Over half of India’s top 200 self-made entrepreneurs come from these three cities

Bengaluru is widely referred to as the startup capital of India

IDFC First Private Banking and Hurun India have released ‘India’s Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2023’ list. The list features 405 founders from 200 companies in India's entrepreneurial landscape – but three cities bear the disproportionate burden of housing this talent.

According to the report, released on November 30, more than half of India’s self-made entrepreneurs are based in either Bengaluru, Mumbai or Gurugram.

“The list is dominated by Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Gurugram, emphasizing their status as major hubs for entrepreneurship,” IDFC and Hurun said.

Not without reason is Bengaluru known as the startup capital of India – 129 founders featured on the list are based in the capital of Karnataka. This is followed by 78 founders in Mumbai and 49 in Gurugram and New Delhi. These three cities account for over half of India's Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2023.

Overall, the entrepreneurs featured on the list come from 23 cities across India – including Chennai, Pune, Jaipur, Ahmedabad.

The companies featured in India's Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2023 came from 14 states, led by Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana. By city, Bengaluru led with 69, followed by Mumbai with 41 and Gurugram with 26.

Mumbai-based Radhakishan Damani, veteran investor and founder of retail chain D-Mart, leads the list of the Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2023, with a market capitalisation of Rs 2.38 lakh crore. He is followed closely by Bengaluru-based Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, founders of e-commerce giant Flipkart.