The Unicorn Club: Meet the Elite Founders Behind Multiple Billion-Dollar Ventures

A unicorn is a privately held startup with a valuation of $1 billion or above. This financial milestone raises these companies in the eyes of investors, entrepreneurs, and the general public, as only a few companies achieve such high valuations before going public or being acquired. Unicorns have a remarkable ability to grow rapidly and exponentially. Their growth is not gradual; instead, it follows an aggressive and fast path that allows them to increase their market share quickly. 

Innovation is at the heart of unicorn enterprises. They are renowned for bringing innovative and game-changing concepts to their specialized fields, frequently utilizing state-of-the-art technology and breaking new ground in business structures.

There are more than 1,000 unicorn companies in the world. As of January 2024, India has 111 unicorn startups, making it the world's fastest-growing startup ecosystem. 

Starting your own business is a difficult road full of obstacles and uncertainties. However, even in this turbulent environment, some exceptional people repeatedly overcome obstacles. In the ever-changing world of business innovation, these trailblazers stand out as the creators of not one but several unicorn enterprises. Their experiences serve as the perfect example of determination, intelligence, and an unmatched ability to spot possibilities amid chaos.

Bhavish Aggarwal
Amitava Saha
Supam Maheshwari
Naveen Tewari
Asish Mohapatra
Ruchi Kalra
Sandeep Aggarwal
Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Bhavish Aggarwal

Bhavish Aggarwal was born in Ludhiana, Punjab, on August 28, 1985. He is an Indian businessman who founded Ola Electric and co-founded Ola Cabs. Aggarwal, an IIT Mumbai alumnus, started his professional career with Microsoft, where he worked for two years, filed two patent applications, and published three articles in international journals.

In December 2010, he and a fellow student, Ankit Bhati, created the ridesharing business Ola Cabs, an ANI Technologies division. Ola achieved its first significant milestone in July 2014, reaching 10,000 rides per day. As the CEO of Ola Cabs, he introduced several divisions, including mobile payments and wallet services through OlaMoney and Ola Fleet. 

In December 2017, Ola Cabs purchased Foodpanda's Indian business, thereby breaking into the food delivery market. In April 2022, he resigned as CEO of Ola Cabs to concentrate on Ola Electric. Under ANI Technologies, Bhavish Aggarwal founded Ola Electric on May 26, 2017. He initiated a trial project in Nagpur, Maharashtra, by erecting charging stations throughout the city and acquiring electric vehicles from manufacturers, including electric buses, electric rickshaws, and electric cars.

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Amitava Saha

Amitava Saha is the co-founder and chief operating officer of FirstCry and the CEO of Xpressbees. Saha's groundbreaking projects have continually disrupted sectors and transformed market landscapes. His ability to navigate unfamiliar territory with strategic insight and unshakable persistence has enabled him to establish not one but several unicorn enterprises. After completing his BTech at IIT Varanasi, he graduated with a PGDM from IIM Lucknow. Before launching Xpressbees alongside Supam Maheshwari, Amitava had positions as a Business Development Manager at Aricent, Senior Officer at Tata Steel, and Senior Business Development Executive at NIIT Technologies. 

Following his decision to start FirstCry, where he held the positions of COO and co-founder, Amitava Saha went on to found Xpressbees. He has more than 17 years of expertise in sales and operations. 

With an excellent nationwide supply chain management network, Xpressbees is India's top logistics service provider. FirstCry is an online and offline business that offers a large selection of goods for mothers, infants, and children. The firm originated out of a desire to address the issue of millions of Indian parents lacking access to the top brands and baby care items for their children.

Supam Maheshwari

Supam Maheshwari is the CEO of FirstCry, a baby care company headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Maheshwari completed his formal education at Apeejay School. He graduated from Delhi College of Engineering with a Mechanical Engineering degree. He later attended IIM-Ahmedabad to pursue a PGDM. After completing his MBA, he conceptualized and developed Brainvisa Technologies, which he co-founded and oversaw as CEO until 2009. He is a first-generation businessman with an astute business sense.

Supam Maheshwari was inspired to start FirstCry by his own experiences as a father looking for high-quality baby care goods for his child. He is an excellent leader and is well-known for his leadership abilities. Supam is also a co-founder of the logistics service company Xpressbees.

Naveen Tewari

Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO of InMobi, was born and raised in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in a family of academics. After working for McKinsey for three years as a consultant, Naveen graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School. While at HBS, he started and led the India Schoolhouse Fund, a nonprofit in the United States that sponsors and establishes schools in rural India. 

He dabbled in several ventures for a few years, although he could have been more successful. This included the startup and venture capital worlds. Tewari identified a market need as the mobile internet was on its way to revolution. He realized a platform was required to distribute customized advertisements on mobile devices. He launched InMobi in 2008. The ad tech business became the first unicorn in India in just three years. Tewari's impact goes beyond the business sector. He strongly supports entrepreneurship and innovation, actively mentoring new firms and funding programs that strengthen the Indian IT sector. 

Asish Mohapatra

Asish Mohapatra is an Indian entrepreneur who has co-founded two unicorn firms in India. After obtaining his mechanical engineering degree from IIT-Kharagpur and his MBA from the Indian School of Business (ISB), he worked for Matrix Partners, a venture capital fund, for over four years. 

Before he was able to launch his business, the IIT Kharagpur graduate was turned down a shocking 73 times. After receiving backing from the Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp., Asish's business became a unicorn in July 2021. It was valued at approximately $1.5 billion when it concluded a $160 million investment round. 

In 2016, Asish, his wife, and a few other dedicated members of their team founded Oxyzo, an offshoot of Asish's previous firm that provides SMEs with purchase finance and became a unicorn a year later, in 2022. The company stated that Oxyzo presently has 2000+ crores in AUM, is servicing more than 3,000 SMEs throughout India, and disburses more than 4,000 crores annually. 

Asish Mohapatra's journey demonstrates the value of patience, intelligent thought, and an in-depth comprehension of market needs. His initiatives not only help contribute to the Indian Economy but also motivate new entrepreneurs to pursue their objectives despite all obstacles. 

Ruchi Kalra

Indian businesswoman Ruchi Kalra is the co-founder of the unicorn companies OfBusiness and Oxyzo Financial Services. Ruchi completed her MBA at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, after earning her BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Delhi, and she began working as a senior business analyst at Evalueserve. 

She quit her job at McKinsey in 2016 to launch her firm, OfBusiness, in the untested B2B market with her husband and six other partners. In 2017, her spouse and three other team members picked up an offshoot of their first firm. Oxyzo provides purchase finance to small and medium businesses, giving out cash-flow-based loans to aid SMEs who struggle to access working capital by employing technology that crunches data for them. 

Sandeep Aggarwal

Sandeep Aggarwal is an Indian entrepreneur, angel investor, and the current CEO of Droom Technology Pvt Ltd. He was a Wall Street research analyst for fourteen years before starting his entrepreneurial journey. He was the top-ranked research analyst and worked for Collins Stewart, Oppenheimer, and Citigroup. 

Sandeep established two startups: Shopclues, an online managed marketplace, in 2010, and Droom, an online vehicle marketplace, in 2014. He raised 16 million dollars in just a year. He raised 90 million dollars in multiple rounds in the following three years. Sandeep possesses a US patent, an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, and all the qualities that make an entrepreneur successful: a combination of knowledge, creativity, and willpower. He also launched the Sandeep Aggarwal Foundation, which addresses India's development concerns. The charity supports and uplifts different sectors of society through partnerships with groups like the Umeed charity and Zoe Mission. 

Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Vijay Shekhar Sharma was born on June 7, 1978, in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, and completed his B.Tech from Delhi College of Engineering. He is a technology entrepreneur and multimillionaire business magnate. He founded One97 Communications in 2000, providing mobile users with news, jokes, ringtones, cricket scores, and exam results, among other material. One97 Communications Limited is the parent business of Paytm, Sharma's digital payment and financial services company founded in 2010. Paytm successfully raised $2.5 billion at a $19 billion valuation when it went public in November 2021, making it the largest IPO in India. 

In 2018, Sharma created a stir in the financial world when he convinced Berkshire Hathaway, owned by Warren Buffett, to invest $300 million in Paytm. Along with the Paytm Payments Bank, he founded the e-commerce company Paytm Mall. His commitment to innovation illustrates how technology can spur economic growth and demonstrates the transformative power of entrepreneurship.

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Conclusion 

In conclusion, this article looks into a handful of visionary founders who have not only transformed industries but also redefined our perception of entrepreneurship. Their ability to create, execute, and scale many billion-dollar companies demonstrates their impressive vision and passion to make the dream a reality.

FAQs

What is a unicorn startup?

A unicorn is a privately held startup with a valuation of $1 billion or above. This financial milestone raises these companies in the eyes of investors, entrepreneurs, and the general public, as only a few companies achieve such high valuations before going public or being acquired.

Who is Naveen Tewari?

Naveen Tewari is the founder and CEO of InMobi and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

How many unicorn companies are there in the world?

There are more than 1,000 unicorn companies in the world. As of January 2024, India has 111 unicorn startups, making it the world's fastest-growing startup ecosystem.