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Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list: These Indian entrepreneurs are reinventing the retail and e-commerce sector

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Forbes on May 15 released its 30 Under 30 Asia list for 10 different categories. Several Indian entrepreneurs made a mark in the retail and e-commerce category. These young innovators are reinventing how we shop, online and offline. Take a look. (Image: Shutterstock)
Kamakshi Agarwala | In 2020, 27-year old Kamakshi Agarwala launched Butt-Chique, an inclusive lingerie line. Ditching her plans to pursue master’s in finance, Agarwala used the money set aside for fees to launch Butt-Chique. Claiming to have developed its own size chart by visiting women door-to-door in India, the brand aims to challenge the stereotype of an idealized body type in the lingerie industry. With over 90,000 followers on social media, Agarwala claims to have sold Butt-Chique products ranging from pasties, body tape, underwear, and tank tops to over 100,000 women. (Image: Forbes.com)
Parul Agrawal | Raised in the town of Nizamabad in Uttar Pradesh, 27-year old Parul Agrawal turned a school project from the Indian Institute of Crafts and Design in Jaipur into a business. Taking inspiration from the local pottery industry for her handcrafted fashion jewelry brand Kabbish, Aggarwal includes terracotta miniature elements in her collection of earrings, necklaces and cufflinks. Kabbish was showcased at Lakme Fashion Week and Asian Designer Week in 2019, and its Gagri collection won India’s Best Design Project Award. (Image: Forbes.com)
Jisora | Founded by siblings Khushboo, Kavya, Mehul, and Tushar Sethi, Jisora is a Jaipur based clothing brand that specialises in sleepwear, loungewear, and resort wear. Jisora markets itself as an inclusive brand, providing a wide range of sizes from XS to 3XL. It recently introduced kidswear and plans to expand to menswear and aims to strengthen its offline retail presence by establishing franchise stores across India. (Image: Forbes.com)
Vanshika Kaji | In 2020, 29-year old Vanshika Kaji founded India-based medical scrubs brand KNYA Med. After its initial focus on on women’s workwear and uniforms for schools and hotels, Kaji, a fourth-generation textile entrepreneur, pivoted toward personal protective equipment and expanded its offerings to scrubs and lab coats. In July 2022, the brand secured an undisclosed amount in seed funding, led by DSG Consumer Partners, with participation from the owners of Narayana Health and Cipla Health, among others. (Image: Forbes.com)
Tushar Khurana | In 2021, 29-year old Tushar Khurana founded Perfora, which sells dental products directly to Indian consumers. Featured in Shark Tank India in February 2023, Perfora’s product portfolio has expanded into eight categories including electric toothbrushes, toothpaste and whiteners. The company has raised nearly $4 million to date, including ₹8 million ($95,000) for a 2.5% stake from Shark Tank India. (Image: Forbes.com)
Vaibhav Makhija | In 2021, 29-year old Vaibhav Makhija founded What’s Up Wellness which makes easy-to-consume gummy candy-like supplement. The company was bootstrapped before raising a round from angel investors in 2022 and featured on Shark Tank India in 2023. It obtained over $1.7 million in seed round funding led by Unilever Ventures, marking the venture capital’s first investment in a health and wellness company in India. The brand has expanded its product offering for various uses, such as stress relief and sleep, and plans to add more. (Image: Forbes.com)
NeceSera | Founded in 2017 by siblings Riddhi and Sudiksha Jain NeceSera is a brand of quality loungewear. After gaining recognition via its initial focus on setting up multiple popup stores, the fashion line transitioned to a more cost-effective online retail strategy. The brand also offers sleepwear and sleep accessories and claims to use sustainable fabric processes and recycle 75% of the water used for production. (Image: Forbes.com)
RAS Beauty | Founded by siblings Shubhika and Suramya Jain along with their mother Sangeeta Jain, RAS Beauty is a brand of skincare products sold directly to customers. The company uses natural botanicals sourced from Indian farmers and has also championed a bottle-recycling campaign for sustainability. RAS received $2 million in seed funding from India’s Sixth Sense Ventures, and last year it raised $1.5 million from Green Frontier Capital, a New York-based venture capital firm that supports Indian businesses tackling climate change. (Image: Forbes.com)
P-TAL | Founded in 2017 by Kirti Goel, Aditya Agrawal, and Gaurav Garg, Punjab Thathera Art Legacy (P-TAL) seeks to revive India’s sole UNESCO-listed craft form of brass, copper, and bronze utensil making from Amritsar, Punjab. Its range of kitchenware, cookware, and home decor products has gained wide recognition from customers beyond households, including the Reserve Bank of India and Pernod Ricard, and was given as gifts at the G20 Summit 2023. P-TAL claims to work with over 100 artisan families. In October, it raised ₹43.3 million (over $500,000) in a seed round led by Titan Capital. (Image: Forbes.com)
Aakriti Rawal | In 2020, 27-year old Aakriti Rawal along with her mother, founded the fashion brand ‘House of Chikankari’. The brand incorporates chikankari, traditional hand embroidery from Lucknow, in its clothing lines. Rawal launched her business with an aim to preserve the craft and provide income to the artisans. The startup was featured at Shark Tank India in early 2023 and obtained nearly $100,000 in funding, valuing the company at $2.4 million. (Image: Forbes.com)
Kaveri Sachdev | In 2017, 27-year old Kaveri Sachdev founded My Pooja Box, a one-stop online retailer of spiritual and religious gifts. The brand’s website offers numerous products including healing crystals, eco-friendly idols of Hindu deity Ganesha, aroma diffusers, and spiritual idols sourced from local artisans, priced between ₹50 and ₹100,000 ($0.6 to $1,200). My Pooja Box also offers ceremonial boxes for occasions such as weddings and housewarming. (Image: Forbes.com)
Arjun Soin | In 2022, 26-year old Arjun Soin founded Clinikally, a digital healthcare platform that offers online consultation and products to help treat skin and hair-related diseases. Clinikally, in 2023, raised $2.6 million from investors including Tribe Capital and Y Combinator. Soin worked as an AI researcher at Microsoft and Stanford University before striking out on his own. (Image: Forbes.com)
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Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list: These Indian entrepreneurs are transforming the consumer tech landscape

Forbes on May 15 released its 30 Under 30 Asia list. Young entrepreneurs across the Asia-Pacific are finding innovative ways to navigate new business realities in the region and lead the transformation of various industries. Several Indian entrepreneurs in the consumer technology sector found a place on the list. Take a look at the young innovators.
George Francis | 28-year-old George Francis is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Conzumex Industries, headquartered in Bangalore. Renowned for its wearables brand, Muse, which specialises in producing activity and health tracker-equipped smartwatches and glucose-monitoring devices. Francis joined the company in 2017 and was promoted to CTO in mid-2020.
InsideFPV | The trio of Arth Chowdhary, Deyvant Bhardwaj and Oshi Kumari in 2020 co-founded Indian drone startup insideFPV. The Surat-based company’s core product is a ‘plug-and-fly’ drone that it is easier to use than others on the market. The startup has so far raised half a million dollars in funding from investors including Inflection Point Ventures.
Kush Jain | After learning about the difficulties faced by the visually impaired while volunteering in 2018 at a school in Bangalore, 22-year-old Kush Jain co-founded ORama AI, a company that developed a smart glove to help the blind or people with reduced vision learn to read Braille. Using an embedded camera and a speaker, the product traces finger movements and reads out the Braille dots that are touched. Since its inception in early 2022, ORama AI has secured half a million dollars in funding.
Merlin | Merlin was founded in 2022, by three friends from IIT Kanpur – Pratyush Rai, Siddhartha Saxena and Sirsendu Sarkar. This ChatGPT Chrome extension tool helps its users efficiently create and consume content on the internet in tasks like writing emails or summarising websites. Merlin’s mobile app has been downloaded over 100,000 times and the startup is backed by investors including Better Capital.
Minus Zero | Founded by high school friends Gagandeep Reehal and Gursimran Kalra in 2021, Minus Zero is an autonomous driving startup. The Bangalore-based company has developed plug-and-play self-driving software that it claims is cheaper than other options because it relies on cameras to analyse road conditions rather than costly sensors. Last year, Minus Zero raised $1.7 million in funding from investors led by Chiratae Ventures.
Soumyadeep Mukherjee | Founded by 29-year-old Soumyadeep Mukherjee, Dashtoon is an AI-based software which helps anyone become a visual storyteller by converting uploaded narratives, character details and storyboards into quality comics. Founded in 2022, Dashtoon raised $5 million in seed funding led by Matrix Partners India and Stellaris Venture Partners in November. Last year, Google Play named Dashtoon one of its Best for Fun apps in India.
OnePlay | Harshit Jain and Abhik Saha in 2019 founded OnePlay, a cloud gaming startup in Mumbai. Using cloud technologies, OnePlay allows users to play popular titles such as Baldur’s Gate 3 and Palworld without expensive hardware across multiple platforms, including Windows PC, macOS, iOS and Android. In March 2023, OnePlay raised $1.8 million in funding from investors including Inflection Point Ventures.
Aayush Anand | In 2021, the 26-year-old Aayush Anand founded the meditation app Level SuperMind. The subscription-based app is popular among students preparing for exams and young professionals and offers features like quick home workouts, bedtime stories, and a dedicated journaling program. With over 500,000 downloads, the app was named India’s Best App of 2023 and Best App for Personal Growth in India by Google Play.
Rapture Innovation Labs | Rapture Innovation Labs, the company behind the headphone brand Sonic Lamb, is founded by Navajith Karkera and Jagath Biddappa. Sonic Lamb was among seven startups around the world selected for the SoundTech accelerator program by Sound Hub Denmark in 2023 and the only non-European one. The company has raised over $500,000 in funding from angel investors and grants from governments and universities.
Schmooze | Founded in 2021 by Vidya Madhavan and Abhinav Anurag, Schmooze is a meme-based dating company. Unlike other dating apps, the startup differentiates itself by matching couples through their meme preferences and sense of humour. Users swipe to like and dislike memes from a selection curated via an AI algorithm, and match suggestions will appear on the screen based on the meme choices. In 2022, the startup raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Inventus Capital and Silicon Valley Quad.
Rahul Varma | In 2019, 29-year-old Rahul Varma founded Unschool, a Hyderabad-based streaming platform for students and professionals to acquire a range of skills from coding to content writing. Unschool allows users to learn at their own pace and promises internships with over 500 partners upon course completion. The startup is backed by investors such as Village Capital and Y Combinator.
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Exploring AI’s impact on policy, innovation, and industry at AI Alliance NCR Chapter

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Summary

With over 7,000 startups, including 10 unicorns, and a thriving ecosystem conducive to AI adoption and innovation, the region is ideally positioned to host the CNBC-TV18 and Moneycontrol AI Alliance NCR Chapter on May 17 in Gurugram.

India’s artificial intelligence (AI) market is experiencing unprecedented growth, poised to reach $17 billion by 2027, with an annual growth rate of 25-35% from 2024 to 2027. This surge is propelled by innovative applications across healthcare, customer service, and more, underpinned by advancements in AI chips and edge computing. Integrating blockchain and IoT continues to push the boundaries of technological innovation, solidifying AI’s role in India’s digital transformation.

And Delhi-NCR is central to this revolution, emerging as a major tech and startup hub. With over 7,000 startups, including 10 unicorns, and a thriving ecosystem conducive to AI adoption and innovation, the region is ideally positioned to host the CNBC-TV18 and Moneycontrol AI Alliance NCR Chapter on May 17 in Gurugram. This vibrant ecosystem’s potential is further underscored by TiE’s Vision 2025, which projects Delhi-NCR to be among the top 5 global startup hubs, with more than 12,000 active startups, 30 unicorns, and a total valuation exceeding $150 billion, signalling a promising future for innovation in the region.

Following the remarkable success of previous chapters in Bengaluru and Pune, the AI Alliance NCR event is set to delve deeper into AI’s transformative impact across various sectors. This gathering in NCR will bring together industry leaders, innovators, and visionaries to discuss AI’s extensive implications for sectors such as healthcare, finance, education, and more.

Esteemed speakers, including S Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, and Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, will offer insights into the strategic integration of AI within national frameworks and its role in policy and economic development. Alongside them, tech leaders like Rajan Anandan and Kunal Bahl will share their expertise on leveraging AI for entrepreneurial growth and startup scalability.

Additionally, the event will feature Rafee Tarafdar, Chief Technology Officer at Infosys, discussing AI’s potential to disrupt or enhance the IT industry, and Prateek Maheshwari from Physics Wallah, alongside Mayank Kumar from UpGrad, who will explore AI’s transformative effects on education. Hemant Mohapatra, a partner at Lightspeed, will discuss building scalable AI solutions that cater to India’s vast demographic needs.

As Delhi-NCR continues to ascend as a global innovation hub, the AI Alliance NCR chapter will represent an invaluable opportunity for professionals to engage with the forefront of technological innovation. You will leave with actionable knowledge and insights that could shape the future of your enterprises and the broader tech ecosystem.

For more details visit: https://www.moneycontrol.com/msite/global-ai-conclave/gurugram

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

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nifty 50 ₹16,986.00 -7.15
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