Born in rural Tamil Nadu, Sridhar Vembu built Zoho into a Rs 8,700 crore global software firm with 80M users and 15,000 staff. By avoiding venture capital and creating offices in villages, he proved local talent can deliver world-class innovation

Tilak Varma’s Asia Cup heroics trace back to Hyderabad’s Legala Academy, where his childhood coaches stood by him when no one knew his name. Staying calm under pressure, Tilak helped India beat arch-rivals Pakistan and win the title for the 9th time

K. Pandiarajan, who worked in his grandfather’s match factory after school in his village, co-founded Ma Foi and later CIEL HR Services. Both companies crossed Rs 1,000 crore turnover, making it an extraordinary feat for an Indian entrepreneur

Friends Pradeep and Aliasgar launched Greenbio Products to offer biodegradable alternatives to plastic. Their eco-friendly packaging decomposes safely, helping the planet and businesses, and achieved a turnover of Rs 6 crore in just five years

At 16, Sathish Kumar left school and built Milky Mist from scratch. From learning paneer by trial and error to scaling it into a Rs 2300 crore turnover dairy giant, he has come a long way, yet he remains simple as the brand now prepares for an IPO

Mayank Singh and Ayush Saxena founded Tooused in 2023 to recycle clothes, shoes, and electronics. In under two years, the Gurgaon startup grew has scaled to Rs 2.8 crore, and is now on track for Rs 4.5 crore, while cutting CO2 and saving landfills