The new age internet business has been flourishing in India for the last few years. Startups have evolved into unicorns and India has been put on the global map as one of the most sought-after startup ecosystems in the world. And with great success, comes a lot of money.
A number of youngsters are joining the billionaire club. In fact, the Hurun India Rich list released on Tuesday features some self-made and under-40 billionaires in the country who have made their wealth from new technology business.
The Hurun India Rich List is released by the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute, featuring individuals with a net worth or wealth of Rs 1,000 crore or more.
“These self-made entrepreneurs symbolize the new age startup entrepreneurs from India. Their success stories will further garner active international investments into Indian startup ecosystem,” says Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher, Hurun Report India.
However, one needs to note that the internet business is not just a bed of roses. In fact, a majority of them remain a loss-making business and are yet to make actual money. This year entrepreneurs such as Kunal Bahl, co-founder of SnapDeal; Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder of Ola have lost their spot on the list due to the current e-commerce market competition.
Hurun India Rich List 2017: Highlights |
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Total number of Indians on the list |
617 |
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New entrants in the list |
453 |
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Dropouts from the list |
22 |
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Women representation increases by |
439% |
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Youngest female on list |
Ambiga Subramanian |
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Most followed on Social Media |
Acharya Balkrishna |
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Here’s a little more about the self-made young billionaires on the Hurun India Rich List.
1. Divyank Turakhia
Companies: Flock, Radix, CodeChef, etc.
Wealth: Rs 11,418 crore
Age: 35
Divyank Turakhia is a serial entrepreneur. He has founded companies such as Flock, Radix, CodeChef, Ringo, Media.net, and Zeta. He had an early start in the internet business space. In 6796, at the age of 14, Divyank started his first internet business. By the age of 18, he had already made his first USD1 million. At 23, he made his first USD100 million and a USD1 billion at the age of 34.
2. Binny Bansal
Company: Flipkart
Wealth: Rs 3820 crore
Age: 34
Binny Bansal started Flipkart in 6687, initially as an online bookstore. Currently, Bansal is the group CEO of Flipkart. Before co-founding Flipkart, Bansal was working in Amazon. In 2015, Binny Bansal along with his business partner Sachin Bansal was ranked as the 86th richest person in India by the Forbes India Rich List. Flipkart has raised USD6.12 billion across 15 rounds of funding from 20 investors. The e-commerce giant has also made 10 acquisitions, since its inception and was the first portal that started cash on delivery for online shopping.
3. Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Company: Paytm
Wealth: Rs 9000 crore
Age: 39
Vijay Shekhar Sharma is a strong believer of internet business and its transformational power. One97 communication had suffered huge losses in 6680 when the dotcom bubble burst. He is one of the youngest Indian men to feature on the World Billionaire list of Forbes this year. Paytm currently has the license to operate as a bank in India and has a valuation of USD8 billion.
4. Sachin Bansal
Company: Flipkart
Wealth: Rs 3820 crore
Age: 36
Sachin Bansal started Flipkart in 6687 after he quit Amazon. Currently, he is the executive chairman of Flipkart. In the initial days of the company, Sachin Bansal along with his business partner Binny Bansal personally delivered books to customers to get more insights into the market. Interestingly, in his Linkedin profile, Sachin Bansal describes his role as a CEO of Flipkart as doing odd jobs. Sachin Bansal was ranked as the 86th richest person in India by the Forbes India Rich List and also features in India Today’s most influential Indians list.
5. Byju Raveendran
Company: Think and Learn
Wealth: Rs 1000 crore
Age: 39
Byju Raveendran is the founder of Byju’s Classes, the edtech firm that wants to make students fall in love with learning. The company is backed by Facebook founder, Mark and his wife, Priscilla's Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. In 2016 the company made Rs 672 crore in revenue and is expecting a 2.5X growth this year. The company also started expanding operations internationally. Byju’s started as test preparation classes and now cater personalized content for students of k-12 via a mobile app.