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India’s youngest founders just crossed a milestone that is hard to ignore.
According to the latest Avendus Wealth–Hurun India Uth Series 2025 report, India’s top youth-led startups have collectively raised over $14 billion in funding. The list tracks founders under 40.
At the very top sits Ritesh Agarwal’s OYO, now under its parent entity Prism, with $3.7 billion raised. Close behind are Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra’s Zepto with $1.95 billion, Meesho with $1.36 billion, ShareChat and Cars24 with about $1.3 billion each, Uniphore at $987 million, Improbable at $930 million, Perplexity at $915 million, OfBusiness at $890 million and Zetwerk at roughly $859 million.
These are not small cheques. These are billion-dollar bets placed on founders who are barely into their thirties. And this is not just about hype. It signals how capital is flowing into India’s new economy and what sectors investors believe will define the next decade.
Start with OYO. Ritesh Agarwal, now 31, built OYO into one of the world’s largest hospitality chains by standardising budget hotels. The company has raised $3.7 billion over the years from investors like SoftBank.
Recently, OYO’s parent Prism reportedly moved ahead with a confidential IPO filing route in India, targeting around ₹6,500 crore. Ritesh himself led a fresh ₹550 crore capital infusion recently, signalling promoter confidence. OYO’s journey has seen highs, layoffs, restructuring and valuation resets, but it remains the most funded youth-led startup in the country.
That scale of capital explains why it still commands attention.
Then there is Zepto. Founded by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra when they were just 19 and 20, Zepto rode the quick commerce wave. The company promises grocery delivery in under 10 minutes through a network of dark stores.
In less than four years, Zepto raised nearly $2 billion. At one point in 2024, its valuation reportedly touched around $5 billion. It recently raised $350 million from domestic investors, showing that Indian capital is now willing to back high-growth tech plays.
Zepto is also reportedly preparing for an IPO and expanding aggressively across cities. Quick commerce itself has become one of the hottest segments in Indian consumer tech, with players burning cash to capture urban demand.
Meesho represents another layer of India’s digital story. Founded by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Meesho tapped into social commerce, enabling small sellers to reach customers via WhatsApp and Facebook in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. It has raised $1.36 billion. Unlike many consumer startups that focused only on metros, Meesho leaned into Bharat. Its IPO filing to raise around ₹4,250 crore marked another turning point, showing that social commerce can scale at a national level.
ShareChat, founded by Ankush Sachdeva, is a vernacular social media platform. It built its base by serving non-English internet users. With about $1.3 billion raised, ShareChat reflects how language diversity in India is a business opportunity. Investors like Lightspeed and Tiger Global have backed it. Monetisation has been a challenge for many social platforms, but the sheer size of India’s regional internet audience keeps investor interest alive.
Cars24 is a different play. Founded by Mehul Agrawal, it digitised the used car market. With roughly $1.3 billion in funding, Cars24 shows that even traditional sectors like automobile resale can be transformed by tech. The used car market in India is massive and fragmented. By creating a marketplace model with inspection, financing and doorstep delivery, Cars24 attracted global investors willing to back scale.
Uniphore, led by Umesh Sachdev, operates in enterprise AI. It has raised close to $987 million. Unlike quick commerce or social apps, Uniphore sells AI-driven customer experience automation to global enterprises. This signals a deeper shift. Indian founders are not only building consumer apps for local users but also exporting SaaS and AI solutions worldwide.
Improbable, founded by Herman Narula, focuses on virtual worlds and metaverse infrastructure. It has raised about $930 million. Perplexity, co-founded by Aravind Srinivas, operates in AI-powered search and has raised around $915 million. In a world where generative AI has reshaped tech valuations, Perplexity’s funding underlines how Indian-origin founders are playing on the global AI stage.
OfBusiness and Zetwerk represent India’s B2B and manufacturing digitisation story. OfBusiness, with around $890 million raised, digitises raw material procurement and financing for SMEs. Zetwerk, with roughly $859 million, connects manufacturers with enterprise buyers globally. These companies are less flashy than consumer startups, but they are critical in modernising India’s industrial backbone.
Now zoom out. The Avendus Wealth–Hurun Uth Series report indicates that these young founders collectively command valuations nearing $950 billion and generate employment for over 1.2 million people. That is a structural shift in India’s economic engine. Bengaluru continues to dominate as the startup capital, but Mumbai, Delhi NCR and other hubs are gaining ground.
Another layer here is sectoral concentration. A large chunk of funding has flowed into consumer internet, quick commerce, fintech and social platforms. But increasingly, capital is also moving into AI, enterprise SaaS and B2B supply chains. Investors are no longer betting only on apps that deliver groceries in ten minutes. They are backing companies that automate call centres, power AI search or digitise factories.
Of course, this funding boom does not mean every company is profitable. Many have burned cash to scale. Valuations have seen corrections since the global tech slowdown. Layoffs, cost cuts and strategic pivots have become common. The numbers raised tell one side of the story. The sustainability of business models tells another. Investors are now pushing for unit economics, not just user growth.
Still, one fact stands out. Founders in their twenties and thirties are now controlling companies that have absorbed billions in global capital. Ten years ago, Indian entrepreneurship was largely associated with IT services or family-run businesses. Today, college dropouts and engineers are building unicorns that operate across continents.
The next question is not whether young founders can raise money. The data shows they can. The real question is what happens next. Can they convert funding into durable profits, global competitiveness and long-term employment? That is the layer investors, policymakers and public market participants will now watch closely.
For readers, the takeaway is straightforward. The rise of youth-led startups is not just about viral stories of 22-year-olds becoming billionaires. It is about how capital, technology and demographics are converging in India. The scale of funding, the sectors involved and the move towards public listings show that this is no longer an experiment. It is becoming a core pillar of India’s economic narrative.
