D-Mart's Damani, Zomato and Swiggy founders top list of '200 Self-Made Entrepreneurs'

Rising consumer demand has brought Indian quick commerce into spotlight, helping Zomato and Swiggy founders secure the second and third spots on the Top 200 Self-Made Entrepreneurs of the Millennium 2024 list. The cumulative value of all the companies in the list stood at ₹36 lakh crore ($431 billion), up 20% from last year, as per the data released by the IDFC First Private Banking and Hurun India today. This figure is nearly equivalent to the GDP of Maharashtra and exceeds that of every other Indian state.

While Radhakishan Damani, owner of DMart, retained the top spot on the second edition of the list, driven by a 44% surge in his company’s valuation, Deepinder Goyal of Zomato and Swiggy founders Sriharsha Majety and Nandan Reddy secured the top spots, on account of massive valuations of their companies. Zomato recorded a 190% growth in valuation, reaching ₹2.51 lakh crore, while recently listed Swiggy recorded a valuation of ₹1.01 lakh crore, according to the report.

The list is based on the value of the enterprise created and not the net worth of the individual founders. The entry threshold for the list rose by 13% to ₹3,400 crore.

Bengaluru leads as the top startup hub of the millennium, with headquarters of 66 companies, followed by Mumbai with 36 and Gurugram with 31.

While the average age of entrepreneurs on the list is 45 years, over two-thirds of those on the list were over 40 years. Women accounted for just 9.5% of the Hurun India list, with Falguni Nayar of Nykaa leading among women and ranking 10th overall.

The youngest entrepreneurs on the list were the Zepto-duo Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha, who built a quick-commerce giant worth ₹41,800 crore in just three years, marking the highest growth of 259% in valuations. Shashvat Nakrani of BharatPe ranked third among the youngest entrepreneurs.

Industry-wise, financial services led the list with the highest number of entrepreneurs over 50, followed by healthcare and retail, each represented by 25 companies.