India has the world’s most inspiring and successful entrepreneurs. These creative entrepreneurs have established themselves in the business world and are still breaking new ground in a range of areas, including software companies and retail businesses.
Despite this, estimates show that 11 to 15% of Indians operate in the entrepreneurial sector. Furthermore, only 5 to 10% of these firm owners go on to expand their operations. This is why, to strengthen the economy and promote our entrepreneurial sector, India must place a stronger emphasis on entrepreneurship.
And as India’s economy grows year after year, so does the number of successful Indian entrepreneurs. This is an opportunity for the nation’s youth and anyone who wants to establish their own business to learn from the top Indian entrepreneurs. So, here’s a list of the most well-known and successful entrepreneurs in India.
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Let’s explore the list of some of the most influential and creative entrepreneurs in India.
Ritesh Agarwal, the founder and CEO of Oyo Rooms, was born in Bissam, Cuttack, Odisha, in 1993. He began selling SIM cards when he was just 13 years old. He attended a Delhi college after finishing his education but left to participate in the Thiel Fellowship program, which is funded by billionaire internet mogul Peter Thiel.
Agarwal founded his first startup, Oravel, in 2012. Aiming to be India’s Airbnb, the company changed its name to OYO Hotels and Homes in 2013 and is now one of the world’s leading hotel companies.
Ritesh is one of the country’s most well-known and successful businesspeople, with a current net worth of over $612.1 million.
In India, the United States, China, Nepal, Japan, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia, OYO has 4,50,00 listings spread across 500 urban areas.
Deepinder Goyal founded meal delivery firm Zomato in 2008, which was previously known as Foodiebay. He earned a Mathematics and Computing degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. As a food aficionado, he was inspired to create Zomato, which delivers food with the tap of a finger.
He is widely regarded as a key person in India’s start-up community, having played a huge part in revolutionizing the food and restaurant business with Zomato. Goyal’s leadership has enabled Zomato to become one of the most successful meal delivery platforms not only in India, but also abroad.
According to recent estimates, Deepinder Goyal’s net worth is approximately $750 million, placing him among India’s wealthiest businesspeople. Zomato, the firm he co-founded, is valued at several billion dollars and has a strong presence in several countries across the world.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the founder and CEO of Paytm. He is the son of a teacher from a small town in northern India. He created indiasite.net in 1997, while still a college student. Two years later, he sold it for one million dollars.
He created One97 Communications in 2000. The company offered mobile content such as news, cricket scores, ringtones, exam results, and a variety of other options.
One97 owns Paytm, a mobile wallet that began in 2011. Paytm has gained the most from India’s demonetisation in 2016, with 400 million customers and 25 million daily transactions.
Sharma got Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway to put $300 million into Paytm in August 2018.
Kunal Shah created CRED, India’s second-fastest-growing unicorn start-up, which is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. CRED provides credit card payment services and a variety of prizes via an online app. CRED offers a wide range of products, including CRED Pay, CRED Cash, CRED Rent Pay, CRED Travel Store, and CRED Store, and has a steady growth rate.
Kunal’s first business venture was Paisa Back, which provides cash-back promotions to retailers. Free Charge, one of India’s most innovative business strategies, was co-founded by Kunal Shah. In 2015, he sold Free Charge to Snapdeal for $2400 crore and then created CRED. He has excellent business sense and an estimated net worth of Rs.5985 crores in 2021.
Sachin Bansal launched the popular online retailer Flipkart, which is known for its excellent delivery service and wide range of products. Sachin Bansal is a native of Chandigarh, Haryana, who launched his online company with his friend Binny Bansal after working at Amazon Web Services.
He is among India’s top ten entrepreneurs. His estimated net worth is Rs. 8848 crores. Flipkart simplifies shopping by allowing us to buy products from the comfort of our own homes and offering a diverse assortment of goods. The company’s headquarters are in Bengaluru, Karnataka. After 11 years with the company, Sachin Bansal quit when Flipkart was acquired by Walmart in 2018.
Nithin Kamath is the founder and CEO of Zerodha. At the age of 17, his buddies exposed him to the stock market, and he began trading.
Established in 2007, Zerodha pioneered the discount broking concept in India, allowing its users to trade equities at a significantly lower cost than competitors.
Zerodha, which has never received funds, has more than 7 million users. Of these, 5 million are active users. Active users are traders who swap at least once each year.
Nithin Kamath’s net assets have grown to $1.9 billion, making him the third largest stock broker in the country, trailing only ICICI and HDFC.
Bhavesh Aggarwal is a well-known entrepreneur in India, having co-founded OLA Cabs. He was born in Rajasthan and has an engineering background. Bhavesh started working on OLA Cabs with his friend Ankit Bhati. They both came up with the idea for this app after struggling to get a taxi in Mumbai and realising there was a significant market vacuum for dependable ride-hailing service.
Ola has developed rapidly since then, and it now operates in over 250 cities across India, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, with over 2 million drivers on its platform. In terms of OLA Cabs’ net worth, it currently stands at a stunning $7.3 billion.
Deep Kalra and his company MakeMyTrip are known for making people’s trip aspirations a reality with a few simple clicks. This makes him one of India’s most successful entrepreneurs. Born in Hyderabad and coming from a business background, Kalra founded MakeMyTrip with co-founders Rajesh Magow and Keyur Joshi in 2000.
Grofers (Blinkit) has become the go-to food shopping destination for every household, owing to Indian businessman Albinder Dhindsa. Albinder was born in Panipat, Haryana, and finished his studies at IIT. After completing his education, he worked for Zomato, a meal delivery company, before leaving in 2013 to co-found Grofers with Saurabh Kumar.
While working for Zomato, Dhindsa and Kumar realized that the online food delivery sector was growing crowded and competitive, which inspired them to start Grofers. This helped them recognize that there is a significant market opportunity for online grocery delivery, especially in India, where many people still prefer to buy for groceries in person.
You may have seen him on Shark Tank India or own one of his company’s smart devices. Yes, Aman Gupta is the second most successful entrepreneur in India. Gupta founded the Indian consumer electronics brand Boat. He is an Indian entrepreneur who is passionate about technology and innovation, and his vision has propelled Boat to the forefront of the audio and lifestyle product market.
Aman developed the concept for Boat after struggling to locate economical and high-quality audio equipment in the Indian market. He also noted a growth in smartphone use among young people in India, but there were very few excellent options for headphones and other audio items that were compatible with their phones. That’s how he founded Boat with two other co-founders, and it grew from nothing to a $70 million corporation and household name in India.
