Radhakishan Damani, the visionary behind the retail chain D-Mart, stands at the forefront of the ‘Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2023,’ as officially disclosed on Thursday.
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal from Flipkart, Deepinder Goyal representing Zomato, Bhavit Sheth and Harish Jain of Dream11, and Sriharsha Majety along with Nandan Reddy from Swiggy also feature prominently on the roster of accomplished entrepreneurs whose companies were established post-2000. This ranking is determined by value, characterized by market capitalization for publicly listed companies and valuations for privately held entities.
Eight out of the Top 10 companies with the highest value on the list are startups. The combined value of all the listed companies amounts to INR 30 trillion, mirroring the gross domestic product of Denmark, as per the report. Merely a quarter of these companies are publicly traded on stock exchanges. The list encompasses a total of 405 company founders.
“The IDFC FIRST Private Hurun India’s Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2023 list demonstrates the vibrance of Indian entrepreneurship across age groups, gender, and geography. One-third of the list is aged under 40 and the eldest on the list is 80 years old,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher at Hurun India.
The 200 self-made entrepreneurs, originating from 23 cities in India, are notably led by Bengaluru (129), followed by Mumbai (78), and Gurugram/New Delhi (49). These three cities collectively constitute over half of the distinguished individuals on India’s Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2023 list.
At just 21 years old, Zepto’s Kaivalya Vohra claims the title of the youngest on the list, succeeded by Shashvat Nakrani of Bharatpe at 25, and Dilsher Malhi of Zupee at 27.
Leading the roster of women entrepreneurs is Falguni Nayar from Nykaa. Among the female entrepreneurs, Ghazal Alagh of Mamaearth and Saumya Singh Rathore of Winzo, both aged 35, hold the distinction of being the youngest in the list.
Over 56 percent of the founders featured in the list hold engineering degrees, while 10 are chartered accountants, and 7 are doctors.
The list was spearheaded by financial services, boasting 46 companies, closely followed by retail with 30 companies. Healthcare secured the third position with 26 entrants.
“The list showcases the immense talent, innovation, and accomplishments of India’s visionary founders, those who are propelling the nation’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to new heights,” said Vikas Sharma, head of wealth Management & private banking at IDFC FIRST Bank.
A total of 38 founders on the list obtained their undergraduate degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT), making it the most favored college among the 200 entrepreneurs. Following closely, IIT Bombay contributed 24 founders, while IIT Kharagpur had 20 entrepreneurs. Impressively, 156 founders from 68 unicorns, privately held startups valued at over $1 billion, were featured on the list.