Top Successful Billion Dollar Indian Startups Started By IITians

Is studying in IIT a mandate or a prerequisite for success in Indian start up the ecosystem? That is a billion dollar question in itself. There are a lot of famous start-ups by IIT alumni which are achieving new heights and giving back to the society.

These success stories encourage a lot of students, professionals to take up that entrepreneurial plunge. The thing about IIT is that it is not a success guarantor but these facts and famous group of people make us question whether IIT really is a huge factor in these success stories about multimillion even multibillion-dollar start-ups in India.

Years of hard work, perseverance and dedication will eventually give the taste of success. There are few gentlemen who have been IIT Alumni but could not make it big in the ecosystem but we are concentrating on the brighter stars and individuals who have contributed immensely towards the growth of this country.

Getting into IIT is not an easy feat! But with a simple strategy and determination, one can Clear IIT in One Attempt only.

Interested in earning some money? Do these Jobs After 12th for good Salary Packages

Famous Startups started by IITians

Let us look at a brief history of IIT and the process of getting admission in IIT and other famous institutions. The first ever IIT was in Kharagpur in the year 1951 and so on famous institutions in Madras, Bombay, Delhi, and Kanpur were started subsequently in the coming years.

Currently, the Indian Institute of Technology has 23 autonomous institutes governed by the IIT council. This prestigious institute sure does make us think what is so special about IITs? The process of choosing candidates and the toughness of the exam is at a level not many can understand, let alone acing the same.

There are hundreds of thousands of students appearing for the precious IIT B.Tech programme each year by giving the IIT-JEE. There are two levels of the Joint Entrance Exam, JEE Main, and JEE Advanced.

Upon clearing the first, students can be eligible for the next one which determines their JEE AIR (All India Rank) and then the students can opt for the course available in different institutions based on their rankings. IIT Kharagpur, Madras, Bombay, and Delhi are among toughest to crack and getting admitted for the preferred degree is a success story in itself.

IIT alumnus is a special network which has always been one of India’s strong points in promoting entrepreneurship in the country.

The IIT Unicorn Club

Few famous start-ups in India by IITians which have disrupted the business for good. There is a reason why IITs in India are called unicorn companies club.

We have the maximum unicorn start-ups by IIT alumni, more than alumni of Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. That is an amazing achievement. A unicorn start-up or a company is listed when the valuation of the same is more than or equal to 1 Billion USD ($).

Let us see few success stories from IIT alumni which have made the country proud, provided employment to thousands and impacted the lives of millions.

1. Flipkart

The poster boy of Indian Start-up ecosystem was founded by Mr. Sachin Bansal and Mr. Binny Bansal both of them from IIT Delhi. They started the company in 2007 as an online bookstore. Little did they know that 10 years down the line Flipkart will be such a huge hit in the market and their success stories will be talked about. The company is currently valued at 10 Billion USD and upwards. It employees more than 33,000 people and still counting across various verticals.

Not just being a major market player, Flipkart is giving cut throat competition to its rival Amazon which is a much bigger company in itself. Indian market is though largely captured by Flipkart. With 3 Billion USD$ revenue clocked in 2016-2017, Flipkart is all set to become bigger and bigger.

Not just their core business, Flipkart has ventured into various verticals making them a market leader. PhonePe, eBay India, Jabong, Myntra are few of their notable acquisitions in the recent years which have made their market position immovable.

The founders have faced quite of ups and downs in the journey and both of them being the CEO and stepping down at a point, they have kept the company up and running as they would like. A real catalyst in this space, Flipkart!

2. Zomato

Founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah, Zomato is another feat of alumni of IIT Delhi. This multi-billion dollar company is currently present in 23 countries. India and UAE being the biggest markets. The company which started as FoodieBay in 2008 had a rename to Zomato in 2011.

Initially, a restaurant search platform has grown heavy into a foodie community, restaurant ads, review and also a lot more. In 2015 the company ventured into the food delivery business in the Indian market and it is giving a neck to neck competition to its rivals.

Few of their notable acquisition include minor food tech companies in countries like New Zealand and Easter European markets and the major player like UrbanSpoon from Canada, Australia.
Zomato is an all stop solution for users as well as restaurant owners.

The local restaurant search being their primary use they have ventured into Table bookings, Food Delivery, Photos-videos upload and information about the restaurant. In 2018, they have piloted another new product which gives amazing offers and discounts to their subscribers. Indeed an amazing start-up and definitely belonging to the list of famous start-ups by IITians.

Not up for a Start-up? Do these Hot All India Jobs for great Salary and Career

3. Ola Cabs

Founded in 2010 by IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola is among one of those success stories where there is cut-throat competition, difficulty in acquiring users, habit and mindset change of the masses and a bigger global player entering the market.

Ola Cabs has defied all odds and stands still. Having close to 150 MN USD$ in revenue and a valuation of 5.5 BN USD$ Ola cabs is definitely worthy of all the attention it is getting. Indian consumers are used to public transport, auto rickshaws, traditional taxis but players like Ola Cabs have incentivized the same for the drivers and created a need for the product from nowhere.

Such a strong value proposition is difficult to neglect. Ola Cabs has close to 6000 employees. They have recently started operations in a couple of cities in Australia. The growth of this company is on a positive trend after facing a lot of heat and survival crisis. With latest acquisition of fellow and smaller cab aggregators like Meru and venturing into food delivery by taking over Foodpanda Indian operation and making their market presence strong, Ola Cabs is sure to stay.

4. Quikr

Another notable IIT Delhi reference and founded in 2008 by Pranay Chulet, Quikr is a company in online and mobile classifieds. They have quickly forayed into various products and categories thus establishing their market dominance. The company is currently valued at 1.5 BN USD$.

Online selling and buying of used products sound simple but this company has made use of technology and created something huge. There are almost 30 Million unique visitors on the platform buying or selling products, services, real estate etc. The company operates in around 100 cities in India and their fast growth is commendable in this space.

Also Read: How to Prepare for JEE in 1 Month

These are the top success stories of IIT Alumni and their successful start-ups. Though the list does not stop there. There are a lot of notable alumni from the prestigious institute right from our former Governor of India Mr. Raghuram Rajan (IIT Delhi), Hon CM of Goa Mr. Manohar Parrikar (IIT B).

Mr. NR Murthy of Infosys, one of the pioneers of technology companies in India is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur. There are few outstanding alumni who have not been in the country for their services but are spearheading the business and international brands, thus making the name IIT and India shine brightly. Mr. Sundar Pichar – CEO of Google, world’s second most valuable company is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur. Mr. Vinod Khosla – Co-founder of Sun Microsystems and NFS, Khosla Ventures is from IIT Delhi.