Germ Of An Idea

Indian Classical Music at weddings is not a thing of the past. A Dubai-headquartered Indian startup is connecting families and musicians to bring the sitar, shehnai, tabla, piano and vocals back into wedding functions.

Mission Education: How edtech unicorn LEAD is moving schools away from rote learning

If there is one big reason that made Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah start LEAD, it is the belief that India needs to get back its deserved place in the world, and that’s only possible if education gets better

A Dhirubhai Ambani handshake that wasn’t, a black Ambassador car and a D2C brand called FreshToHome

Shan Kadavil’s technological know-how and Mathew Joseph’s market knowledge helped the online fish and meat delivery platform raise $100 million in funding in February

Germ of an idea: How Zetwerk pivoted to write its Make in India story

Zetwerk, a B2B manufacturing marketplace unicorn, began its journey from a one-bedroom apartment in Bengaluru and today it is looking to transform manufacturing by helping customers optimise suppliers, reduce costs and work faster

Covid lockdown, a dining table and 2 determined teens: How Zepto was born

Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra are taking on e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart with their quick-commerce offering they built from their dining table

Not just another brick in the wall: How Mensa Brands became India’s fastest unicorn

Mensa founder and CEO Ananth Narayanan says his grandfather’s brick business and his father’s time at Hindustan Motors inspired him to build and scale the tech-led house of brands

Germ of an Idea | A Kerala rail station, a Mariah Carey song and India’s 100th unicorn

Armed with basic school education and an obsessive passion for technology, Anish Achuthan slept rough, and went hungry but chased his tech dream. The co-founder of neo-banking platform Open has a lot to inspire us

Germ of an idea | A black Ford Mustang, a lal batiwali gadi and a unicorn called Razorpay

Here’s how Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar ditched lucrative jobs overseas to blaze a trail in India’s fintech ecosystem, giving small businesses the digital edge through Razorpay

Germ of an idea | How two friends stuck together through thick and thin to create Meesho, the unicorn

How Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal met, founded Meesho, and raised funds for an idea that had never been tested before.

Germ of an Idea | How three friends battled legacy players to turn Darwinbox into a unicorn

The story of Darwinbox founders Jayant Paleti, Rohit Chennamaneni and Chaitanya Peddi, who dared to take on SAP and Oracle in their own den.

Germ of an idea: How edtech firm Eruditus was founded

For Ashwin Damera, the co-founder and CEO of edtech unicorn Eruditus, his first entrepreneurial gig was a path paved with thorns.