At a valuation of ₹3.2 lakh crore, Deepinder Goyal of Eternal (formerly Zomato Ltd) has topped the list of self-made entrepreneur in the IDFC FIRST Private & Hurun India’s Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2025. Eternal’s valuation has gone up by 27% from last year’s report.
Radhakishan Damani of Avenue Supermarts (DMart), last year’s No. 1, has slipped to second place with a valuation of ₹3 lakh crore, down 13% from last year.
Estranged co-founders Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal of InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo airline) have made a powerful debut, entering directly into the Top 3 with a company valuation of ₹2.2 lakh crore.
Paytm and Lenskart have made a strong entry into the Top 10 of the IDFC FIRST Private & Hurun India’s Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2025.
However Razorpay and Zerodha have dropped out of the Top 10, signalling a shifting entrepreneurial hierarchy as newer consumer-centric ventures gain prominence in India’s self-made wealth creation story.
The cumulative value of all companies on IDFC FIRST Private & Hurun India’s Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs list stands at ₹42 lakh crore ($469 billion) in 2025, up from ₹36 lakh crore ($431 billion) last year, reflecting a 15% growth.
Bengaluru has retained its position as India’s top startup hub, with 52 companies, although down by 14 from last year. Mumbai follows with 41 companies (+5), and Gurugram with 36 companies (+5), reflecting a dynamic shift in entrepreneurial activity across major cities, as per the report.
Bengaluru continues to lead as the top city for founder residences with 88 entrepreneurs, followed by Mumbai with 83 and New Delhi with 52, together accounting for a significant share of India’s top self-made entrepreneurs in 2025.
The biggest rank movers in this year’s list are Vinay Sanghi of CarTrade Tech, who climbed 88 places to reach a valuation of ₹11,700 crore; Ashish Jhina and Karthik Venkateswaran of Jumbotail, up 83 places to ₹ 8,900 crore; and Vineet Sukumar of Vivriti Capital, up 74 places to ₹ 11,500 crore.
Of the 53 new companies entering the list 29 (55%) are publicly listed, while 24 companies (45%) are emerging from the startup ecosystem.
Collectively, the companies featured in the list employ approximately 8 lakh people—equivalent to the entire population of Fiji.
Falguni Nayar and Adwaita Nayar of Nykaa continue to lead the women entrepreneurs in the list. A total of 20 women entrepreneurs feature on the list, with a combined company value of ₹ 3.3 lakh crore .The youngest woman entrepreneur is Adwaita Nayar, co-founder of Nykaa, age 34.
The youngest founders on the list are Kaivalya Vohra (22) and Aadit Palicha (23), from Zepto, with a valuation of ₹ 52,400 crore. The average age of all founders featured in the list is 48.
Financial services remain the leading industry among the self-made entrepreneurs with 47 companies, while software & services show the strongest growth, adding 5 companies to a total of 28.
The companies with the highest revenue in the list are InterGlobe Aviation at ₹ 84,098 crore, Avenue Supermarkets ₹ 59,482 crore and Eternal at ₹21,320 crore demonstrating their strong market presence and business scale.
The companies generating the highest profits are InterGlobe Aviation with ₹ 7,258 crore, Avenue Supermarkets with ₹2,707 crore and Groww with ₹1,824 crore.
Vikas Sharma, Head-Wealth Management & Private Banking, IDFC FIRST Bank said, “India stands tall as one of the world’s leading nations for the quality of its entrepreneurship ecosystem”. The Third Edition of IDFC FIRST Private & Hurun India’s Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2025 marks another year of celebrating India’s vibrant startup and entrepreneurial journey.”
“This report honours the extraordinary stories of visionary leaders who are reshaping the country’s economic landscape. Through this publication, we spotlight these trailblazers and reaffirm our commitment to nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit that continues to power India’s growth story,” he added.
Anas Rahman Junaid, Founder and Chief Researcher, Hurun India said, “Five companies founded post-2020 are now collectively valued at ₹78,000 crore. These entrepreneurs are driving growth and contributing to nation-building, with employee benefits increasing from ₹54,000 crore to ₹57,200 crore this year, reflecting their investment in people”.
Published – December 17, 2025 03:11 pm IST
