Top Indian Startups Founded by MBA Graduates: Nykaa, Lenskart, PolicyBazaar, FirstCry and More

Startups by MBAs in India in a Nutshell

Let’s look at some of the prominent MBA startups in India, the MBA startup founders of the respective startups and the college they graduated from. For further clarity, we’ve also mentioned the sectors of each startup in which it operates.

Rise Of MBA Startups In India

India now stands as the third largest startup hub in the world with over 100,000+ new recognised startups as of 2025. More interestingly, the formation of MBA startups in India has grown by over 15-20% annually in recent years. Amid this entrepreneurial transformation in India, many of the new emerging startups are founded by MBA graduates. Building a new startup requires structural thinking, scalable strategy and financial literacy which are developed by most of the MBA graduates in India. Not only this, but other soft skills like critical thinking, leadership qualities etc are also developed by these MBA graduate founders.

Top Indian Unicorn Startups Founded By IIM Graduates

Among the high emerging MBA startups in India, most of them have been established by people graduating from top B-schools like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta etc. Let's look at some of the most prominent MBA startups in India founded by IIM graduates.

1. Nykaa [Falguni Nayar]

Nykaa is a well-known unicorn startup in India founded by Falguni Nayar. Falguni Nayar holds a strong academic profile after completing her MBA from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. In 2020, Nykaa became the first unicorn startup in India headed by a woman. Nykaa was listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in November 2021 following its initial public offering.

source-wikipedia

2. PolicyBazaar [Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal]

PolicyBazaar is an Indian insurance aggregator and financial technology company. Founded by Yashika Dahiya [IIM Ahmedabad] and Alok Bansal [IIM Calcutta], PolicyBazaar is a Gurgaon based company claiming to process nearly 25% of India's life insurance and over 7% of the country's retail health cover.

Source- wikipedia

3. FirstCry [Supam Maheshwari]

FirstCry was founded in 2010 by Supam Maheshwari and is headquartered in Pune. Supam Maheshwari completed his MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. FirstCry is India's largest multi-channel platform for baby and kids' products. FirstCry reported a net worth of ₹31,707.36 million (approx. ₹3,170 crore) for the year ending March 31, 2024.

Source- Screener

4. Urban Company [Abhiraj Singh Bahl]

Urban Company is an Indian Multinational home service provider which connects individuals with home service providers. Founded by Abhiraj Singh Bahl in 2014 who graduated from IIM Ahmedabad, Urban Company was valued at $2.8 billion in December 2021 after an ESOP sale. The company has registered over 40,000 professionals globally.

Source-wikipedia

MBA Graduate Startup Founders Featured As Shark Tank India Judges

Shark Tank India is a widely watched television show which features new startups every week. A lot of judges in this show are founders of many MBA startups in India which have turned to unicorn business with time. Interestingly, more than half of the Shark Tank India judges since season 1 were MBA graduates who took their startup building journey to the next level. Let's discuss some of the most prominent MBA graduate founders who got featured as Shark Tank judges.

1. Peyush Bansal [Lenskart]

Lenskart Solutions limited is a unicorn startup in India founded by Peyush Bansal. Graduated from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Peyush Bansal laid the foundation of his startup in May 2008, where his initial startup named as Valyoo Technologies was renamed as Lenskart in 2015. In 2025, Lenskart acquired an 80% stake in Spanish eyewear brand Meller for over €40 million. The company currently stands at over more than a valuation of 5 billion dollars.

source-wikipedia

2. Vineeta Singh [Sugar Cosmetics]

Sugar Cosmetics is an Indian multinational startup founded by Vineeta Singh, an alumni of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. With a Rs.412cr revenue in FY25 and a valuation of around half billion dollars, sugar cosmetics ranks among high emerging semi-unicorn startups in India. Vineeta Singh has been featured as a Shark Tank India judge since the show aired in 2021.

source-wikipedia

3. Ashneer Grover [BharatPe UPI]

Ashneer Grover, a successful Indian entrepreneur, founded his Indian startup BharatPe UPI in 2018 along with Shashwat Nakrani. Ashneer Grover has also completed his masters degree from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

source-wikipedia

4. Varun Dua [ACKO General Insurance]

Varun Dua is the CEO and founder of ACKO General Insurance, India’s first digital-only insurer company. Varun Dua is also an MBA graduate who completed his masters from Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad [MICA]. In October 2021, the company secured its position as India's 34th unicorn startup in India by raising $255 million through a Series D funding round.

source-wikipedia

How can MBA Help You Succeed In India’s Startup Ecosystem?

More than the hard skills, MBA graduates come with high end soft skills which help startups grow significantly in the Indian MBA startup ecosystem. Given below are some of the soft skills which MBA graduates get a strong hold of which makes them thrive significantly in the dynamic Indian market.

Financial Literacy

Financial Literacy is crucial for understanding cash flow, unit economics and fundraising which is critical for the survival of a business. For example- BharatPe has operated in a space where margins were thin and scaling was everything. Strong financial understanding helped the founders build revenue models which went beyond just payments. Similarly, PolicyBazaar has built a sustainable business by optimizing commissions and customer acquisition costs.

Leadership Skills

The future of a startup depends vastly on the leader’s influence on the team. How well a leader can run the firm, inspire people and manage operations. Without having leadership qualities there’s no scope for a company’s exponential growth. In Urban Company, good leadership played a crucial role in managing thousands of fragmented service professionals across multiple cities. In the case of Sugar Cosmetics, strong leadership helped the company push through years of slow growth to eventually scale up to a well-known brand.

Critical Thinking

One of the biggest challenges that a startup faces in its initial years of building is getting into ambiguous problems. Without critical thinking skills, a founder can’t take the pivotal course of action. Lenskart is a great example of this. Instead of sticking to a pure online model, it critically evaluated the customer behaviour and came up with a hybrid model approach.

Access to Powerful Networks

Along with developing critical thinking and leadership skills, having strong and powerful market networks help a new startup skyrocket in the Indian market. Nykaa for example, benefitted from strong industry and investor networks. This helped the startup with brand partnerships, funding and rapid scaling.

In a competitive and dynamic market like India, such soft skills play crucial roles in better understanding of business development. Apart from all this, MBA graduates in India are also taught to

• Identify scalable business opportunities

• Understand consumer behaviour and market dynamics

• Build sustainable business and revenue models

• Pitch persuasively to the investors

The combination of these skills together is evident in the success of the startup stories discussed above.

MBA Colleges With Highest Number Of Startup Founders

When it comes to the best MBA colleges which have given us the highest number of startup entrepreneurs, the IIMs have always stood out prominently. Many of these are now unicorn startups in India. While most of the IIMs have produced a lot of entrepreneurs, some of the IIMs have ranked up with the highest number of successful startup founders. Let’s discuss the top IIMs with the highest number of founders of MBA startups in India.

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM A)

Often considered as the gold standard of education in India, IIM Ahmedabad has given us some of the most successful entrepreneurs. Some of the most prominent founder alumni are given below

• Falguni Nayar [Nykaa]

• Ashneer Grover [BharatPe]

• Vineeta Singh [Sugar Cosmetics]

• Supam Maheshwari [FirstCry]

• Varun Dua [ACKO General Insurance]

• Yashish Dahiya [PolicyBazaar]

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM B)

Bengaluru, also known as the startup capital of India, gives students direct exposure to venture capital firms. This has made it easier for the IIM Bangalore students to create successful startup firms. Given below are some of the entrepreneurs who graduated from IIM Bangalore.

• Peyush Bansal [Lenskart]

• Vipul Parekh [BigBasket]

• Sahil Barua [Delhivery]

• Karan Bajaj [WhiteHat Jr]

• Amarendra Sahu [Nestaway]

Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM C)

IIM Calcutta is among the oldest IIMs in India and is well-known for its strong alumni network and skill-development MBA courses. Given below is a list of some of the most prominent entrepreneurs graduated from IIM Calcutta.

• Alok Bansal [PolicyBazaar]

• Pranay Chulet [Quickr]

• Rohit Chadda [Foodpanda]

• Patu Keswani [Lemon Tree Hotels]

• Sumant Sinha [ReNew Power]