Griffin Founder on Building a Modern Bank, Startup Lessons and Staying True to Vision
The Griffin founder says building a modern financial infrastructure company requires patience, resilience and a clear understanding of customer demand. His journey began after an earlier banking infrastructure startup identified a genuine market need but struggled with its business model. In 2016, he began exploring the idea that eventually became Griffin, a modern, API-first bank designed to support companies building financial products.
Flip Founder Shares Startup Lessons on Leadership, Team Building and Growth
Building a startup can be far more demanding than simply working long hours, says the founder of employee communication platform Flip. The idea for Flip emerged in 2018 while its co-founder was working in Porsche’s data science department in Stuttgart and noticed that businesses struggled to effectively connect deskless employees with workplace information and reporting systems.
ART-PV India Develops Tandem Solar Cells to Push Beyond Silicon Efficiency
Silicon solar cells are approaching the physical efficiency limit of single-junction technology, with the theoretical ceiling at around 29%. ART-PV India is working on tandem solar cells that combine silicon or cadmium telluride with a perovskite layer to capture a wider range of sunlight and potentially improve conversion efficiency.
Agimol Pradeep Wins Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award 2026 for Transplant Work
From Kottayam, Keralam, to the UK, Agimol Pradeep has spent 25 years building a career in nursing, with much of her work focused on organ transplantation and stem-cell donation. In 2026, the Indian-origin nurse was named the winner of the Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award, which carries a $250,000 prize.
Enlightened India Foundation Empowers Rural Girls Through Education and Civic Leadership
Growing up in a village near Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, Smita Choudhary saw how education and opportunities often differed for boys and girls. That experience later inspired her to co-found the Enlightened India Foundation (EIF), a self-funded grassroots nonprofit focused on empowering rural girls through education, leadership and civic participation. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Smita and her friend Shivati Jastoria began working with children in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.
Green Hermitage Turns Plant Leather Into a Sustainable Accessories Business
It began with a broken tote bag and a search for a more sustainable alternative. Green Hermitage founder Gayatri Varun says the experience led her to explore plant leather after finding that workplace bags were largely made from animal leather or PU, a plastic-derived material. That search eventually became the foundation for the sustainable accessories brand she launched with her husband, Anubhav Pratap Rai, in 2021.
Agnikul Mission-02: How Reusable Rockets Could Change Launch Economics
Agnikul Cosmos is taking its next step in commercial spaceflight with Mission-02, an upcoming mission designed to attempt recovery of an orbital-class rocket booster and convert its spent upper stage into an in-orbit platform. The Chennai-based startup, incubated at IIT Madras, has built its strategy around making launches more reusable, flexible and commercially viable.
Nuvr scales ecommerce operations after moving beyond analytics
In 2023, Pulkit Chhabra was pitching an ecommerce analytics product when a consumer brand founder asked a simple question: if the software could identify business problems, why not run the business itself? That conversation changed the direction of Nuvr, which moved from selling software to managing ecommerce and quick-commerce operations for consumer brands.
Ottonomy tackles the ‘messy middle’ of logistics with autonomous robots
For Ottonomy CEO Itukar Vijay, the biggest gap in logistics is often found in the “messy middle” — the movement of samples, meals, parts and parcels between buildings, through elevators and across large campuses. While robotics has entered several parts of the logistics industry, these short-distance movements have remained difficult to automate.
Silence Laboratories builds privacy-first cybersecurity with cryptographic computing
Silence Laboratories is building its cybersecurity business around a growing challenge for digital organisations: how to collaborate on sensitive information without exposing the data itself. Founded by CEO Jay Prakash, CTO Andrei Bytes and CSO Tony Quek, the Palo Alto-based startup develops privacy-enhancing technologies based on cryptography.
Kishore Biyani’s Future Group Journey: The Rise and Reinvention of Modern Retail
Kishore Biyani Future Group journey is closely associated with the transformation of modern retail in India. Starting with the sale of stone-washed fabrics, Biyani gradually built businesses that changed how Indian consumers experienced fashion and shopping. In 1997, he launched Pantaloons, helping bring ready-to-wear fashion to a wider audience while bridging the gap between traditional tailoring and organised retail.
Dheeraj Gupta’s Jumboking Journey: How Team Building Drove Growth
Dheeraj Gupta Jumboking journey shows that even an established business may need to rethink its approach to achieve another phase of growth. Over 16 years, Jumboking had grown into a major Indian burger chain, reaching 54 stores and generating substantial revenue. However, Gupta recognised that the company’s growth had begun to slow. Instead of focusing only on expansion targets, he shifted attention towards the organisation behind the brand.
Honey Senthil’s Honey Builders Journey: From Financial Struggle to Growth
Honey Senthil Honey Builders journey is rooted in years of professional and financial challenges. Senthil began his career as a civil engineer but eventually left his job after facing a difficult work environment and limited opportunities for growth. After getting married in 2006, he entered a prolonged period of financial uncertainty. Several business attempts failed, while his family faced significant financial pressure.
Rameshwaram Cafe Founders: How Raghavendra and Divya Rao Built a Food Brand
The Rameshwaram Cafe founders, Raghavendra and Divya Rao, began their journey with a single outlet and a strong focus on traditional South Indian cuisine. Their approach has centred on maintaining food quality while expanding the business carefully. The brand has since grown across multiple locations and reportedly serves more than 4,000 customers each day, with new outlets also expanding its presence in cities such as Hyderabad.
Gursimran Oberoi’s IPB Journey: Building a New Path for Banking Careers
Gursimran Oberoi IPB journey reflects how career setbacks can eventually lead to an entirely different professional path. After losing his father at a young age and facing repeated difficulties in finding stable employment, Oberoi began looking for opportunities beyond conventional career routes. His experience eventually led him towards education.
Arul Sujanesh’s Annapoorna Mithai Journey: From Crisis to Growth
Arul Sujanesh Annapoorna Mithai journey began under circumstances far removed from a typical entrepreneurial success story. A civil engineer by profession, Arul never initially planned to run a restaurant in Madurai. Financial setbacks and a difficult family situation eventually led him to establish Annapoorna Mithai, a pure vegetarian restaurant. Building the business proved challenging.
Megha Israni’s Photography Journey: How She Rebuilt a Family Business
Megha Israni Photography journey began unexpectedly. Born into a Sindhi business family in Mumbai, Megha had not planned to join Israni Photography & Films, a venture started by her brother Luv with a three-member team. Her entry initially brought new opportunities and rapid growth. However, expansion also exposed several challenges, including family disagreements, inconsistent revenue, staff-related pressures and the seasonal nature of the wedding photography industry.
Dr A. Velumani’s Thyrocare Journey: From a Farmer’s Son to Business Success
Dr A. Velumani Thyrocare journey began far away from the boardrooms of corporate India. Born into a financially struggling farming family near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Velumani has often spoken about how his difficult childhood shaped his resilience and ambition. His mother placed strong emphasis on education, helping him pursue studies despite financial challenges.
Nithin Kamath’s Zerodha Journey: Building a Stockbroking Giant Without Hype
Nithin Kamath Zerodha journey is a story of building a major financial platform without relying heavily on flashy marketing or the traditional venture capital route. Before founding Zerodha, Kamath spent years trading stocks and working at call centres, gradually developing his understanding of financial markets. In 2010, he co-founded Zerodha with the aim of making stock trading simpler and more accessible.
Narain Karthikeyan’s DriveX Journey: From F1 Racing to Entrepreneurship
Narain Karthikeyan DriveX is a notable example of how a sporting career can evolve into an entrepreneurial journey. Known as India’s first Formula One driver, Karthikeyan entered the business world by identifying an opportunity in affordable personal mobility. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted businesses and daily life, Karthikeyan and his childhood friend Christopher Anand Sargunam launched DriveX.