Hurun U40 India: Young leaders driving billions and breaking barriers

MUMBAI: Youth, it turns out, is not wasted on the young. In India Inc, it is being monetised, scaled and occasionally unicorned.

The Avendus Wealth–Hurun India U40 List 2025 reads less like a roll call of promising talent and more like a balance sheet with attitude. The newly released list spotlights 201 entrepreneurs and next-generation leaders aged between 36 and 40 who, collectively, sit at the helm of enterprises valued at $357 billion or about Rs 31 lakh crore, nearly one-eleventh of India’s GDP

Hurun India founder and chief researcher Anas Rahman Junaid said, “That scale marks a clear generational shift. India’s new economic engine is increasingly powered by its young leaders,” he notes, adding that the list captures 201 achievers who are already reshaping the country’s value-creation landscape. Together, he points out, they employ more than 4,43,000 people, underlining the real-world heft behind the numbers.

That is not pocket money. Nor is their footprint modest. Together, these under-40 leaders have raised over $22 billion in funding and are steering companies that range from listed behemoths to fast-scaling startups still hungry for their next round of capital

At the younger end of the spectrum is Sanjay Byalal Jagannath, 36, co-founder of Bengaluru-based Exponent Energy, the youngest name on the list. He is joined by Shreya Mishra, also 36, co-founder of SolarSquare, who holds the distinction of being the youngest woman featured and a flag-bearer for clean energy innovation. The average age across the cohort is a sprightly 38, an age when many are still perfecting their email signatures.

The list is part of the Avendus Wealth–Hurun India Uth Series 2025, which tracks entrepreneurial leadership across under-30, under-35 and under-40 cohorts. If the earlier lists hinted at promise, the U40 edition confirms arrival.

Geographically, India’s startup map continues to glow brightest in familiar places, but with notable flickers elsewhere. Bengaluru leads decisively with 48 U40 entrepreneurs, reinforcing its reputation as India’s under-40 capital. Mumbai follows with 43, Gurugram with 24 and New Delhi with 19. Beyond India’s borders, San Francisco counts 13 names, while London and New York chip in four each, underlining the increasingly global address book of Indian founders

At a state level, Karnataka tops the table with 49 entrants, narrowly ahead of Maharashtra at 45 and Haryana at 24. The spread suggests that ambition is no longer confined to one pin code, even if a few continue to do heavy lifting.

Sectorally, software products and services dominate the list with 40 entrepreneurs, a reminder that code still pays the bills. Healthcare follows with 18, transportation and logistics with 16, and financial services with 15. Consumer goods, ecommerce and real estate share the next rung, each contributing 14 names. From SaaS and fintech to clean energy, automobiles and education, the list reads like a snapshot of where India’s growth engines are currently revving

Education remains a powerful launchpad. IIT Kharagpur leads undergraduate representation with 15 alumni, followed by IIT Delhi and IIT Madras with 10 each. IIT Bombay and the University of Mumbai are not far behind with nine apiece, proving that while dropout stories grab headlines, degrees still open doors.

Avendus Wealth Management MD and CEO Apurva Sahijwani, sees this as a sign of maturity rather than caution. India’s under-40 entrepreneurs, he says, signal “a clear shift in both scale and substance”, combining ambition with execution. The dominance of software, healthcare, logistics and financial services, he notes, points to where innovation, capital and delivery are converging. Equally telling is the fact that over 83 per cent of the list comprises first-generation founders, evidence that India’s growth narrative is increasingly being written by self-made leaders.

The remaining 17 per cent span second to fifth-generation leaders, many of whom are modernising family-run enterprises with a distinctly digital edge

Experience, too, is quietly piling up. Varun Sunil Kapur of Travel Food Services and Kapil Jain of Goldmedal Electricals top the experience charts with 18 years each in business, hardly novices despite their age. Several others clock in at 17 years, blurring the line between young and seasoned.

Money, unsurprisingly, follows momentum. Meesho leads the funding league with $1.36 billion raised, followed closely by Cars24 at $1.3 billion and Uniphore at $987 million. Across the cohort, funding is being channelled less into flashy branding and more into fundamentals. Product development and expansion account for 29 per cent of fund usage, market and geographic expansion for 27 per cent, and research and development for 10 per cent. Brand marketing, often the loudest line item, takes a relatively modest five per cent

Employment impact is equally tangible. Apollo Hospitals, led within the U40 cohort, is the largest employer with 42,497 staff, followed by JBM Group with 35,000 and Muthoot Finance with 29,221. These are not garage operations. They are institutions.

The list also nods to influence beyond the boardroom. Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath tops the digital popularity charts with 1.39 million LinkedIn followers, trailed by Ghazal Alagh of Mamaearth and Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola Electric. In an era where thought leadership often travels faster than annual reports, visibility is its own currency.

Globally, India holds its own. Of the 505 entrepreneurs featured across Hurun’s India, China and UK U40 lists, India contributes 201. The UK leads on first-generation founders at 92 per cent, but India’s 83 per cent underscores a similarly strong self-made streak. Gender representation still has room to grow, with 15 women on India’s list compared with China’s 29, though the presence of leaders across clean energy, SaaS, consumer brands and legacy businesses signals a shift in momentum.

Taken together, the Avendus Wealth–Hurun India U40 List 2025 offers a breezy but sobering insight. India’s future is not waiting patiently in the wings. It is already running companies worth billions, employing lakhs and quietly rewriting the idea of what a career peak looks like. Forty, in this corner of the economy, is not a midlife moment. It is a market-moving one.