Hurun India launches ‘Uth’ series for under 40 leaders with Avendus

The Avendus Wealth–Hurun India Uth Series 2025, a combined set of U30, U35 and U40 lists, which together features 436 entrepreneurs and business leaders, was released on Wednesday.

“Today's ecosystem is so well connected that a serial entrepreneur is mentoring first-generation founders, that is the shift we are backing in the wealth creation process,” said Apurva Sahijwani, Managing Director & CEO, Avendus Wealth Management.

First-generation founders account for 349 entrants, or nearly 80% of the list, while 37 entrants are second-generation leaders, the strongest cohort among family-business successors, according to the report.


The report said companies founded or led by the entrants together command a valuation exceeding $950 billion (Rs 83 lakh crore) and employ over 1.2 million people.

Gender representation remains limited, with 36 women among the 436 entrants, and an average age of 35 across men and women, the report said.

Bengaluru had the highest U40 representation with 48 entrepreneurs from the city in the report.

Among the youngest entrants are Sanjay Byalal Jagannath, 36, of Exponent Energy, and Shreya Mishra, 36, of SolarSquare. Avarna Jain, 39, fronts the oldest family business on the list through Saregama India.

IIT Kharagpur leads undergraduate representation with 15 alumni, followed by IIT Delhi and IIT Madras with 10 each.

By sector, Software Products & Services is the largest category (40 entrepreneurs), followed by Healthcare (18), Transportation & Logistics (16), and Financial Services (15).

The U40 cohort has raised over $22 billion in funding, with companies allocating 29% toward product development and expansion; and Apollo Hospitals is the largest employer within the U40 set with 42,497 employees.

“India and China have a much larger pool of first-generation entrepreneurs and we know these will grow in absolute terms,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, Founder & Chief Researcher, Hurun India

The report identified Reliance Retail as the largest employer in the Uth Series, with a workforce of 247,782. It noted that the company is led by U35 entrant Isha Ambani.

The report also tracked LinkedIn reach among “Uth” entrepreneurs, placing Nikhil Kamath (Zerodha) as the most followed with 1.39 million followers, followed by Ritesh Agarwal (PRISM/OYO) with 1.32 million. It listed Ghazal Alagh (Mamaearth) as the most followed woman entrepreneur on the list with 633,000 followers.