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Deepinder Goyal tops Hurun list, surpasses DMart’s Damani as India’s top self-made entrepreneur

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MUMBAI: If money talks, India’s newest fortunes are shouting, and they’re speaking startup. From food delivery apps to discount supermarkets and low-cost airlines, India’s most valuable new-age companies are rewriting the rules of wealth, power and ambition, according to the latest IDFC First Private & Hurun India Top 200 Self-Made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2025 list.

For the first time since the ranking began, Deepinder Goyal, founder of food-tech giant Eternal, has knocked Radhakishan Damani of DMart off the top perch. Goyal’s company surged 27 per cent year-on-year to a valuation of Rs 3.2 lakh crore, making him India’s most valuable self-made entrepreneur of the millennium, defined as companies founded after 2000.

Damani, last year’s No. 1, slips to second place with Avenue Supermarts valued at Rs 3 lakh crore, down 13 per cent, while aviation heavyweights Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal make a turbocharged debut straight into the top 3, with InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) clocking a valuation of Rs 2.2 lakh crore.

A Rs 42-lakh-crore story, and counting

Zoom out, and the scale is staggering. The combined value of all 200 companies on the list now stands at Rs 42 lakh crore ($469 billion), up from Rs 36 lakh crore last year, a 15 per cent jump in just twelve months. To put that into perspective, this cohort alone is now worth roughly a quarter of India’s 300 most valuable family businesses, despite being, on average, less than 25 years old.

The 2025 edition also welcomes 102 new founders and 53 new companies, pushing the count of billion-dollar companies to 128, up from 121 a year ago. Five firms are now valued at over Rs 1 lakh crore, compared with just three last year, a sign that India’s startup era is no longer just about speed, but scale.

Who’s rising, who’s slipping

Tech-led consumer brands are clearly having their moment. Paytm vaults 67 per cent to Rs 72,900 crore, while Lenskart jumps 60 per cent to Rs 67,000 crore, both entering the Top 10. At the same time, fintech darlings Razorpay and Zerodha drop out of the elite bracket, signalling a shift in the pecking order.

Among the biggest gainers by sheer value, Eternal added Rs 68,800 crore in a single year, followed by Groww (up Rs 37,100 crore) and Anthem Biosciences (up Rs 33,100 crore). By percentage growth, Anthem stole the show, rocketing 273 per cent after listing.

The fastest climber up the ranks was Vinay Sanghi’s CarTrade Tech, which leapt 88 places to reach a valuation of Rs 11,700 crore, closely followed by Jumbotail and Vivriti Capital.

Young guns, old hands

India’s wealth story is no longer age-bound. The youngest founders on the list are Kaivalya Vohra (22) and Aadit Palicha (23) of Zepto, whose quick-commerce venture is valued at Rs 52,400 crore. At the other end of the spectrum, Ashok Soota of Happiest Minds, aged 82, proves experience still counts.

The average age of founders is 48, highlighting a rare mix of Gen-Z risk-takers and seasoned dealmakers shaping India’s business future.

Where the action is

Bengaluru retains its crown as India’s startup capital with 52 headquartered companies and 88 resident founders, though Mumbai is closing in with 41 companies and 83 entrepreneurs. Gurugram, home to Eternal, Swiggy and MakeMyTrip, hosts 36 companies, underlining NCR’s growing dominance in consumer tech and fintech.

Sector-wise, financial services still lead with 47 companies, but software and services showed the fastest growth, adding five new entrants to reach 28. Healthcare follows closely with 27, while retail slips slightly to 20.

Jobs, taxes and the wider economy

Beyond valuations, these companies employ around eight lakh people, roughly the population of Fiji, and collectively paid Rs 8,030 crore in direct taxes, nearly double last year’s figure. Employee benefits rose to Rs 57,200 crore, underlining how scale is translating into broader economic impact.

Avenue Supermarts tops the employment chart with 90,280 staff, followed by InterGlobe Aviation (42,887) and Jana Small Finance Bank (25,381).

The bar keeps rising

Entry into India’s self-made elite is getting tougher by the year. The minimum valuation to feature in the Top 200 has jumped 26 per cent to Rs 4,300 crore, while cracking the Top 10 now requires Rs 67,000 crore, up from Rs 56,600 crore last year.

In short, India’s millennial entrepreneurs are no longer just disrupting markets, they’re defining them. And if this year’s numbers are anything to go by, the loudest sound in India’s economy isn’t legacy money whispering, but self-made wealth roaring.

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Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board

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Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.

Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.

“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.

The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.

Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.

The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.

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Brnd.me enters Europe as haircare brands power global expansion

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Bengaluru:  Brnd.me, the global consumer brands company formerly known as Mensa Brands, has entered the European market following strong momentum across the Middle East, the United States and Canada.

The company has launched across the UK, Germany, France and Spain, with plans to expand into Italy, the Netherlands and Poland over the next year. The push is being led by its haircare and aromatherapy brands, Botanic Hearth and Majestic Pure, marking Brnd.me’s first structured expansion into Europe.

The European beauty market represents a total addressable opportunity of over $4 billion across haircare and aromatherapy, supported by high digital adoption and demand for accessible, performance-led products.

Brnd.me’s hair care and aromatherapy business currently operates at an annual run rate of around $6 million, with Botanic Hearth and Majestic Pure delivering roughly 10 per cent month-on-month growth, driven by expansion and rising repeat demand.

To support regional growth, the company has appointed a general manager based in Germany and is evaluating investments in warehousing and local team expansion.

Early traction has been strong. Within weeks of launch, Botanic Hearth’s rosemary hair oil ranked among the top five hair oils in Germany, signalling strong consumer pull in a competitive market.

Brnd.me founder and chief executive officer Ananth Narayanan, said Europe represents the next phase of the company’s international strategy. He added that the European business is expected to scale to a $10 million annual run rate by the end of 2026, with long-term ambitions to reach $60 million over the next six years.

The company’s Europe strategy centres on digital-first distribution, repeat demand and TikTok-led discovery, alongside direct-to-consumer expansion to strengthen brand equity and margins.

The move also aligns with growing EU–India trade engagement, supporting long-term sourcing and cross-border supply chains.

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TechnoSport taps quick commerce with launch on Slikk’s 60-minute platform

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NATIONAL: TechnoSport has launched on Slikk, the ultra-fast fashion app offering 60-minute delivery, as the activewear brand accelerates its push into quick commerce to capture Gen Z and young millennial shoppers.

The debut brings more than 150 high-performance styles to Slikk’s platform, with an average selling price of Rs 450, expanding TechnoSport’s reach across over 80 pin codes.

The partnership follows strong momentum for TechnoSport across Q-commerce channels, where the brand has recorded around 60 per cent volume growth over the past six months. The company expects quick commerce to contribute nearly 20 per cent of its revenue in the coming years as hyperlocal delivery gains scale.

Slikk, which recently raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed, has rapidly gained popularity among youth consumers seeking speed, trend relevance and impulse-led shopping experiences.

Activewear remains one of Slikk’s fastest-growing categories, driven by shoppers increasingly treating fitness-led fashion as an everyday essential. The platform has reported a 30-fold year-on-year increase in items sold, reflecting rising demand for performance wear that blends comfort with style.

TechnoSport chief executive officer Puspen Maity, said the collaboration would help the brand engage more closely with young consumers whose fashion choices are shaped by instant needs and lifestyle aspirations. He added that rapid delivery bridges the gap between intent and purchase, allowing shoppers to access activewear exactly when they want it.

 

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