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Eruditus' journey: From being rejected by 20 investors to becoming a unicorn

Founded by Ashwin Damera and Chaitanya Kalipatnapu in 2010, executive education startup Eruditus started out with offline classes with faculty from Europe’s INSEAD and the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), teaching a 10-day classroom programme in a 5-star hotel for 10-15 people, mostly working professionals. From 2015 onwards, it started an online teaching model and raised venture capital from investors such as Bertelsmann and Sequoia Capital India. Today, Eruditus and Emeritus, its online wing, make Ivy League education accessible and affordable to those who seek it, having tied up with the likes of MIT, Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley and INSEAD. In this episode of Bits to Billions, second-time entrepreneur Ashwin Damera spoke about the state of ed tech in India, how the idea of Eruditus came about, the initial struggle and his plans to give back to the ecosystem through Damera Ventures.

Watch | From a small town in Jharkhand to a unicorn valued at $2 billion: The story of Spinny's co-founder Niraj Singh

Founded in 2015 by Niraj Singh, Ramanshu Mahaur and Mohit Gupta, unicorn Spinny helps buy and sell pre-owned cars online. Sellers can schedule an inspection and get an offer for their car. Buyers can browse the online inventory, view vehicle conditions, select a car of their choice, and schedule a test drive. But the road to building a unicorn wasn't easy... This is in fact the third startup Niraj has founded after the previous two folded. He says the experiences taught him to have a clear vision. Spinny last raised $283 million in November 2021 in a funding round led by Tiger Global at a valuation of $2.11 billion. It also counts Sachin Tendulkar as an investor. In this episode Spinny founder Niraj speaks about - The market for pre-owned cars amid a slowdown - His plans for the EV and luxury car space - Growing up in a small town in India - Building a startup for the third time Watch!

From pivots and a near sale to becoming a unicorn: The Shiprocket story

Shiprocket's journey began in 2012 as Bigfoot retail solutions, as an ecommerce marketplace like Shopify. It later pivoted based on demand to a logistics tech platform that wants to provide an Amazon Prime like experience for direct to consumer brands in India. It uses a data engine that recommends courier service for a business and chooses a courier company, prints shipping labels, and tracks orders from a single panel. With over 17 courier partners on board, the company enables pan-India as well as international shipping deliveries. Its shipping solutions are available across more than 29,000 pin codes in India and 220 destinations worldwide. Shiprocket, which counts Zomato as a strategic investor, became a unicorn earlier this month when it issued shares to existing investors at a valuation of $1.2 Billion. On this episode, the founders of Shiprocket sooke about - Its tale of pivots before it found a compelling product market fit - Raising funds amid a funding winter - Life after unicorn - Global ambitions

Think long term, believe in India: Groww founders on Bits To Billions

Groww was founded in 2016 by four former Flipkart executives – Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, and Ishan Bansal. The platform helps users invest in stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, IPOs, US stocks, futures and options, fixed deposits and gold. The startup counts Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global as well as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella as its investors and is valued at $3 billion after raising $83 million in its Series E funding round in October 2021. On this episode of Bits to Billions, the founders spoke about How Groww came about, Lalit Keshre's humble origins, the size of the India opportunity, plans for neobanking and payments. #groww #bitstobillions #moneycontrol

Financial services are a basic need like roti, kapda, makaan, says Groww founder Lalit Keshre

In an episode of Bits to Billions, Keshre revealed that his beginnings were humble and that he hails from Lepa, a small village in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone district.

Edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah sees FY23 revenue to top Rs 1,200 cr; to launch new offerings

PhysicsWallah’s comments on profitability and the company’s expansion plans come at a time when edtech companies in India have struggled with softening demand post the pandemic amid reopening of schools, colleges and physical tuition centers.

Mamaearth's Varun and Ghazal Alagh on why they became entrepreneurs | World Entrepreneurs Day

Most founders start up when they are looking to solve a problem they face and the story wasn't different for Varun and Ghazal Alagh. They had no experience running startups but decided to become entrepreneurs after becoming parents. Their search for safe, organic products for their baby led them to launch a skincare care Mamaearth, which was last valued at over a billion dollars. On World Entrepreneurs Day Moneycontrol brings you conversations with key players driving the tectonic shift. Meet the disruptors, the job creators and the wealth generators. The change makers who are transforming India and putting it on the global map.

PhonePe founders are against working on weekends. Here's why | World Entrepreneurs Day

PhonePe, India's largest player when it comes to digital payments, had a very different journey compared to rivals who raised big VC money. Instead it chose to work as an independent unit backed by Flipkart, and now Walmart. In times when 'hustle culture' and 'blitz scaling' is romanticised, Nigam and Chari decided to build an entrepreneurial culture where employees don't work on weekends, work smart and do less but nail it. On World Entrepreneurs Day Moneycontrol brings you conversations with key players driving the tectonic shift. Meet the disruptors, the job creators and the wealth generators. The change makers who are transforming India and putting it on the global map.

Physics Wallah's Alakh Pandey on why he doesn't care about a founder image | World Entrepreneurs Day

From a Pragyaraj-based physics tuition teacher to the founder of a unicorn, now valued at $1.1 billion, it's been a remarkable journey of grit and determination for Alakh Pandey, the founder of Physics Wallah. Pandey is a symbol of New India's aspirations. Even as he aims high, he talks about why he doesn't conform to the stereotypes of a tech founder and prefers to stay his original self. On World Entrepreneurs Day, Moneycontrol brings you conversations with key players driving the tectonic shift. Meet the disruptors, the job creators and the wealth generators. The change makers who are transforming India and putting it on the global map.

Zerodha's Nithin Kamath on building a unique startup | World Entrepreneurs' Day

Zerodha is one of India's most valuable and unusual startups. Unusual because it hasn't raised a penny in external funding, is profitable and the founders - brothers Nithin and Nikhil Kamath - still own a significant percentage in the company, making them billionaires. Here Nithin talks about why he decided to traverse the road less taken as an entrepreneur. On World Entrepreneurs' Day, Moneycontrol brings you conversations with key players driving the tectonic shift. Meet the disruptors, the job creators, and the wealth generators. The change makers who are transforming India and putting it on the global map.

Infosys Nandan Nilekani on founder mindset | World Entrepreneurs Day

Infosys co-founder and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani, the OG of Indian entrepreneurship weighs in on "founder mindset", "founder clout" and why it's vital for startups to make money early, even as they eye growth. On World Entrepreneurs Day, Moneycontrol brings you conversations with key players driving the tectonic shift. Meet the disruptors, the job creators, and the wealth generators. The change makers who are transforming India and putting it on the global map.

Bits To Billions | Meet India's first husband-wife duo who have a unicorn each: Mohapatra & Kalra

Asish Mohapatra and Ruchi Kalra, alums of IIT and McKinsey, created history by becoming India's first husband and wife team to build their startups into unicorns - OfBusiness and Oxyzo. While Mohapatra is the CEO of OfBusiness, Kalra is the CEO of Oxyzo. What's more - Both their startups are profitable. But what do their startups do? How did they go from bits to billions? When will their companies go IPO? Watch them in conversation on Bits to Billions.

Bits To Billions | The Amagi story: These 3 engineers from Coimbatore want to disrupt media

If the COVID-19 pandemic changed how people consume content, it also transformed how media and broadcast firms delivered content to their customers across the world with the rapid adoption of cloud-based software solutions. Bengaluru-based unicorn Amagi has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of this transformation. The startup enables content owners to launch, distribute and monetise live linear channels on free-ad-supported television and video services platforms through a suite of solutions. The demand for these software solutions has increased with growing consumption of online video content. Founded in 2008 by college mates Baskar Subramanian, Srinivasan KA and Srividhya Srinivasan, Amagi is also a rare unicorn that is profitable. On this episode of Bits to Billions, its founders Subramanian and Srividhya Srinivasan spoke to Moneycontrol's Chandra R Srikanth on why it is hiring at a time when many startups are firing and why it wants to list in India

Media tech unicorn Amagi aims to IPO in India: Co-founder Baskar Subramanian

Profitability is an addictive phenomenon. Once you become profitable, you want to be profitable, says Amagi co-founder Baskar Subramanian.

InMobi's Glance aims to cross one billion users in 2-3 years, says CEO Naveen Tewari

Naveen Tewari also said the company plans to expand its creator-led live commerce platform Roposo and its gaming platform globally.

Bits To Billions | How Open became India's 100th unicorn and Kerala's first unicorn: Meet its founders

Founded in 2017 by former PayU and Citrus Pay executives and serial entrepreneurs Anish Achuthan, Mabel Chacko, and Ajeesh Achuthan, along with Deena Jacob, Open focuses on small and medium-sized businesses by offering them a business current account. Their next big bets include revenue-based financing early settlement, working capital loans, and business credit cards to SMEs on its platform. Open is aiming to disburse $1 billion in loans through the new suite of products on the platform in the next 12 months. In this episode of Bits to Billions, the founders opened up to Moneycontrol's Chandra R Srikanth on the early years, why Open is relevant, and the criticism that family dominates the leadership.

Bits to Billions | PhonePe is made in India, will list in India: How Sameer Nigam & Rahul Chari built a unique unicorn

PhonePe, India's largest player when it comes to digital payments, was founded in December 2015. It has had a very different journey compared to rivals who raised big VC money. Instead it chose to work as an independent unit backed by Flipkart, and now Walmart. Today, PhonePe has more than 360 million registered users, with one in four Indians now using it. It has digitised over 27 million offline merchants spread across Tier II, III, and IV cities and beyond. In this episode of Bits to Billions, PhonePe founders Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari spoke to Moneycontrol's Chandra R Srikanth on the PhonePe culture, why they will only list in India, why they have never fired an employee and the road ahead as they look to become a financial services super app.

Bits to Billions: MPL wants to put India on the global gaming map. Meet its founders Sai Srinivas & Shubh Malhotra

India is currently the largest market for game downloads across the world with over 840 million installs. This has triggered a boom that helped startups like Mobile Premier League or MPL. Founded by Sai Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra in 2018, it joined India's startup unicorn club in September last year, with its valuation zooming to $2.3 billion and counts Virat Kohli as an investor and brand ambassador. The Bengaluru-based unicorn’s platform hosts virtual tournaments across more than 70 games and claims to have over 85 million users across India, Indonesia, and the United States. Sai Srinivas, a second-time entrepreneur tells Moneycontrol's Chandra R Srikanth that he aims to make MPL the underlying platform for people to play competitive tournaments in any game, with ambitions to also design world-class games from India.