Under 35, rich and relentless: Meet 155 founders who command ₹39 lakh Cr

From fintech disruptors to next-gen industrialists, the U35 list spotlights 155 young leaders shaping India Inc's future - with Bengaluru emerging as the startup capital.

A new cohort of India’s business vanguard has arrived. The Avendus Wealth – Hurun India U35 List 2025, unveiled on Tuesday  spotlights 155 entrepreneurs aged 35 and below who are redefining scale, governance and sectoral breadth across the country.

 

Key takeaways:

 

The 155 U35 leaders oversee enterprises collectively valued at $443 billion (Rs 39 lakh crore) — roughly one-tenth of India’s GDP.

 

Bengaluru dominates the map with 54 entrants; Karnataka leads the state count.

 

76% of honourees are first-generation founders; the average age is 34 and 15 women appear on the list.

 

U35 companies employ over 7,67,000 people and have raised $19 billion in funding.

 

 

Financial Services is the most represented industry (20 entrepreneurs), followed by Software Products & Services (14) and Education & Training (13).

 

The list, prepared by Hurun Research Institute in partnership with Avendus Wealth Management, uses a cut-off date of 1 September 2025 and recognises two groups of pioneers: first-generation founders (companies valued at USD 50m+), and next-generation leaders of family businesses (minimum valuation USD 100m). The aim, Avendus says, is to highlight founders who are building institutions as much as they are building wealth.  Minu Margaret of BlissClub is the youngest woman on the list, while Hardik Kothiya of Rayzon  Solar is the youngest entrepreneur overall.  Carrying the next-generation baton in established enterprises, Rahul Gupta of APL Apollo Tubes  and Shiven Akshay Arora of Blue Jet Healthcare, are shaping growth with a modern, tech-first  approach.   

The 13 youngest entrepreneurs on the U35 List, all aged 31, span a broad spectrum of industries such as Consumer, FinTech, Healthcare, AgriTech, Software and Industrials.

 

 Women Featured in the Avendus Wealth – Hurun India U35 List 2025  

This list highlights 15 exceptional women leaders. Out of these, 7 are next-generation leaders: Sukriti Sachdeva, Isha Ambani, Kaviya Kalanithi Maran, Avantika Saraogi, Shivani Satish Wagh, Saloni Satish Wagh and Aneesha Gandhi Tewari carrying forw

  Scale, geography and sectoral diversity

 

Taken together, the U35 cohort is notable not just for individual success stories but for concentrated economic heft. Avendus’ MD & CEO Apurva Sahijwani framed the significance: the group “oversees enterprises valued at over $440 billion, employs more than 7.6 lakh professionals, and drives growth across industries from financial services to technology and education.” He added that the Uth Series intends to move beyond capital management to engage with the ambitions and complexities of these builders.

 

Bengaluru’s pre-eminence is a prominent theme: the city is home to 54 entrepreneurs and 36 U35-headquartered companies, reaffirming its role as India’s startup capital. Mumbai (29 entrants) and New Delhi (22) follow. At a state level, Karnataka (54) leads, with Maharashtra (33) and Delhi (22) rounding out the top three.  Top Represented Cities by U35 Entrepreneurs 

: Top Represented Cities by U35 Entrepreneurs

 

Sectorally, the list challenges the idea that India’s young founders are concentrated only in consumer internet. Financial Services emerges as the leading category — a signal of fintech’s deepening maturity — followed by software, education and media. Notably, real-economy sectors such as agriculture, logistics, clean energy and manufacturing feature strongly, reflecting a shift from pure digital disruption to building foundational capacity.

 

Money, jobs and valuations

 

Investors have backed this generation: U35 companies have raised USD 19 billion to date, with a valuation spectrum stretching from early-growth outfits to high-value enterprises — 53 companies sit in the USD 501m+ bracket. PRISM (OYO) leads funding raised among U35 startups at USD 3.7 billion, followed by Meesho (USD 1.36 billion) and ShareChat (USD 1.3 billion).

 

Employment figures underscore their real-world impact. The group’s companies collectively employ more than 7,67,000 people; Reliance Retail — led in part by Isha Ambani (33) — is the largest employer within the cohort with 2,47,782 staff. Other large employers include Shahi Exports and Reliance Jio Infocomm.

 

On use of funds, the U35 cohort is prioritising product development and expansion (45%), with market expansion (25%) and channel growth (11%) next. The data point suggests a generation focused on building durable products and scaling operations rather than short-term user acquisition alone.

 

Education, experience and digital influence

 

India’s premier engineering institutes continue to feed the entrepreneurial ecosystem: IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur each contribute 10 alumni, followed by IIT Bombay with nine. Yet the cohort also includes leaders from legacy family businesses — next-generation scions such as Shashwat Goenka (35) of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group and Akash Ambani (33) at Reliance Jio — underlining a mix of self-made founders and modernised family enterprises.

 

Experience among the U35s is broader than the age bracket might imply. Akash Gupta of GreyOrange tops the ‘most seasoned’ ranking with 15 years in robotics; several others report a decade-plus of operational experience. Personal brands matter too: Ritesh Agarwal (PRISM/OYO) leads social reach with 1.32 million LinkedIn followers, reflecting how founders today combine business building with public engagement.

 

Women, representation and generational shift

 

Gender representation remains an area for improvement: only 15 women make the U35 list. Those who do appear bring diversity in sector focus — from Minu Margaret (31), founder of women’s activewear brand BlissClub, to Isha Ambani (33) and Adwaita Nayar (34) — and include both founders and next-generation family leaders. Hurun’s research points to a global pattern: while the UK and China posted different gender balances, India’s cohort demonstrates growing but still limited female representation in the top tiers of wealth creation.

 

Generationally, 76% of the list are first-generation founders — a strong sign of India’s expanding culture of self-made entrepreneurship. The remainder represent second, third and fourth generation family enterprises, indicating an expanding overlap between modern startup practices and legacy corporate platforms.

 

Standout names and stories

 

The roster combines household names and fast-rising challengers. Ritesh Agarwal’s PRISM (OYO), Vidit Aatrey’s Meesho and Harshil Mathur & Shashank Kumar’s Razorpay anchor the consumer internet and fintech story. Engineers and industrialists such as Rahul Sharma (Zetwerk) and Akash Gupta (GreyOrange) point to the country’s growing industrial tech wave. Clean energy and climate tech feature through founders like Hardik Kothiya (Rayzon Solar) and Neelesh Garg (Saatvik Green Energy). 

 

The list also draws attention to edtech (Alakh Pandey of Physics Wallah), agritech (Ninjacart, VEGROW) and defence/space startups (Skyroot Aerospace, AgniKul Cosmos), highlighting the widening ambition of India’s youth.

 

Hurun India’s Anas Rahman Junaid put the cohort in global context, noting that the early thirties are often the inflection point when entrepreneurs turn disruptive ambition into enduring institutions. “As India’s demographic dividend turns into boardroom influence,” he said, “these young visionaries are scaling businesses and redefining India’s economic landscape.”