Nykaa’s Falguni Nayar became the richest self-made Indian woman after the successful listing of her ecommerce company last year. The investment banker-turned-entrepreneur beat Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who ranked 67, and climbed the ladder board to rank 33, according to IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2022.
The list also saw new entrants from the startup ecosystem. These include Physicswallah’s Co-founders Alakh Pandey and Prateek Boob, and Zepto’s Co-founder Kaivalya Vohra, who becomes the youngest entrepreneur to enter the list at the age of 19. Both edtech firm Physicswallah and Y Combinator-backed Zepto raised millions of dollars to enter the unicorn club.
“There has been huge amount of wealth creation due to the startup ecosystem presence in India. The funding availability from institutional investors such as venture capital and private equity funds has also made doing business easier. A college graduate does not necessarily need to depend on loans from banks to start their firm,” Yatin Shah, Co-founder and joint CEO, IIFL Wealth, told YourStory in an interaction.
As expected, billionaire Gautam Adani and Family were on the top of the list, surpassing Reliance Industries Ltd.’s Mukesh Ambani, who was at the second place. Serum Institute’s Cyrus Poonawala was third on the list followed by Shiv Nadar, Radhakishan Damani, and Vinod Shantilal Adani.
“India also gave a new number two, Gautam Adani, to the Hurun Global Rich List,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India, in a release shared by the company.
“The unprecedented wealth creation in the past five years in India, when other countries are stalling and are in a recessionary mode, reaffirms India as the ‘engine of growth for the global economy. The new additions to the list have occurred at a time when valuations are at a low, both in the listed and privately held companies. The number of entrants to the list has increased by 60% in the past five years,” he added.
