For many students, getting a job is one of the top objectives of education and owing to a plethora of factors, not many students end up in the exact career that they opted for. Also, the increasing industry-academia gap has resulted in more and more students finding it hard to get absorbed into the industry. Over the last couple of decades, students from across the globe has been showing interests towards becoming job creators rather than job seekers. There are plenty of reasons behind this including the rapid development of startup cultures in countries that is fueled by both the government and the society in general. And there are still many more students who have doubts regarding starting a business of their own. That leap of faith is still on that many dreads the most. So, it is important in these scenarios that students have some examples that they can look upto. Especially in a growing economy like India, it is important that students know about inspiring startup stories, online startup success stories, success stories of Indian entrepreneurs, and inspirational business success stories in general. These stories can not only give courage to the students to start a business of their own but it will also help them to have a rough guideline or a checklist that they can use in their own journey. So, in this article, we will take a closer look at startup success stories in India and he brains behind those successes.            

• Nikhil Kamath, co-founder, Zerodha:

This pioneering business leader is one of the best examples for students not jut in India but also for students across the globe. From school dropout to one of the most revolutionary personalities in the Indian fintech space with Zerodha, Nikhil along with his older brother Nithin has created their own space in the highly competitive fin-tech space. Even amidst the face of overwhelming odds, it was his desire to succeed which motivated him to reach for greater heights.

Starting to work at a very young age of 17 at a call centre, Nikhil started trading equity as a side hustle and this quickly turned into him managing the money of some of his friends and colleagues. Taking small yet steady steps, Nikhil is now running a highly successful fintech firm that has more than a couple of million active monthly users.

• Amod Malviya, co-founder, Udaan:

Widely known as one of India’s top tech minds, Amod founded Udaan in 2016 along with Vaibhav Gupta and Sujeet Kumar.  Prior to founding udaan, Amod has had wide experience in working at top brands including heading technology at Flipkart. One of his biggest professional achievements happened when he built and scaled Flipkart’s engineering platforms. And apart from Flipkart, he has previous work experience in companies like ApnaPaise (formerly Apnaloan), i2 Technologies, Itellix Software Solutions, and Riya Internet Technologies.        

This BTech holder in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur is a great example for students as well as other professionals who are working for another organization currently to start a business of their own.  

• ·Mukesh Bansal, Co-founder, Curefit:

The Indian wellness industry is growing at an impressive 20 percent per annum and the market is expected to reach $12 billion by the year 2025. Acknowledging this immense potential, Mukesh Bansal along with Ankit Nagori, founded Curefit. This pioneering business organization has been revolutionizing the Indian fitness industry through unique strategies. And the quality and innovativeness of their offerings has helped the company to grow stronger on a daily basis.

Now, with Mukesh at its helm, Curefit has received $75 million from Tata Digital in order to help expand into a proactive health management space and strive to be a market leader in this segment.

• ·Shashank Kumar, Founder, Razorpay:

Shashank Kumar is the founder of Razorpay, which is a very popular online payments gateway.

Under his guidance, the company aspires to develop as a dominant figure in the online payments industry by prioritizing on merchants as well as business to business (B2B) entities. Prior to starting Razorpay, Shashank helps important positions in companies like Microsoft and SDSLabs. It is his passion to spearhead technology, product as well as develop new and innovative initiatives at Razorpay.

And following his journey is a great for aspiring students who wants to make a name for themselves in the tech space.

• Kabeer Biswas, Co-founders, Dunzo:

Graduating from the University of Mumbai, Kabeer started his professional career just after finishing his MBA in 2007. After graduation, he joined Bharti Airtel Limited, taking the position of a Rural NPD. After two years, Kabeer was promoted in the Social, Communities as well as Location Based Services. Owing to that, he spent about three and half years working for the company. Apart from all this, Kabeer has also worked for Videocon Telecommunications Limited, and Y2CF Digital Media Private Limited. Then he founded a company called Hoppr, which was acquired by Hike in 2014. All this experience helped him to start Dunzo which is now a leading brand in the industry.

• Falguni Nayar, Founder, Nykaa:

One of the rising brands in the cosmetics industry is Nykaa and within a short span of time, the company has been able to make impressive strides in the market. Industry stalwart Falguni Nayar is at the helm of Nykaa and her domain expertise and entrepreneurial skills have played a major role in the success of Nykaa. She started the company with a vision to build a retail business that is multi-brand, omnichannel and beauty-focused.

Through empowering customer choices and by enabling brands to reach the breadth and depth of the country, Falguni Nayar and Nykaa aspires to play a critical role in the development of the Indian beauty industry.

• Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, OYO Rooms:

Most of us are familiar with OYO Rooms and it has revolutionized how we book rooms and even travel within the country. Ritesh Agarwal is the brains behind this unique and innovative idea and he started his professional career by establishing a budget accommodation portal, named Oravel Stays, which can be used for booking budget hotels.

Hailing from a family that run a small shop in Southern Odisha, Ritesh has grown to become a billionaire that has become an inspiration for many young students as well as aspiring entrepreneurs.