Ambani is the richest Indian with a wealth of $103 Billion, as of March 2022.
Is a CEO an owner?
The title of CEO is typically given to someone by the board of directors. Owner is a job title that is earned by sole proprietors and entrepreneurs, who have total ownership of the business. However, these job titles are not mutually exclusive — CEOs can be owners and owners can be CEOs.
Who are the leading Indian entrepreneurs now?
To name some of the most prominent Indian entrepreneurs, we must list:
Uber has taken a decision to permanently close it’s Mumbai office as a part of the ride-hailing company’s decision to close around 45 branches of Uber globally. However, employees will work from home until December.
Uber Not Coming Up With A Proper Statement
Uber Mumbai Office shuts down
When people tried to contact the spokesperson of Uber he stated, “Uber continues to provide a high level of service to all its riders in Mumbai”.
Gurugram consists of one branch of Uber which is a big one and Uber is also having its technology centers in cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It also consists of small support offices in many cities in India.
Arch Rival Ola Also Facing the Same Type Of Crisis
Uber’s arch-rival Ola has also fired around 1400 employees in May due to the same pandemic situation. Ride-hailing Competitor Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal also stated that companies condition is “very unclear and uncertain.”
Adding to it Aggarwal said, “It is going to take a long time for people to go out and about like before. With more companies preferring to have a large number of employees work from home, air travel limited to essential trips and vacations being put off for better times, the impact of this crisis is definitely going to be long-drawn for us.”
Fired Around 25% of Employees Globally
In May Dara Khosrowshai, CEO Uber wrote to all the Uber employees that they are taking a decision to shut down around 45 Uber branches globally. This step has been taken due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Uber also fired around 3700 employees in may which constituted around 25% of the workforce of the company.
“We have made the incredibly difficult decision to reduce our workforce by around 3,000 people, and to reduce investments in several non-core projects, “said the Uber CEO in May hinting the outcomes.
Till now around 6000 employees of Uber has been fired since the start of the pandemic which is creating a difficult situation for the company.
India Consisting Around 8% Of Total Global Employees
India consists of around 8% of the total global employees of Uber. Also, Uber gave a statement that they will be laying off around 600 employees in the departments such as customer and driver support, business development, legal, finance, policy, and marketing verticals.
“We began 2020 on an accelerated path to total company profitability. Then the coronavirus hit us with once-in-a-generation public health and economic crisis,” Khosrowshahi said in May.
Uber Eats Can Be A Silver Lining
Uber eats can be a silver lining
“If there is one silver lining regarding this crisis, it is that Eats has become an even more important resource for people at home and for restaurants,” he said hoping a better future for Uber Eats. “We no longer need to look far for the next enormous growth opportunity, we are sitting right on top of one.”
Although he has said that the profit they hope to gain from Uber eats would not help in the loss they are facing due to their cabs services. He has also warned that the profit can not be earned overnight.
Uber globally also faced a huge loss of around $2.9 billion in the first quarter of 2020. In 2019 they were having a growth rate of around 14% from $3.1 billion to around $3.54 billion.
Indian cab-hailing app OLA launched its services in the island nation of Europe in 2018. Indian startups are setting the stage for global expansion. Indian ride-hailing app Ola has launched operations in London. Ola has more than 25,000 registered drivers on its platform in London. The move comes on the back of rival Uber losing its licence to ply in London on safety concerns. The company has confirmed its foray into the European market.
A warm welcome to the Indian startup expanding its transportation services in foreign countries, now OLA in UK after Australia and New Zealand markets. Ola is looking at bigger markets. Ola had been working towards this launch for the last year. CEO of Ola, Bhavish Aggarwal said, “It is not just yet another city launch for us. It is a transformative event for all of us at Ola.”
In July last year, Ola was granted a one-year Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) licence from the Transport of London — a body that oversees the cities’ transportation — to operate its services in the city, according to a disclosure made by the department. Ola’s licence is valid until October 3 this year.
Bhavish Aggarwal, the Indian Entrepreneur and co-founder of OLA cabs has expressed immense happiness in bringing OLA in United Kingdom who calls it to be ‘momentous moment’ for everyone associated with OLA.
The United Kingdom has one of the world’s most evolved transportation markets. UK works with black cabs and private hire vehicles (PHV) round the clock catering to people. Here comes OLA, India based online ride-hailing company marching towards the UK which will be the only on demand app to offer both Black cab and PHV facilities to people. With the known fact of the UK with its best-regulated taxi services, OLA is about to enter the market. Britain already is embedded with multi-billion dollar ride-sharing giant apps like UBER on it’s fast pacing on roads.
Ola in United Kingdom
Ola has obtained the license to operate on South Wales and Greater Manchester as per a press release as it’s the first step as ‘OLA in UK’. OLA is engaging with policymakers and regulators to expand its network over a period of time. It might expand its services throughout the UK by this year-end. This seems a wise decision entering into the UK market which faces mobility issues for the people relying on public transport services.
The company has come up with more facilities for commuters as per their convenience and choice. It ensures facilities with 24/7 safety, in-app emergency services, Disclosure and Barring Services(DBS) screened drivers, sharing live location, live tracking, reaching out to emergency contacts if needed etc. OLA app is user-friendly and is instantaneous in catering all needs of the people.
OLA in UK is all set for its second innings globally after launching across seven cities in Australia with its maiden launch. It also has its sketch to launch in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka soon.
Despite the fact that Uber is one of the most sought ride-sharing apps in the UK and its territorial presence in 70 countries, OLA is enthusiastic and is firm to take a stand globally with 1 million drivers across various cities. A huge customer base and the most accessed app in the Indian sub-continent, OLA has an edge over Uber in India. It must have its own strategies to make it successful in the transportation overseas market.
Time for us to wait and watch the Indian based company establishing its market in Britain grounds.
