Startups by Non-IITians and Non-IIMians in India
We have heard myths from people whenever we say about a successful Entrepreneur, that’s come from IITs or IIMs Because, they say that having knowledge, experience, and motivation from IITs, IIMs only can make it happen. But after some investigation, I found, it is not absolutely true.
So, Great News for you. You don’t have to be an IITian or IIMian to involve a startup and make it a successful multi-million dollar company. So, all you need is a very strong desire and dedication, the ability to gain knowledge as much as possible, learn from failures without fearing them.
Over the Last Decade, many entrepreneurs have proved that success in entrepreneurship is not dependent on Premium institutes like IIT or IIM.
Here are some of the personalities who made their company as well as themselves successful.
1. Ashish HemRajani
CEO and Founder of Book My Show.
He did his MBA from Sydenham (College of Commerce and Economics).
Book My Show is India’s Largest Entertainment Ticketing Website. Also, It operates in 5 countries with more than 30 million customers.A company with Approximately Rs. 400 crores for FY-18.
Awards and Recognition achieved by Ashish HemRajani
- Executive of the Year at Manchester’s TheTicketingBusiness Awards.
- Ranked No. 9 in IMPACT Digital Power 100 List on December 2013.
Awards and Recognition achieved by Book My Show
- Best Omni-Channel Customer Experience at the OneDirect Quest Customer Experience (QuestCX)
Other Companies/Startup Founded/Co-Founded by Ashish HemRajani
- Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd – It is India’s premier comprehensive ticketing, information, and analysis solutions provider. Bigtree started by setting up India’s first entertainment ticketing company.
2. Bhavin Turakhia
Founder and CEO of Directi.
Bhavin Turakhia attended D. G. Ruparel College to study science and then dropped out. Afterward, he completed his bachelor’s degree in commerce from Sydenham College of Engineering.
Directi has a group of Tech Business owned. The group has multiple businesses that run independently by their respective management teams. According to Economic Times, the company plans to invest $110 million in Flock, Zeta, Radix, and Ringo in the current year and next.
Awards and Recognition achieved by Bhavin Turakhia
- Ranked 95, with a net worth of $1.3 Billion, on Forbes List of India’s 100 Richest People.
- Serial Entrepreneur of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year in Innovation and Technology by Entrepreneur magazine, India, 2016.
- The ETPanache Trendsetter Award by The Economic Times 2016.
- Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva 2011.
- Bharti Entrepreneur of the Year award by the Bharti Foundation and the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India 2005.
- Chairperson of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)‘s Registrar Constituency for several terms.
Other Companies/Startup Founded/Co-Founded
- Zeta India – Zeta’s goal is to make digital payments easy, secure, inclusive, and valuable for corporations, employees, and merchants everywhere.
- Flock – It is an app that is one of the most user-friendly team messengers in the world.
- Radix Registry – It is one of the largest gTLD operators in the world. It has millions of customers in every country worldwide opting for domain names in its extensions.
- Ringo.co – It is a Low-cost international calling app.
3. Kunal Shah
Founder and CEO of Free Charge.
According to Yourstory, Kunal Shah said a Statement that “Education, Innovation, and Ideas are Independent”. “You are wasting Time and Money Doing MBA”, said Kunal Shah.
According to StarupArchive Free Charge’s success story starts from selling CDs to founding a Company valued at $400 Million.
Awards and Recognition achieved by Kunal Shah
- Comeback Award – Economic Times, 2016.
- Economic Times 40 under 40, 2016.
- Fortune 40 under 40, 2016.
- Fortune 40 under 40, 2015.
Awards and Recognition achieved by Free Charge
- Best Consumer Mobile Service and Best Commerce Website Awards at IAMAI Digital Awards
Other Companies/Startup Founded/Co-Founded
- CRED – It is a most rewarding credit card bill payment app. It is a members-only app which rewards its customer with exclusive ones for paying their credit card bill.
4. Mahesh Murthy
Founder and CEO of Pinstorm.
He did his school at Kendriya Vidyalaya Picket, Secunderabad. Then he took admission to Osmania University to do Chemical Engineering. But he dropped out at the age of 17.
Pinstorm is a digital advertising firm that offers marketing services to enterprises. According to Owler, Pinstorm has an estimated annual income of $1.6 Million.
Awards and Recognition achieved by Pinstorm
- Global Top 100 award by Red Herring
Awards and Recognition achieved by Mahesh Murthy
- World’s Top Awards at Cannes and Promax
Other Companies/Startup Founded/Co-Founded
- Exseedspace – It is India’s first private company in space. It builds satellites better and faster. The first flight was on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in December 2018. It is the first startup chosen by ISRO.
- Rad.ad – it is a real-time digital banner ads technology. It doubles the performance of customer’s display advertising. Rad.ad uses real-time data, live prices, livestock levels, and sales countdown timers.
5. Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Founder and CEO of Paytm.
He started college at Delhi College of Engineering at the age of 20. The company’s revenue for the year 2017 is $120 million.
According to Bloomberg Quint, Warren Buffett Prepares to sign into Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm. Also, According to Economic Times, Jack Ma and Vijay Shekhar Sharma are best friends now.
Awards and Recognition achieved by Vijay Shekhar Sharma
- “CEO of the Year” by the SABRE Awards, 2015.
- The Economic Times, Entrepreneur of the Year, 2016.
- The Exchange4Media Group, Impact Person of the Year, 2016.
- Honorary Doctorate, Amity University Gurgaon, 2016.
- Ranked 18th in India’s most powerful people of 2017 by India Today Magazine
Awards and Recognition achieved by PayTM
- Diamond SABRE Award in Company of the Year at SABRE Awards 2017.
- Outstanding Startup of the Year Award at Forbes Leadership Awards, 2016.
- NDTV Cisco Digitizing India Awards for Disruptive Digital Innovation, 2015.
- Winner of Indian Express IT Award in Mobility Solutions, 2014.
- Knowledge Faber Best Mobile Wallet Program Award, 2013.
Other Companies/Startup Founded
- Unacademy – It claims to be India’s largest Education Platform with over 2 million views every month. Unacademy raised a venture funding round of $1 Million from 14 investors. Then it raised a $4.5 Million series funding round from 13 investors.
- Milaap – It is a platform using which one can raise money for personal causes, emergencies, and social causes. Milaap has been successful in helping raise over $12 million for more than 50000 projects across India.
- Hiver – It is software giving email collaboration which allows user to share email labels and connect from their inbox. Hiver has an Indian Setup in Bangalore.
- SourceEasy – It is a web platform that enables designers and brands to get their Apparel manufactured and delivered to them. It successfully raised a seed funding of $126.5k from 7 investors, one of which was Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
6. Vinay Sanghi
Founder and CEO of CarTrade.com.
Total funding amount in the company – $240.2 Million.
Vinay Sanghi went to Campion School and then went to Sydenham College to complete his graduation. He started his career at a Bajaj dealership with a job in the sales department.
CarTrade.com has undergone 6 Funding Rounds with 13 investors involved. Out of which 6 are Lead Investors.
Awards and Recognition achieved by CarTrade.com
- 1. CarTrade.com lies in Forbes’s Top 10 list.
7. Virat Khutal
Founder and CEO of Twist Mobile.
He completed his school at Indore Public School. Afterward, he studied at IPS Academy and Pune Institute of Computer Technology.
Twist Mobile is a Mobile Gaming Company. It is working on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for Tourism, Big Brands, and Real Estate Industry.
Conclusion
When startups are in the Technology sector it’s often said that building tech enterprise in India will come from the ELite IIT-IIM club. The entrepreneurs mentioned above have proved that wrong in the last decade.
Entrepreneurs like RS Shanbhag( Valuepoint Systems), Abhishek Rungta (Indus Net Technologies), Satya Prabhakar( Sulekha) are some other Tech entrepreneurs who are not from IIT-IIM but have established successful Enterprise.