DMart’s Damani is Hurun’s most valuable self-made entrepreneur

Retail chain DMart founder Radhakishan Damani has retained the top spot in the IDFC First Private-Hurun India self-made entrepreneurs list, followed by Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal and Swiggy’s Sriharsha Majety and Nandan Reddy.

Damani’s flagship Avenue Supermarts Ltd, which runs the chain of DMart stores, grew by 44% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs3.4 trillion (about $40 billion), Hurun said in the Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2024 report.

In comparison, Zomato has a market capitalization of Rs2.52 trillion (about $30 billion), up 190% y-o-y and Swiggy Rs1 trillion, the report showed.

Non-unicorn companies in the top ten list include DMart, Zomato, Max Healthcare Institute, Makemytrip, Policy Bazaar, and Nykaa, with three of the top 10 companies being headquartered in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Gurugram, the report said.

The businesses featured in the report, valued at $431 billion, represent a quarter of India’s 200 most valuable family businesses, Anas Rahman Junaid founder and managing director at Hurun India, said in the report.

Founded within the last 24 years—compared to the 69-year average of traditional family businesses—they showcase rapid growth. Notably, four companies founded post-2020 have already achieved a combined valuation of Rs69,400 crore, reflecting the dynamism and innovation of new entrepreneurs,” Rahman said.

The services sector, which contribute 10% to India’s gross domestic product (GDP), dominates the list with 157 of 200 companies, he said.

Startups lead the charge, with 129 entries showcasing India’s innovative drive to compete with global powerhouses like the US and China. These entrepreneurs’ broader contributions are evident in the increased employee benefits (Rs49,000-54,000 crore), showcasing their commitment to national growth and workforce investment,” Rahman added.

Hurun’s Top 200 Self-made Entrepreneurs of the Millennia 2024 list features 388 founders from 200 companies.

he cumulative value of all the companies in the list is Rs36 trillion, a 20% jump from last year, and is almost equivalent to the GDP of Maharashtra, the report said.

Kaivalya Vohra, 21, of quick commerce firm Zepto, which grew by 259% to reach Rs41,800 crore, is the youngest individual on list, followed by Aadit Palicha, 22, also from Zepto, and Shashvat Nakrani, 26, from Bharatpe.

Half of the founders in the list are engineering graduates, 13 chartered accountants and seven doctors.

Falguni Nayar, founder of Nykaa, tops the list of 19 women entrepreneurs in the list.

The top self-made entrepreneurs on the list came from 44 cities across India, led by Bengaluru (98), Mumbai (73) and New Delhi (51). These three cities account for 57% of all the entrepreneurs on the list, the report showed.

Financial services led the way with 50 companies, up by 4, in the list, followed by healthcare and retail with 25 entrants each.

With 36 founders, IIT-Delhi, emerged as the top preferred undergraduate college for the self-made entrepreneurs, followed by IIT-Bombay with 20 founders and IIT-Kharagpur with 19 entrepreneurs.

Established in the UK in 1999, Hurun is a research, media and investments group, promoting entrepreneurship through its lists and research.