2020 has been a terrible year for all of us financially. People lost their jobs, business went into loss and many shops ended up with unsold and wasted products. While the middle class managed the crisis by cutting down expenditures, top entrepreneurs across the country are forced to do the same.
Since 2020, millionaire and billionaire entrepreneurs in India have suffered back breaking losses. Crores of rupees went down the drain as the market went south and businesses were closed. Hospitality agencies, food delivery chains and e-commerce business owners were among many who faced losses.
Here is the list of top Indian entrepreneurs who lost money since 2020:
Ritesh Agarwal
Sachin and Binny Bansal
Kumar Mangalam
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Vipul Parekh, Sudhakar, Hari Menon, Ramesh, and Abhinay Choudhri
Naresh Goyal
Sunil Bharti Mittal
Kavin Bharti Mittal
Suraj Saharan, Sahil Barua, Bhavesh Manglani, Mohit Tandon, Kapil Bharti
Deepinder Goyal
FAQ
Ritesh Agarwal
Company – OYO Rooms
The youngest billionaire of India, Ritesh Agarwal suffered a loss of a staggering 3000 crores in 2020. The company’s net worth fell by 40%. One of the reasons is supposed to be ‘the conflicts with hotel owners’, said Masayoshi Son.
It is also contemplated that the investors got overly enthusiastic with the idea and overdid the whole thing without thinking much about the shortcomings.
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal
Company – Flipkart
In March 2017, the company had 39.5% of all e-commerce market shares. Then, in August 2018, 77% of Flipkart’s shares were bought by Walmart, an American retail corporation. In FY 2020, it reported losses of Rs 1936.6 crore with Rs 6317.7 crore in revenue.
Kumar Mangalam
Company – Idea
After the emergence of Jio, many network companies in India suffered major losses. ‘Idea’ is no different. In March 2020, the company was Rs. 1,15,000 deep in debt including Rs. 87,650 due to deferred payment obligations. Rs. 46,000 crores were to be paid as AGR dues. Rs. 68,544 million were paid.
The company faced a loss of Rs 73,878 crores with Rs 44, 957.5 crore as revenue in FY 2020. The CEO, Ravinder Takkar has said that they are focusing on 4G coverage and capacity expansion to improve customer’s overall experience.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Company – Paytm
Paytm is also lost money due to many competitors in the e-payment sector. In Ant Group IPO filing, losses are seen to be around 1435 crores. There was some light as it cut its losses by 28% in FY 20 but its revenues have also fallen 1% to 3350 crores.
Gorish Dua
Vipul Parekh, Sudhakar, Hari Menon, Ramesh, and Abhinay Choudhri
Company – Big Basket
Soon to be acquired by Tata group, this Alibaba-backed company offers home delivery of groceries. The company went unicorn in March 2019 but now records heavy losses back-to-back.
It lost Rs 611 cores which were greater by 6.7% as compared to last year. The company is planning to be big in the coming year but now, it’s losing huge amounts of money each year.
Naresh Goyal
Company – Jet Airways
After being grounded for nearly two years, the company suffered a loss of Rs 2,841.45 crores in FY 2020. 2019-20 total income was Rs 354.2 crores as per said in BSE filing. The company has been struggling financially since April 18, 2019.
It’s under CIRP i.e., the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process. The company failed to get funds for even daily operations and was temporarily shut down.
Sunil Bharti Mittal
Company – Airtel
Bharti Airtel posted a net loss of Rs 2,866 crores by the end of the June quarter. The company has been in loss for a long time now and is struggling to get the back on its feet. The tough competition among Indian network services and the free services of Jio for a substantially long time has left very little room for other companies to thrive.
Kavin Bharti Mittal
Company – Hike
Hike has been the sole local competitor of the online messaging giant, WhatsApp. But right since the beginning, it has been struggling with its operations. Hike’s revenue in 2019 was mere Rs 13,000 crore.
It has failed to generate any substantial revenue in FY 2020. The company has been cutting down its losses as much as it can by reducing marketing expenses and employee benefit expenses.
Lakshya Singh
Suraj Saharan, Sahil Barua, Bhavesh Manglani, Mohit Tandon, Kapil Bharti
Company – Delhivery
Delhivery is an e-commerce logistics startup based in Gurugram. This suffered loss of Rs 284.13 crores in FY 2020. Unlike other companies on this list, Delhivery has managed to cut down its losses drastically from Rs 1781.04 crores in FY 2019.
Its revenue for 2020 was Rs 2986 crores with expenses of Rs 3250 crores. The company is also planning for public listing in 2022-23.
Deepinder Goyal
Company – Zomato
Zomato’s losses went up by 160% in the fiscal year 2020. It reported a loss of Rs 2,451 crores. The expenses of the company went up by 36% to Rs 4,628 crores. The good news is that the revenue also grew.
Zomato also started dine-out which is mainly a transactional business as customers have to pay through the Zomato app. Zomato is a food delivery company which is bound to lose money in the Covid era. But there’s hope for growth as Deepinder Goyal is confident that it will witness a steep recovery post-Covid.
Conclusion
These were some of the Indian Entrepreneurs who lost crores of rupees due to various reasons. Some of them may recover and for some; it’s highly unlikely.
FAQ
Did entrepreneurs lost money in 2020?
Yes, Many entrepreneurs lost money in 2020. Some of the top entrepreneurs who incurred huge losses are Deepinder Goyal, Vijay Shekar Sharma, Ritesh Agarwal and Sachin and Binny Bansal.
What were the challenges faced by entrepreneurs by startups in 2020?
Some of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in 2020 were acquire funding to start the business, keeping existing customer, and finding new customers.
