Ace investor Radhakishan Damani, the man behind hypermarket chain DMart, has retained the top spot among the top 200 self-made entrepreneurs of the millennia 2024 list released by IDFC First Private Banking and Hurun India. The market valuation of DMart surged 44 per cent over the past year to touch Rs 3.4 lakh crore.
Importantly, the cumulative value of the 200 companies on the list touched Rs 36 lakh crore, almost equivalent to the GDP of Maharashtra and surpassing the GDP of every other state in the country.
While a traditional retailer may have bagged the top spot, Zomato and Swiggy, two startup companies that have made big strides in the fast-growing food delivery and quick commerce space, have rapidly climbed to bag the second and third place, respectively, on the list.
Deepinder Goyal’s Zomato saw its market valuation top Rs 2.51 lakh crore (up 190 per cent from a year ago), and rival Swiggy, founded by Sriharsha Majety and Nandan Reddy, scaled Rs 1.01 lakh crore in equity value.
Zepto, which was the early mover in the quick-commerce space, was the biggest gainer on the list, with a 259 per cent surge in valuation to Rs 41,800 crore, grabbing 14th place.
The rapid rise of the three quick-commerce entrepreneurs highlights the changing times and preferences for instant deliveries among people today. Zepto’s founders—21-year-old Kaivalya Vohra and 22-year-old Aadit Palicha—were the youngest individuals among India’s top 200 entrepreneurs of the millennia.
While the brick-and-mortar retailer DMart may be leading the list, the others among the top 10 were primarily new-age tech-driven entrepreneurs, like MakeMyTrip, Zerodha, Dream11, Policybazaar, Razorpay and Nykaa.
Overall, financial services topped the list of the top 200 self-made entrepreneurs with 50 companies, followed by healthcare and retail, which had 25 companies each.
“The list showcases the extraordinary impact of self-made entrepreneurs on India’s economy, with a total business value of USD 431 billion—equivalent to a quarter of the value of India’s 200 most valuable family businesses, despite being founded within the last 24 years, compared to the latter’s 69-year average age,” pointed Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher at Hurun India.
He noted that the threshold to enter the list had gone up 13 per cent this year to Rs 3,400 crore. Similarly, to enter the top 10, the valuation had risen 10 per cent from Rs 50,600 crore last year to around Rs 56,000 crore.
The country’s top 200 self-made entrepreneurs of the millennia 2024 comprised individuals from 46 cities. However, Bengaluru (98 entrepreneurs), Mumbai (73) and New Delhi (51), accounted for over half of the entrepreneurs on the list.
