46 startup founders make it to IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2021

Forty six startup founders made it to the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2021, in what has been a record-breaking year in terms of funding for domestic startups, with the Indian startup ecosystem minting 27 unicorns so far this year.

The cumulative wealth contributed by these entrepreneurs increased by 35 percent to Rs 2,32,000 crore, according to the report.

Among the key notable entrants to the list from the startup sector are Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal, Browserstack cofounders Nakul Aggarwal and Ritesh Arora, Nazara Technologies founder Nitish Mittersain, InMobi founder Naveen Tewari and Eruditus cofounder Ashwin Damera.

Backed by Zomato's blockbuster IPO in July 2021, Goyal registered a 164 percent increase in wealth to Rs 5,800 crore, whereas Info Edge (India) founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, who was the earliest investor in Zomato and PolicyBazaar, saw a 95 percent increase in his wealth to Rs 29,700 crore.

Nazara Technologies founder Nitish Mittersain debuted on the list at 773rd position with a wealth of Rs 1,500 crore, after the firm became the first gaming company to list in India in March 2021.

Browserstack co-founders debuted on the list at 141st position with wealth of Rs 12,400 crore each. Browserstack had raised Rs 1,500 crore in Series B funding from Insight Partners and Accel at a valuation of Rs 30,000 crore in June 2021.

BharatPe cofounder Shashvat Nakrani, aged 23, is the youngest self-made individual on the list while Confluent cofounder Neha Narkhede, aged 36, is the youngest self-made woman entrepreneur in the country, as per the report.

Byju's founder Byju Raveendran and his family have seen the highest rank increase in the past five years, climbing 504 positions since 2017. They are currently ranked at 67th position with a wealth of Rs 24,300 crore, a 19 percent increase from last year.

Zerodha founder Nitin Kamath and family saw a 51 percent increase in wealth to Rs 25,600 crore while Zoho's Radha Vembu saw a 93 percent increase in wealth to Rs 23,100 crore.

Nandan Nilekani & family's wealth grew 74 percent to Rs 20,900 crore, while NR Narayana Murthy & family's wealth rose 77 percent to Rs 29,000 crore and S (Kris) Gopalakrishnan & family's wealth increased by 94 percent to Rs 35,200 crore.

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma's wealth however saw a 18 percent decline to Rs 18,900 crore in 2021, as per the report.

The list has been researched and compiled by Hurun Research Institute using only publicly-available data and the firm said its researchers have cross-checked this information with entrepreneurs, industry experts, journalists and investors.

For unlisted companies, Hurun Research’s valuation is based on the most recent investor round, as well as a comparison with their listed equivalents using prevailing industry multiples such as Price to Earnings, Price to Sales, EV to Sales, EV to EBITDA and also other methodologies including Discounted Cash Flow, Tobin’s Q and First Chicago.

The list includes only Indians who were either born or brought up in the country. The source of wealth includes both inherited and self-made wealth, the company said.