STARTUPS IN THE ELECTRIC WORLD EV FLURRY OF EVs ON TWO WHEELS

SPECIAL
RNI REG. NO. MAHENG/2009/28102

PRICE ` 200
NOVEMBER 19, 2021

HIGH-VOLTAGE
GAMBIT
How Tata Motors plans to lead
the electrification charge in
passenger and commercial
vehicles not just by launching
EV SPECIAL

new products but by creating

the much-required ecosystem
FORBESINDIA.COM / VOLUME 13 ISSUE 25 NOVEMBER 19, 2021

SHAILESH CHANDRA
PRESIDENT, TATA MOTORS
PASSENGER VEHICLES

www.forbesindia.com
 The much-anticipated EV ‘revolution’
in India is still a work in progress
Electric Avenue
T
ech trends are usually first noticed and picked
up—besides, of course, being pioneered—by
the geeks. And, if Bengaluru is indeed the
Silicon Valley of India, you would be tempted
to believe that many Indian tech and internet businesses
would have attracted their early adopters from the Garden
City—from ecommerce (Bangalore in 1999 was home
to India’s first ecommerce startup, Fabmart) and ride-
sharing to edtech and software as a service. This claim isn’t
backed by data, but it’s a trend that has typically played
out in Palo Alto and Mountain View, the two main cities
of the original Valley, when the latest computing devices
have been launched—and, when electric vehicles (EVs)
became the latest gizmo in town, courtesy of Tesla.
In the middle of 2012, as Ashlee Vance writes in Elon
Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is
Shaping our Future, “Tesla Motors stunned its complacent
peers in the automotive industry. It began shipping the
Model S sedan. The all-electric vehicle could go more than
300 miles on a single charge. It could reach 60 miles per
hour in 4.2 seconds…”
There was more, for the technophile. The Model S had
an internet connection (almost a decade ago). “While the
owner slept, Tesla’s engineers tapped into the car via the
internet connection and downloaded software updates.
When the customer took the car out for a spin in the
morning and found it working right, he was left feeling as
if the magical elves had done the work.”
Unsurprisingly then, writes Vance, the first people
to notice what Tesla had accomplished were the
technophiles in Silicon Valley. “…the early adopters
proved willing not only to spend $100,000 on a product
that might not work but also to trust their well-being to a
startup”.
STORIES TO LOOK OUT FOR
(Left) Smooth ride: Shailesh Chandra, president, passenger vehicles business
unit, Tata Motors; (right) the Bounce team: Vivekananda Hallekere (left), Anil G
(centre) and Varun Agni (right)
Letter From The Editor
The much-anticipated EV ‘revolution’ in India is still a
work in progress, with the country lagging the big markets
like the United States and China by a bit. And most of the
EVs sold in India are two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
Clearly, the revolution would be truly on us when more
and more sedans and SUVs are running on electric motors
and electric battery packs.
The role of Bengaluru in fuelling that revolution can
be debated, but what’s pretty clear is, as Forbes India’s
Technology Editor Harichandan Arakali found out,
Bengaluru is home to a bustling EV startup ecosystem.
One such exciting fledgling venture would be Ultraviolette
Automotive, which is close to launching a high-
performance motorcycle, which will go head-on against
the heavier hogs in the 300-500 cc segment. For more
on other startups in the EV race, don’t miss Arakali’s
‘Powering On’, starting on page 24.
To be sure, EV action is all over the country, from
startups to conglomerates. Deputy Editor Rajiv Singh
tracked down a little-known venture that was founded in
2015, has a factory in Alwar in Rajasthan and which, in six
years, has emerged No 2 in India’s electric scooter market. 3
To know more about that company, go to page 38.
The Forbes India cover story is on a traditional carmaker
that’s come back into the reckoning and is attempting to do
what several global and Indian carmakers have struggled
with: To become an EV major to reckon with. By pumping
in $2 billion over four years to launch 10 new EVs—$1
billion raised via private equity—India’s third-largest car
maker is hoping to get a fifth of its sales from electric by
2025-26. On how Tata Motors plans to lead the charge in
EVs and create the required ecosystem, Assistant Editor
Manu Balachandran’s Tata Motors: The Phoenix Building
India’s Electric Vehicle Play on page 16 is a must read.
Brian Carvalho
Editor, Forbes India
brian.carvalho@nw18.com
Best,
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 Contents
NOVEMBER 19,
2021
ON
THE
☛ VOLUME 13 C OV E R
ISSUE 25

NEHA MITHBAWKAR FOR FORBES INDIA

FEATURES
EV SPECIAL
24 • POWERING ON
Thanks to advances
PG. 16
in technologies and
manufacturing processes, a
bunch of startups is aspiring to
make India self-reliant in the
EV sector

32 • ELECTRIC
TRANSFORMER
Hero MotoCorp Chairman
and CEO Pawan Munjal is
gearing up to dominate India’s
two-wheeled EV market and
compete against his nephew’s
company

38 • OKINAWA TO
GURUGRAM: AN ELECTRIC
JOURNEY
How Jeetender Sharma, the
man behind Honda Activa,
made Okinawa the second-
biggest e-scooter brand in
India
4
41 • ON THE BOUNCE
How Sequoia- and Accel-
backed scooter-rental startup
Bounce is morphing into a full
stack EV player. Can it pounce
on the big opportunity?

44 • ELECTRIC MOVE
Former HSBC banker Sameer
Aggarwal has been a prime
mover in financing electric
rickshaws with RevFin. Will
the gambit pay off?

48 • SUBSCRIBE & DRIVE

How Myles Zero is driving
wider adoption of electric cars
by playing the subscription
card. Can it click?
IN FOCUS
50 • WOMEN RISE FOR
GENDER AND CLIMATE
CHANGE
In India, women have been
at the forefront of resisting
threats to biodiversity in
the name of infrastructure
projects
TATA MOTORS:
THE PHOENIX
BUILDING
INDIA’S ELECTRIC
VEHICLE PLAY
The company has in recent
years scripted a fairytale
turnaround to become India’s
third largest carmaker. It has
also quietly been powering up
the electric space. Will its first-
mover advantage pay off?

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021

 AMIT VERMA

PG. 32

PG. 38
Pawan Munjal, chairman and CEO of Hero MotoCorp Jeetender Sharma, founder and MD of Okinawa EVs

AMIT VERMA
64 • HOUSE OF BRANDS 86 • COVID’S
Content, creators and
commerce: Glance, an InMobi
PG. 24 ENTREPRENEUR
EXPLOSION
group company, wants to High unemployment, the
lead India’s next big online magnifying power of the web
opportunity with a long-term and fresh fintech financing are
live commerce strategy fuelling an eruption of startups
not seen in decades

80 • ONCE UPON A TIME

IN KOREA… INTERVIEW
How Kross Komics is wooing
Indian readers with gripping 84 • ‘INDIAN BUSINESSES 5
Korean stories narrated in the YET TO MAKE THE MOST
webtoon format—and filling OF AI SOLUTIONS’
the gap in content for young Romesh Wadhwani, Indian-
women American billionaire and
CEO of SymphonyAI, on
why businesses that are early
adopters of AI will create
CROSS BORDER sustained advantages
54 • THE CROESUS OF
CRYPTO
FTX co-founder Sam THE BOLD CLUB
Bankman-Fried built a $22.5
billion fortune before his 30th 69 • EYE FOR DETAIL AND
birthday by profiting off the CHANGE
cryptocurrency frenzy—but The top 30 architects in India
he’s not a crypto believer have a common desire to have
a meaningful impact in a way
their works serve people and
59 • CAPITOL INVESTOR create a positive change
Private equity billionaire
Ramzi Musallam has turned
tragedy into fortune by
mastering the motivations of
the largest player in the global
economy

Rajat Verma, founder and director at Lohum Cleantech, at its

manufacturing unit of lithium ion battery near Greater Noida

REGULARS ● 8/ LEADERBOARD ● 90/ THOUGHTS

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 Managing Director &
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Editor: Brian Carvalho
 HOW DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
IS HELPING US SOLVE
REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS!
Amit Phadnis, Chief Digital Officer, GE Healthcare
You may be a doctor sitting in a
super speciality hospital in a metro
city and there may be a patient in a
rural setting. Earlier, there would be
no other way but for the patient to
end up in the big hospital if the care
was really required. Now, the care
can be delivered where the patient
is and bridge the expertise gap”.
I n recent times, manufacturing and services industries
had to recalibrate their supply chain by introducing
digital technology in order to align themselves with
the volatile nature of the market. Moneycontrol New
HorAIzon presented by GE in association with CNBC-
TV18 spoke with several thinkers of the innovation
world and tried to figure out ways in which digital
technology could help the world to find advanced and
efficient solutions in different sectors including Aviation,
AI, Healthcare and Renewable Energy.
Digital technology is healthy for healthcare.
Advance healthcare innovations were the crux for quick
turnarounds during the pandemic, these can benefit
people further through mass implementation and
innovation.
While speaking during the GE in association with CNBC TV18 and
Moneycontrol - New HorAIzon virtual summit, Amit Phadnis, chief digital
officer GE healthcare, spoke about how AI techniques can help in achieving
precision medicine and also enable remote consultations.
Phadnis believes that the unprecedented global crisis of the pandemic
pushed health care to accelerate its remote telehealth consultation processes,
something that would have taken 4-5 years otherwise. He said,” You may be
a doctor sitting in a super speciality hospital in a metro city and there may
be a patient in a rural setting. Earlier, there would be no other way but for
the patient to end up in the big hospital if the care was really required. Now,
the care can be delivered where the patient is and bridge the expertise gap”.
Humble AI is the way to transformation.
When it comes to improving operations, delivering products faster
and anticipating problems along the way, AI has fared as a preferred
solution. However, it comes with its own challenges that can be both
technical and cultural!
Many engineers have reservations about using AI as there are assets
worth 2-3 million dollars at stake. Therefore, it’s important to verify
findings from the AI tools for months to make a case and get cultural
acceptance for the technology within the organization. Humble AI is an
AI that delivers such insights.
Colin Parris, vice president of software and analytics research at
General Electric, while speaking at the New HorAIzon summit spoke
about various challenges and solutions pertaining to AI and what good
can Humble AI processes can bring. He also spoke about how industries
can start their journey of digital transformation and how data is a pivotal
point in elevating overall efficiency.
“When you think about starting, you start with value. Value comes
from an operation, so whenever I hear creating value of data, really you
are transforming the business process making data by making smarter
processes”, said Parris.
Newer, smarter ways to obtain renewable energy.
Climate change has been an ongoing struggle that the entire planet is facing.
We are already in that phase where the planet is dealing with irreversible
damages and renewable energy is the only way we can slow it down.
Danielle Merfeld, VP & CTO, GE Renewable Energy gave promising
insights on how GE is working on getting the renewable energy ball rolling.
“The most immediate and impactful action that we can take is growing the
share of renewable energy generation in our electricity system as fast as
possible. It’s easier to grow renewable power now as the cost has gone down
and it can prove to be an economic advantage.”
The world needs rather quick solutions for not just the present challenges
around production and manufacturing that support economies across the
globe, but at the same time, needs immediate and efficient ideas that help
slow down the impending challenges of climate change. Digital technology
shows incredible promise to create a balance of efficiency and sustainability.
 LeaderBoard
How Much Time Do You
Spend Using Apps?
Indians spend 4.8 hours each day
on mobile apps, report says P/12
Time For Markets
To Settle Down?
A sharp run up over the last 18 months may have priced in too much
WHEN INDIAN MARKETS
registered their first
bounceback post the March
2020 dip, investors voiced a fair
8 amount of caution. After all, Covid-19
cases were still climbing, business
activity was low and balance sheets,
both corporate and personal, had
been broken.
But, as the rally matured, those
voices were consistently proven
wrong. Globally, there was $25
trillion of new money sloshing
around and some of it found its
way to the Indian market. The
result: More and more participants
being sucked in at ever increasing
valuations.
The net result has been Indian
indices trading at far above historical
valuations, with the Sensex and Nifty
commanding a 24x multiple based
on expected March 2022 earnings.
Over the last three months, global
brokerages, with JP Morgan being
the latest, have downgraded Indian
stocks primarily based on the lofty
INFOGRAPHIC: SAMEER PAWAR
valuations they trade at. A recent sell-
off in the mid and small cap indices
suggests that it may finally become
time to get more cautious.
“Given the sharp run up we have
had, there is a possibility that the
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
Tourism's Contribution to
India's GDP Falls 36.3%
Millions of jobs were also lost in
the travel and tourism sector P/13
EARNINGS
markets may move sideways for some
time,” says Amit Khurana, head of
equities at Dolat Capital. But, at the
same time, he sees a healthy rotation
among stocks and sectors that may
keep any fall in check. So, when
information technology companies do
well, banking takes a back seat, and
then metals do well and consumer
goods companies take a back seat.
That way, while individual sectors
may correct, the indices are held up.
In addition to the sharp rise in
Lofty Valuations
 Sensex and Nifty trade at 25x expected March
2022 earnings, above historical averages
 Several global brokerages have downgraded
Indian equities on account of high valuations
 The growth in earnings for a number of sectors
may have peaked
 Rising inflation and the withdrawal of liquidity
make it harder for markets to keep rising
 Consumer demand and demand for consumer
loans remains subdued
 A rising oil import bill for FY22 is a key risk for
Indian equities
'I Didn't Visit Film Sets.
I Lived on One'
Actor Rana Daggubati on
life beyond stardom P/14
valuations, there are several global
factors that may warrant caution. The
first is the slowing of bond purchases
by both the US and European central
banks. While the Federal Reserve
has indicated an announcement in
November, the European Central
Bank has not indicated a timeline.
For now, the prevailing view is that
rates will rise slowly and won’t
cause a market disruption. “I believe
central banks will increase rates very
slowly,” Rakesh Jhunjhunwala told
Forbes India in an interview.
Second is the rise of inflation
globally on account of supply
disruptions. This may prompt
central banks to raise rates faster
than expected. At the very least, this
may prompt them to reduce money
supply. In India, rising oil prices
have increased the risk of a spurt in
inflation.
In November, the RBI will move
to drain `200,000 crore of excess
liquidity in the banking system. The
news, coupled with several global
brokerages downgrading Indian
stocks to neutral due to excess
valuations, prompted a steep one-day
fall. On October 28, the Sensex fell
1,158 points or 1.89 percent to 59,984,
its biggest fall since April 30.
 CHAITANYA DINESH SURPUR

The growth rate in corporate input and freight costs hurt. Gross quality is not out yet, as restructured
earnings may have also started margins were down 970 basis points accounts are yet to get past the
peaking. Asian Paints and Hindustan to 34.7 percent. 90- and 180-day period for NPA
Unilever, two Index bellwethers, As input costs continue to drag, reporting.
announced disappointing the markets also have Over the next three years, market
numbers for the to contend with weak veterans expect the weakness in
FOR
September quarter. At consumer sentiment consumer companies and banks
NOW, THE
HUL, volume growth that drives as much as to get filled in with a host of new
PREVAILING
came in at 4 percent 70 percent of Sensex businesses—from metals to specialty
VIEW IS THAT
and Sanjiv Mehta, its valuations through banks chemicals and infrastructure to
RATES WILL
chairman and managing and consumer companies. capital goods. Valuations should
RISE SLOWLY
director, said, “(We saw) Two-wheeler makers have then move to that part of the market
AND WON'T
unprecedented levels reported weak sales due along with a change in the Index
DISRUPT THE
of input cost inflation to poor demand as have composition. Till then, it would be
MARKET
and subdued consumer car companies due to a fair to expect investors to be nervous
sentiments.” shortage of chips. about deploying money at these lofty
Asian Paints reported its lowest For banks, loan growth has been valuations.
margins in at least 50 quarters as tepid and the true picture on asset ● SAMAR SRIVASTAVA

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 LeaderBoard
KEEPING TRACK

How Much Time Do You

Spend Using Apps?
Indonesians top the list with 5.5 hours spent on mobile apps
on average every day, Indians spend about 4.8 hours daily

12

Hours spent on apps by selected countries in Q3 2021

Indonesia 5.5
Brazil 5.4
South Korea 5.0
INDIA 4.8
Mexico 4.8
Japan 4.8
Canada 4.4
Russia 4.3
US 4.2
Turkey 4.2
Australia 4.1
UK 4.0
Argentina 3.6
INFOGRAPHICS: SAMEER PAWAR

France 3.6
Germany 3.3
China 3.2
SOURCE App Annie: Figs are for Android phones

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021

 SHUTTERSTOCK
40.11 mln
Number of jobs lost in the travel and
tourism industry in India in 2019

PANDEMIC IMPACT

Tourism’s Contribution
To India’s GDP Falls 36.3%

India has
As people refrained from travel, total
37 contribution of Travel & Tourism to
employment in India fell
World Heritage
Sites
20.8% 13

10 Jobs Lost (Mln)

Biogeographic
Zones
COVID-19 Impact 2019 40.11

80 74.6% 67.2% 2020 31.79

National Reduction in Reduction
Parks foreign tourist in foreign In Apr-Jun 2020, 14.5 million jobs were
arrivals in 2020*, tourist arrivals lost, followed by 5.2 million jobs in Jul-
compared to on e-tourist
2019 visa in 2020*, Sep, and another 1.8 million in Oct-Dec,
441
Sanctuaries *Jan-Nov
compared to
2019
thanks to the nationwide lockdowns
-Ministry of Tourism

Tourism’s contribution to India’s GDP fell 36.3%

2019 ` 14,181.9 billion

or 6.9% of GDP
INFOGRAPHICS: SAMEER PAWAR

2020 ` 9,039.5 billion According to World Travel &

Tourism Council...
or 4.7% of GDP India ranked 10th among 185 countries in terms of
Travel & Tourism’s total contribution to GDP in 2019
• SAMIDHA JAIN
SOURCE Ministry of Tourism Annual Report 2021; World Travel & Tourism Council; India Tourism and Hospitality Industry Report, July 2021, via India Brand Equity Foundation

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA


LeaderBoard
INTERVIEW
‘I Didn’t Visit Film Sets.
I Lived on One’
Actor Rana Daggubati on life beyond stardom, his possessive
streak, love for Star Wars, and why peace is important
TELUGU ACTOR
Rana Daggubati
tasted
unprecedented success
with Baahubali. Belonging
to a filmy family which has
given legendary
entertainers such as
Akkineni Nageswara Rao,
D Ramanaidu, Nagarjuna,
Venkatesh, Naga Chaitanya
and Akhil Akkineni,
Daggubati chose VFX to
start his career in cinema.
In Beyond the Boardroom,
14 he speaks to Forbes India
about his home that was a
film set every day, his foray
into acting, the love that he
got for Baahubali and
getting married during the
pandemic. Edited excerpts:
LIVING ON A FILM SET
I didn’t visit film sets, I
lived on one. We lived in
a house in Film Nagar in
Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.
I used to live on the first
floor and they (filmmakers
working for father D
Suresh Babu) would
shoot on the ground floor.
Except for the bedrooms,
AMAL KS / HINDUSTAN TIMES VIA GETTY IMAGES
everything was a location.
You come back home,
you’d have a different
dining table… everything
would have changed
depending on whatever a
filmmaker did. I think most
of my life I ate breakfast on
a film set more than I ever
ate at home.
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
MORE THAN ACTING
For me, acting happened
strangely. I knew I was
in the movies, but from
2000 to about 2009, I was
running a visual effects
company before I became
an actor. I will keep doing
various jobs. I am an actor,
but I continue too have my
desk job. I am in a pretty
good place where re I get to
do a bunch of difffferent
things at the same
me time.
MAKING OF BAAHUBALI
UBALI
The magnanimity ty of what
it became was beyond
eyond the
reach of our minds.
nds. We
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$1.1 mln
The latest round of funding raised by
Salud Beverages, with Rana Daggu-
bati, among others, as an investee
WORKING WITH PRABHAS
I used to be possessive
about my things. I did
not like Prabhas sitting
on my things or touching
them. I used to grab them
from him. He used to, on
purpose, pick up those
things and make sure that
my stuff was with him and
the other way around.
SHUTTERSTOCK
BEING A FANBOY
I grew up on Amar
Chitra Katha and now
I work closely with
them. Phantom was
another comic that I liked.
After that, the Marvel
series came along. My
favourite character will
remain Thanos. I got
to be his voice in
Telugu. Growing up,
I was the biggest fan
of Sylvester Stallone and
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I used to love Rambo,
Terminator and Rocky
movies. I’m a huge fan of
Star Wars. I have watched
a lot of Star Wars—
everything that’s released.
BRAVING THE PANDEMIC
I got married! It is pretty
awesome. For a restless
guy like me, peace is
important and my wife
brings that. Obviously,
every business hit a
roadblock. The first
thing we did was pick up
whatever help we could
provide in the situation—
whether it was helping
the police or creating
Covid-19 centres within
our studio facilities.
● USHNOTA PAUL
SCAN THE QR CODE TO
WATCH THE VIDEO
 COVER STORY | TATA MOTORS

TATA MOTORS
The Phoenix
Building
India’s Electric
Vehicle Play
16
DIGITAL IMAGING: KAPIL KASHYAP
 The company has in recent
years scripted a fairytale
turnaround to become
India’s third-largest
carmaker. It has also
quietly been powering up
in the electric space. Will
its first-mover advantage
pay off?

By MANU BALACHANDRAN

f there is a phoenix in the

Indian automobile market, 17
it is undoubtedly Tata Motors.
Once written off by large multitudes
of India’s car buyers, after it struggled
with product refreshments and its
perception as a fleet taxi operator, the
Mumbai-headquartered automaker
has scripted a fairytale turnaround in
the past few years. Today, it is India’s
third-largest carmaker, cornering
10 percent of the market share, up
from a paltry 4.8 percent in 2020.
The stellar turnaround in sales has
meant that the market capitalisation
of the automaker, which also owns the
iconic Jaguar Land Rover,
has nearly quadrupled in
the past year, even as India’s
automobile industry grappled with an
economic slowdown and lockdowns over
the past 18 months. As of October, Tata
“This is a big opportunity Motors had a market capitalisation of
to lead the charge in the `1.62 lakh crore, up from `43,800 crore
EV space and go about
creating 10 products, and last October. During the same period,
also create the ecosystem the Sensex, the benchmark index of the
around it.” BSE, grew by nearly 50 percent from
39,749.85 points to 59,252 points.
SHAILESH CHANDRA
PRESIDENT, TATA MOTORS And there seems to be no stopping
PASSENGER VEHICLE SEGMENT the Tata Motors juggernaut. Between

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 COVER STORY | TATA MOTORS
July and September, sales of the 76-year-
old automaker grew by a staggering 50
percent, led largely by a 193 percent
growth in the company’s electric
vehicle (EV) portfolio, comprising
the popular Nexon EV and Tata Tigor
EV. During that time, Tata Motors
sold 2,700 units of its EVs, compared
to some 900 units in the year ago period.
Those numbers mean that the company
controls as much as 75 percent of the domestic
EV market in India, especially since other
manufacturers are yet to jump on to the electric
vehicle bandwagon. Barring Hyundai, which
offers the Hyundai Kona, several manufacturers,
including India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki,
and Toyota are yet to make EV offerings in India
even as 10,000 electric vehicles manufactured
by Tata Motors ply the Indian roads.
That’s also perhaps why it came as no surprise
when over the past month, a subsidiary being set
up by the company became India’s most valuable
EV company, after raising $1 billion from private
equity major TPG Rise Climate. The deal values
the yet-to-be operational subsidiary at over $9
18 billion and the capital infusion is expected around
March next year. Tata Motors will also invest $2
billion into the subsidiary over the next five years.
The new company, Tata Motors believes,
will leverage all the existing investments and
capabilities of the parent company in addition
to channelising all the future investments into
Stepping On The Gas
Market capitalisation (` cr)
98,168 112,868 95,408 110,758
87,698
44,049
Oct 2020 Jan 2021 Apr June Aug
As on the last day of the month; figures rounded off.
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
electric vehicles and dedicated battery
vehicle platforms and technologies,
among others. Over the next five
years, the company will also
create a portfolio of 10 EVs while
also partnering with Tata Power
to create charging infrastructure
to help with early adoption.
“This is a big opportunity to lead the
charge in this space (EV) and go about creating
10 products, and also create the ecosystem around
it so that the aspiration of driving growth in
electrification does not suffer because of lack of
ecosystem,” Shailesh Chandra, president of Tata
Motors’ passenger vehicle segment, tells Forbes
India. Chandra, who took over as president of
the passenger vehicle business in 2020, had
earlier been the head of the EV division, and
has been instrumental in turning around the
automaker’s fortunes over the past few years.
A large part of the turnaround, of course, is
largely on the back of the increased sales of four
vehicles that have now become the mainstay
of the carmaker. Together, they form part of
what Tata Motors calls the ‘New Forever’ range
of vehicles, which boast high safety standards,
better engine performance, and driving
pleasure, aesthetic design, and rich features, in
comparison to some of their previous models.
“Our focus over the past 18 months has been
to ensure that we are able to get the rightful
volumes for the products that we have created
and everything else is consequential,” Chandra
adds. That means, from monthly sales of some
160,620 5,000 units of its Tata Nexon and 700 units of Tata
Harrier a few years ago, sales have jumped almost
three times in some cases over the last year.
“Tata is a leading player in the EV business
with more than 70 percent market share and
at the forefront of indigenous EV efforts while
expecting green vehicles to generate 20 percent
of their total sales in the next four to five years,”
Harshvardhan Sharma, head of auto retail practice
at Nomura Research Institute Consulting, says.
“In that capacity, this seems like a prudent
vision to create a subsidiary which is insulated
from conventional business operations for
structural and operational efficiency reasons.
As this subsidiary will be asset-light and as we
understand the investments will align towards
creating intellectual properties such as new
vehicle designs and platforms in the EV space,
Sep Oct this makes it a good fit from a business autonomy,
SOURCE BSE flexibility, and pace of operations perspective.”
THE BIG LEAP
Much of the group’s foray into the
EV business began in 2017.
That year, Tata was selected as a winner
by the government-owned Energy Efficiency
Services Limited (EESL) to sell some 10,000
EVs to the government. Tata Motors bid `10.16
lakh per vehicle for 500 cars in the first phase of
the government’s electric mobility mission. “At
Tata Motors, we keep working on technologies
and are quite ahead when a technology can be
commercialised,” says Chandra. “Therefore, we
had been working on electric vehicles primarily
at the Tata Motors European Technical Center
from the early parts of the last decade.”
The early part of the last decade saw the then-
Manmohan Singh government announce the
National Electric Mobility Mission which had
aimed to transform the country’s EV penetration.
That was followed by the highly popular FAME
(Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid
and EV) scheme to incentivise the production
and promotion of EVs. Currently in its second
phase—which runs until March 2022—it
has an outlay of `10,000 crore. The scheme
is extended to cover electric two-wheelers,
three-wheelers, and buses among others.
“In 2015, FAME was introduced for the first
time. But the outlay was very small,” Chandra
says. “And still the direction was not clear
whether it would be the pure battery-electric
vehicle route or whether it would be hybrid. All
those debates were on at that point in time.”
By 2016, with the global trend moving towards
reducing carbon emissions, and countries
attempting to follow the Paris Climate accord, the
global automobile industry had also begun tilting
towards a battery-led EV play. India is a signatory
to the Paris Climate Agreement, which means that
the country needs to reduce its carbon emissions
by around 35 percent of its 2005 levels by 2030.
“Unlike many countries, there was a bigger
national imperative for the country given that
we had 14 out of the 15 most polluted cities in the
world,” Chandra says. “And our dependence on
imports of oil is very high. There is also an energy
security issue from a geopolitical perspective
which was also pushing the government.” At that
time, India was also in the midst of a transition
to more stringent norms on emissions, which
had meant that automakers were investing a
significant amount of money in the transition.
“We knew that the technology shift was
imminent towards electric,” Chandra says. “It was
“The number of vehicles we have been selling
would have been higher if not for Covid-19.”
GIRISH WAGH, HEAD OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES, TATA MOTORS
going to come in a matter of five to six years.”
It was around that time that the company also
won the rights to sell vehicles to EESL. “The 19
EESL order provided an anchor opportunity,”
Chandra says. “In the journey of electrification,
it taught us how important it was to gain real-
world experience, putting them in real use and
the challenges of the working environment.” As
Tata’s vehicles began plying the roads, it also
gave the company a fair understanding of the
real-world conditions for an electric vehicle.
“It was clear that you have to enter the segment
in a big way. And the personal segment is important
because this is 90-95 percent of the total industry
volumes,” Chandra says. “Making a product
is not sufficient. You have to really shape the
electrification and go for an ecosystem approach.”
In April 2019, the government announced the
launch of the second phase of FAME policy,
which would encourage faster adoption of electric
and hybrid vehicles by way of offering upfront
incentives on the purchase of EVs. “That further
refined our thinking in terms of the nature of
products that we want to bring, and the price
points. And there was the clarity of the localisation
approach.” (The government wants companies to
localise their components to qualify for benefits.)
THE BIG PUSH
The company’s first offering in the private vehicle
segment was the Tata Tigor EV, with a range of
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 COVER STORY | TATA MOTORS
213 kilometres on a single charge at a price of
`9.44 lakh. The older version of Tigor EV had
a range of 142 kilometres but was largely sold
only to EESL. The car came equipped with a
21.5 kWh battery pack and two charging ports
for fast charging as well as slow charging.
By 2020, however, Tata was ready with a coup
of sorts. The company unleashed the electric
variant of the wildly popular Tata Nexon, priced
at around `13.99 lakh and with a range of 312
kilometres. The Nexon was one of the company’s
highest-selling models, and the EV provided
an opportunity to test the market. The Nexon,
which was launched in 2017, was envisaged as
a bridge vehicle as the company undertook a
restructuring of its product platforms. Platforms are
design architectures that include the underfloor,
engine compartment, and frame of a vehicle.
“We did a survey, and it came out that the
minimum range that a customer is looking for to
avoid range anxiety is 200 kilometres,” Chandra
says. “That means a certified range has to go
above 300 kilometres or so. At the same time,
the customer is not willing to give more than 25
percent premium.” That meant that the company’s
20 best bet was the Nexon, which was retailing
between `7 lakh and `12 lakh. “If you have to give
a 300-kilometre battery pack in a Tiago, the cost
will be the same, but the premium will be high.”
In September this year, the company announced
that it had sold 10,000 EVs in the country. “The
extent of bookings that we are getting is between
3,500 and 4,000,” Chandra says. “Last year, we
had been ramping up supplies. At the start of this
financial year, we were supplying around 600
vehicles which grew to 1,000 and then 1,100. We
are now approaching closer to 1,500 supplies
per month.” In addition, the company has also
launched the XPRES T electric sedan, an exclusive
vehicle option for fleet customers. “We have a
100 percent market share there,” adds Chandra.
“India’s EV revolution ideally should have been
led by Maruti Suzuki as it’s the largest player,” says
Market Share
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
Puneet Gupta, director for automotive forecasting
at market research firm IHS Markit. “Instead, it is
Tata Motors which is leading the revolution and is
likely to be followed by Mahindra. Globally there
is a paradigm shift underway when it comes to
decarbonising the mobility sector and the Tatas
clearly have a first-mover advantage. The ongoing
pandemic has changed people’s mindset and that
means Tata’s first-mover advantage will pay off.”
Then, as part of its plan to bring in wider
adoption, the group has built Tata UniEVerse, an
ecosystem that will leverage group synergies, where
several Tata companies have come together to
provide EV solutions to consumers. The company
has partnered with Tata Power to provide end-to-
end charging solutions at home, the workplace, and
public charging facilities. Under this partnership,
the company has installed fast-charging stations in
metros, including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru
and Hyderabad, in addition to chargers on
highways. So far, Tata Power has set up 1,000 EV
charging stations across India in some 180 cities.
The company has also tied up with Tata
Chemicals in its attempt to build a component
supplier ecosystem and manufacture lithium-
ion battery cells, in addition to looking at active
chemical manufacturing and battery recycling.
4,218
3,341
Zooming
Ahead
Sale of Tata Motors’ EVs
1,325
* (Sale until September 2021)
349
131
FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22*
11% 18% 47% 71%
SOURCE Tata Motors
 “The current technology and range specs are
quite evolved frankly,” Sharma of Nomura says.
“We must keep in mind that these products have
undergone much evolution since the introduction
and Tata has been listening patiently to market
feedback and hence the technology is
fairly acceptable. Regarding range, there’s
always going to be a difference between
test conditions and real-world usage
owing to climate, driving patterns, and
terrains, but frankly, anything beyond
200 kilometres is good enough in the
current scenario pragmatically.”
A ROUNDED PLAY
Yet, it’s not that the company is
entirely pivoting to EVs as many global
manufacturers have announced.
Over the past few months, everyone
from General Motors to Ford Motor
Company, Volkswagen and Honda have
been making commitments to shift their
entire fleet to electric vehicles, over the next
few decades. General Motors now plans to
sell only those vehicles that have zero tailpipe
emissions by 2035, while Japanese automaker
Honda made it clear that the company intends
to only sell EVs and fuel cell vehicles by 2040.
In Europe, American automaker Ford said it
will only be offering electric cars from 2030.
By 2025, Volkswagen wants to build and sell
up to 3 million all-electric cars per year with
over 50 purely electric-powered variants. All this
follows the massive success story of Tesla, which
has gone on to join the coveted trillion-dollar
club after the company announced a plan to sell
100,000 vehicles to Hertz, indicating a massive
shift underway from a demand perspective too.
“The Indian market story might be slightly
different,” Chandra says. “Today, the Indian
passenger vehicle market would be 3.5 million
units a year. If you fast forward to 2030, this will
grow by double to nearly seven million. If you
take a 30 percent penetration, it would mean two
million EVs. There is an opportunity on the EV
side to grow from zero to two million.” The rest
of the seven million, Chandra reckons, will be
ICE vehicles. “So, there is a growth opportunity
in both these spaces,” Chandra says. “ICE
vehicles will become more emission friendly.”
That’s why the company is looking to launch
as many as 10 new products over the next decade.
That includes first-generation vehicles, which are
essentially ICE vehicles that will be converted
to electric vehicles. That will be followed
by architectures that will be suited for EV
and ICE vehicles and eventually born EVs.
Much of the work will be undertaken at the
company’s EV facility in Pune and Chandra
and the team are currently in the midst of
setting up the subsidiary. The automaker
“Globally there is also lining up a $2 billion investment
is a paradigm towards product development while also
shift in planning to launch sales in over 100 cities
decarbonising
and some 255 touchpoints through the year.
the mobility
sector and the “Our teams will be separate, and that’s
Tatas have a the reason why you’re seeing us creating two
first-mover different companies,” Chandra says. “One
advantage.” will fund itself and be able to support its
PUNEET GUPTA growth and investment in new technologies,
DIRECTOR, AUTOMOTIVE platform, and product lifecycle management.
FORECASTING, The other requires a massive investment
IHS MARKIT phase which is why we went for separate
funding.” As of now, the company has a 60
percent localisation of its components, which
it wants to ramp up to 85 percent by 2025.
Meanwhile, it’s not just passenger vehicles that
Tata Motors is betting on to drive the change.
The commercial vehicle division, which
comprises buses, trucks and light commercial 21
vehicles, is also beginning to witness higher
electrification. So far, Tata Motors has
supplied a total of 618 e-buses that have run
approximately 20 million kilometres to date.
“The number of vehicles we have been
selling would have been higher if not for Covid-
19,” says Girish Wagh, head of commercial
vehicles at Tata Motors. “There has been a
collapse in the bus market. But, with the cost
of vehicles increasing with every emission
regulation and rising fuel prices, the total cost
of ownership parity is becoming closer and
closer when it comes to electric vehicles.”
That means even though sales are now
largely led by government orders, the company
reckons that private buyers, especially corporates
and ecommerce companies, could lead the
charge when it comes to the adoption of EVs.
“Corporates have their own net-zero targets,”
adds Wagh. “Ecommerce companies, which
are focusing on last-mile connectivity, are
also seeing benefits in operating costs.” At the
moment, Tata’s electric buses have a range of
over 100 kilometres which it plans to ramp up to
between 140 kilometres and 200 kilometres.
Then, there is also the focus on alternative fuels,
such as hydrogen fuel cells, which Wagh reckons
is crucial when it comes to long-range travel.
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 COVER STORY | TATA MOTORS
“Battery electric vehicles are generally suitable
for the lower range and lower power,” Wagh says.
“But when you start looking at commercial vehicles
and the medium-heavy commercial vehicles, they
generally travel 1,000 kilometres a day. They also
carry 10 tonnes to 15 tonnes of load. So, it’s a
completely different kind of transportation
and there, battery-electric doesn’t work,
and that’s where we work with hydrogen.”
THE PATH AHEAD
It helps that the global automobile ecosystem
is now shifting towards EVs. Then, over the
past few years, India has seen a significant
rise in fuel prices. India’s import of crude
oil required for vehicular fuel has been
increasing over the years. It stood at $40
billion in 2017 and is projected to more
than double to $90 billion by 2030 at the
current pace. At the same time, battery cost
has reduced from $800 per kilowatt-hour
in 2011 to $137 per kilowatt-hour in 2020.
According to Niti Aayog, the country’s EV
financing industry is projected to be worth
`3.7 lakh crore in 2030, about 80 percent of
22 the current retail vehicle finance industry.
Between 2020 and 2030, the estimated
cumulative capital cost of the country’s EV
transition will be `19.7 lakh crore across
vehicles, electric vehicle supply equipment,
and batteries (including replacements).
“Tata’s commitment to EV cements the
belief in electric power trains being a near
future in India and not being an exotic
propulsion system for developed markets only,”
says Sharma of Nomura. “The market has
surely taken notice of this shift and both
OEMs (original equipment manufacturers)
and consumers respect and appreciate this
development. Tata is leading the electric mobility
chapter in India from the front, and we see its
payoff panning out well for Tata as they are co-
developing the ecosystem and hence addressing
a much wider part of the value chain.”
“There is a broad scenario of how the whole
penetration will move and therefore we have set
certain aspirational targets,” Chandra says. “We
are working towards that and the network
planning and charging infrastructure planning
is being aligned to that. This kind of an
opportunity will attract people and some of
them will take a proactive approach like us and
some would just like to wait and watch.”
Despite all the narrative around EVs, there
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
haven’t been substantial gains. Last year,
India sold some 156,000 units of EVs, of
which 126,000 were two-wheelers. In
contrast, over 21 million vehicles that
run on internal combustion engines were
sold in FY20, of which 17 million were
two-wheelers. China sold some 1.3 million
“Tata is a EVs in 2020, according to Singapore-
leading player based market research firm Canalys, in a
in the EV year marked by a pandemic, accounting
business with
more than 70 for over 40 percent of the global EV
percent market sales. “This is an industry where word
share and at the of mouth is crucial,” adds Chandra.
forefront of All that means Tata Motors has a long
indigenous EV way to go, and it’s only getting started after
efforts.” its phenomenal turnaround in fortunes.
HARSHVARDHAN “I see the future of electric vehicles to
SHARMA be very strong,” Chandra says. “EVs have
HEAD, AUTO RETAIL better running cost and better performance.
PRACTICE, NOMURA
The only concern is about technology.” To
RESEARCH INSTITUTE
CONSULTING alleviate that, the group has been offering
an eight-year warranty on the vehicle. “Our
competitive advantage is that I’m working
in a synchronised fashion with Tata Power,
and we are therefore working closely with them
in terms of aligning the location of the charging
units to where we are selling the cars.”
Meanwhile, the company is also aware of the
challenges that the global electric ecosystem can
throw up. “There will be a lag on the supply side
versus demand ramp-up which will happen, and
the battery would be one of the key components
because today I would imagine that the global
capacity of batteries would be 250-gigawatt hours.
Fast forward 10 years from now, the requirement
might be 2,500 gigabytes,” Chandra says.
“Therefore, there can be stress going forward, but
at the same time, there are entrepreneurs across
the world who would like to ride this wave, so
they would also be proactively thinking about it.”
So, will the first-mover advantage really work?
“While they have a first-mover advantage, the
combined Kia-Hyundai entity could be a challenge
in the future,” adds Gupta of IHS Markit. “The
Koreans have a significant advantage when it
comes to the battery supply ecosystem. But
so far, their focus has been on the `15 lakh to
`25 lakh market. Others like the Japanese will
push until the last minute to stay away from
the transformation but it is inevitable. That
means, as the first mover, Tata has a massive
opportunity, and a challenge in front of them.”
Who better than the Tatas to turn a
challenge into an opportunity.
 EV SPECIAL

POWERING ON
Thanks to advances in technologies and manufacturing processes, a bunch of startups
is aspiring to make India self-reliant in the EV sector

BY HARICHANDAN ARAKALI

S
everal emerging startups in
India are looking to make the
country more ‘atma nirbhar’
(self-reliant) in the electric
vehicle (EV) sector—from
advanced electronics to cell manufacturing,
areas that were totally dominated by China.
As in several other hi-tech sectors,
advances in technologies and manufacturing
processes have made various components
in the EV sector drastically cheaper, while
improving their quality. EV batteries are
a good example. Lithium-ion battery pack
prices, which were above $1,100 per kilowatt-
24 hour (kWh) in 2010, fell 89 percent in real
terms to $137 per kWh in 2020, according to
Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).
BNEF’s 2020 Battery Price Survey, which
considers passenger EVs, e-buses, commercial
EVs and stationary storage, predicts that,
by 2023, average pack prices will be $101
per kWh. Costs are already hitting $100 per
kWh at the cell level, but building battery
packs takes the price higher by about a fifth.
It is at around this price point that auto
makers should be able to produce and sell
mass market EVs at the same price (and with
the same margins) as comparable internal
combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in some
markets. This assumes no subsidies are
available, whereas in India, government policy
currently supports attractive subsidies that
are allowing EV makers to already price their
vehicles not very differently from ICE ones.
Add geopolitics to the mix, and there is
a decided shift to diversify supply chains
that rely on China—from semiconductors to
lithium-ion cells. India, with its government
policies offering attractive benefits to hi-tech
companies in these sectors, could benefit.
What follows is a series of snapshots of some
of the Indian startups that seek to play a role as
the entire world shifts from oil to electricity.

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021


Lohum Cleantech: Closing the Loop
R
ajat Verma and Justin
Lemmon were seated next
to each other as they started
their MBA class at the Harvard
Business School in 2004, and
they became good friends. That
eventually led to their co-founding
Lohum Cleantech, which today is
perhaps the only company in India
that is commercially reclaiming
the raw materials from lithium-
ion batteries and the cells that go
LOHUM
CLEANTECH
Founded: 2018, Delhi-NCR
Founders: Rajat Verma (in
pic), Justin Lemmon
Total funding: $15 million
Important investors: Baring
Private Equity Partners,
Talbros Automotive
Components
SOURCE Company, Tracxn
STARTUPS
into making those battery packs.
For now, the reclaimed material is
being shipped to partners in the cell
manufacturing sector or sold in the
commodities market, but Verma and
Lemmon have plans to eventually
manufacture the cells in India. That
would be a significant step in closing
the supply-chain loop on the EV and
static energy storage batteries that
Lohum makes—currently dependent
on imports from China and South
Korea for the individual
cells that make up
the battery packs.
Consulting with
some companies on
recycling electronics
waste led Verma to
the idea of setting up
Lohum. “We want to
contribute to the world 25
of energy sustainability,
and in a geo-strategic
sense also,” he says.
The immediate task is
adding manufacturing
capacity, as well as fine-tuning the
technologies to allow customers to
get the utmost out of their batteries.
With plants in Noida, Lohum
is supplying to original equipment
makers (OEMs) in India—for two-
wheelers, three-wheelers and energy
storage; the company is in advanced
negotiations to set up a battery and
cell recycling facility in the US.
Eventually, there is also “significant
opportunity… especially for second-
life batteries” in Southeast Asia,
Africa and Latin America, says
Lemmon, a former US naval officer
who understood the importance of
sustainability from the military.
With backers including Baring
Private Equity Partners, Lohum
is adding capacity to make 3
gigawatt hour worth of batteries
AMIT VERMA
a year—enough power to run 1.5
million electric two-wheelers.
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 EV SPECIAL

Ion Energy: Advanced Electronics and

Analytics for EVs
F
or Akhil Aryan, something
that a mentor had once told
him had stayed in his mind:
Many of the world’s smartest
people are spending their lives
pushing advertisements, one way
or another. At the time Aryan
himself was helping advance a
tech product aimed at something
similar. It was time to do something
more meaningful and he chose
energy sustainability, and more
specifically the EV industry.
Ion Energy was founded in 2016
in Mumbai. In 2018, when the
company acquired Freemans SAS, a
French battery management system
provider, its founder Alexandre
Collet joined Aryan as co-founder.
26 That helped Ion Energy accelerate
its pivot from being a battery-
swapping provider to a battery
management and intelligence
provider. Today, it is fast evolving
into an advanced electronics
and cloud software platform
ION ENERGY
provider for the EV sector and
the energy storage industry. building advanced Founded: 2016, Mumbai The company’s
The company has two business electronics for the Founders: Akhil Aryan second business
units. The first is Maxwell, which EV market,” Aryan (right), Alexandre Collet unit is Altergo,
is the electronics hardware-plus- tells Forbes India. The Total funding: $6.2 million which is a digital
embedded-software systems field is dominated Important investors: Amazon twin platform for
provider, including the battery by multinational Climate Pledge Fund, predictive analytics.
management system. The unit companies from Intuitive, YourNests Altergo helps
has about 75 customers—mostly Europe and the US. SOURCE Company, Tracxn companies manage
two-wheeler and three-wheeler “We saw a big gap fleets of EVs or large
makers—in India and 16 other where India has an solar and storage
countries. Among its customers advanced engineering talent base installations. Another example is
are Airbus, Tata Motors, Ola that ends up working in the Indian a utility-scale grid that is trading
and Okinawa Scooters. development centres of these foreign energy in the North American
Ion Energy started out with the companies… we want to retain that market. The unit is only about a year
idea of offering battery-swapping, talent and export from India.” old and is already managing 2 GW
but the founders quickly realised In addition to its current of electricity storage, Aryan says.
that their technology for improving flagship, the battery management “The idea is to build a portfolio
the battery life and performance system, Ion Energy has released of all the advanced electronics
was a much better way forward. a telematics control system and products that go into building high-
“We also realised that there was expects to launch two more performance electric vehicles and
no independent Indian company products in the coming year. energy storage systems,” he says.

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021

 STARTUPS

Log 9 Materials Scientific: Aluminium

Fuel Cells and Fast-charging Technology
W
hile hydrogen fuel cells and space applications, Singhal catalysts. The aluminium cell uses
are the best known says. It was originally developed solid aluminium plates and “also
and currently the most more as a single-use cell, whereas the upfront costs are lower” to
popular ones, there are various other Log 9 is now developing a method build these systems, Singhal says.
types of fuel cells. Akshay Singhal to replenish the aluminium and Log 9 is one of only two
is co-founder and CEO at Log 9 “use it like a fuel”, he says. companies that are developing this
Materials Scientific, where he is Among the reasons to develop technology, with the other venture
developing aluminium- an aluminium- being in Israel, he says. And the
and graphene-based based cell are that raw materials can be almost fully
LOG 9 MATERIALS
fuel cells that address hydrogen is highly extracted and recycled back into
problems like battery SCIENTIFIC flammable, and new fuel cells. Singhal expects Log
range, battery life Founded: 2015, IIT-Roorkee, has to be stored in 9’s fuel cells to find buyers overseas
headquarters in Bengaluru
and degradation. pressurised tanks, also, and that it will be especially
The aluminium Founders: Akshay V and the hydrogen useful for long-haul transportation.
Singhal (in pic), Kartik
cell’s concept is over Hajela, Pankaj Sharma
fuel cell also requires Log 9 is also commercialising a
half a century old, expensive rare- fast-charging battery technology,
Total funding: $15 million
first developed in earth metals such using lithium-ion batteries.
the US for military Important investors: Amara as platinum as Log 9 has raised about
Raja Batteries, Petronas
Ventures, Exfinity Ventures, $10 million in its series A+
Sequoia Capital India venture capital funding, and counts 27
Amara Raja Batteries, Petronas
SOURCE Company, Tracxn
Ventures, Exfinity Ventures and
Sequoia Capital’s Surge programme
among its investors. The money
will be used to commercialise and
expand Log 9’s network of EVs
fitted with its RapidX batteries,
in partnership with OEMs. Log9
has completed several pilots with
various last-mile fleet operators for
a run of about 3,000 km without
any degradation, consistent load
carrying capacity, persistent
‘Insta Charging’ and high uptime
of vehicles, the company said
in a recent press release.
Log 9’s batteries can charge
fully in 15 minutes for those in
two-wheelers and 40 minutes
for three-wheeler ones, making
them suitable for commercial
use. These batteries have a life of
over 15,000 cycles, corresponding
to over 15 years of usage, and
they are certified for less than 3
percent degradation in the life of a
typical last-mile delivery vehicle,
according to the company.

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 EV SPECIAL
Altigreen: Purpose-built EVs for India
A
mitabh Saran, a former
Nasa engineer, started
Altigreen Propulsion Labs
28 in Bengaluru in 2013, with the idea
of developing a fit-and-forget kit
that could turn any vehicle into
a hybrid. Several customers even
pilot-tested the kit and Altigreen
had also developed technologies
that could help drivers improve
their driving and so on.
Over time, however, Saran
and his co-founders decided they
needed to build entire vehicles
that were developed from the
get-go to be all-electric for Indian
conditions. Altigreen transitioned
into several components—
hardware and software—needed
by the EV sector, to becoming
an electric drivetrain company,
to eventually a full EV OEM.
Today Altigreen makes an
electric three-wheeler, called
Altigreen neEV, for the commercial
transportation sector. The vehicle
was launched this January and
“we’ve got a lot of acceptance”,
Saran says. The company has also
notched up 26 patents related
to various innovations that have
gone into the three-wheeler.
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
Saran, who is the CEO, considerations that have gone into
expects Altigreen to go beyond making Altigreen’s product, because
India to other emerging markets in “if your vehicle is going to cut it on
Southeast Asia, Africa and South the rickshaw driver’s parameters,
America. “We are clear that the then you know you have a winner
needs of these markets are very on your hands”. That means, the
different,” he says. Unlike in the electric alternative has to beat
developed markets, where the EV the incumbent fossil fuel burning
industry vehicles on real-
saw fancy electric life performance
cars coming out first, ALTIGREEN and cost as well.
the emerging markets PROPULSION LABS And Altigreen
will see models Founded: 2013, Bengaluru neEV does that,
for mass adoption with its range of 151
Founders: Amitabh
coming out first—two- Saran (in pic), Lasse km to 181 km per
wheelers, three- Moklegaard, Shalendra charge, depending
wheelers and small Gupta, John Bangura on the type of cargo
commercial four- Total funding: $8.5 million vehicle one chooses
wheelers, he adds. Important investors: from three options,
While a big SocialKonnekt, Sterling offering running
Tools, Hi Tech Gears, Phi
reason for the switch Capital, Jupiter Capital,
cost of 82 paise/
to EVs is about House of Anita Dongre km, a 54 percent
reducing greenhouse reduction in logistics
SOURCE Company, Tracxn
gas emissions, costs, and lifetime
“a humble auto savings of a million
rickshaw driver probably won’t be rupees. And the vehicle takes on
thinking about the environment India’s harsh driving conditions
first”, Saran points out. “He will such as water logging, potholes,
be worried about his livelihood dust and traffic congestion.
and what he can take home at “You know the reality, so purpose
the end of the day, each day.” build it accordingly. That’s what
Those are the kinds of Altigreen has done,” Saran says.
 STARTUPS

Ultraviolette Automotive: Taking the

High-performance Route
M
ost EV makers in India
have focussed on the mass-
market segments so far, in
making scooters and three-wheelers,
but there is of course plenty of
opportunity to get the pulse racing
with an exciting high-performance
motorcycle. That is what Narayan
Subramaniam and Niraj Rajmohan
have set out to do at their Bengaluru
startup Ultraviolette Automotive.
Ultraviolette is close to launching
the commercial version of its first
all-electric performance bike, called
F77, that the founders believe will
beat the best of the petrol guzzling
motorcycles out there in the 300-500
cc category that the bike is targeting.
“What we’ve built is an electric
motorcycle that can 29
take the internal
combustion engine ULTRAVIOLETTE
[ICE] competition head AUTOMOTIVE
on and outcompete Founded: 2014, Bengaluru
them in terms of Founders: (From left) Narayan
acceleration, top Subramaniam, Niraj Rajmohan space, while their diagnostics and various aspects
speed and all the Total funding: $12.3 million first product happens of after-sales service “that we see
usual parameters to be a motorcycle. as disrupting and are innovating
Important investors: Speciale
used to evaluate Invest, TVS Motor Company, The focus on the on”, Subramaniam says.
sports motorcycles,” GoFrugal Technologies hi-tech aspects is The F77 was unveiled just before
Rajmohan says. because much of the the Covid-19 pandemic, and since
SOURCE Company, Tracxn
The duo knew tech is becoming then has gone through several
each other from commoditised, iterations of improvements. Today,
their school days, and over the Subramaniam says. all the 70-plus team members, and
years worked on several projects Their respective backgrounds their families, at the company have
together. “One thing we have in are complementary as well. had their two doses of the Covid-
common is our passion for cross- Subramaniam brings the hard- 19 vaccine, and the slowdown
functional innovation and value- core automative engineering and imposed by the pandemic came
add for creative implementation design expertise—he has worked as a blessing in disguise as well.
of technology for different use at some of the biggest names in In terms of battery performance
cases,” Subramaniam says. the auto sector—and Rajmohan and the on-board electronics, “I
They started talking about adds the computer science think we’ve successfully leapfrogged
Ultraviolette in 2015 and established and electronics knowledge. an entire generation of updates
the company the following year. The Beyond the performance of the that will roll out in the production
rise of Tesla was also inspiring and F77, Ultraviolette will also offer version of the motorcycle,” he
they knew that EVs were the future. several differentiated features says. That rollout is slated for early
And they see themselves more as and services that are possible on next year, and the F77 is expected
a hi-tech company in the mobility an EV, including sophisticated to be priced around `3 lakh.

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 EV SPECIAL

ease-of-use and reliability under

Yulu: Mobility-as-a-service Indian road conditions.
The Covid-19 pandemic slowed

Made for India them down like most other

businesses, but also exposed new
use cases, including those people
who still needed to get to work—
people working in shops and
factories, for example—and the
large number of delivery personnel,
and the original target segment of
white collar users, now working
from home but who still need to
commute for quick errands.
Yulu has also launched one
more variant of the scooter called
Yulu DEX, also connected to the
company’s state-of-the-art Internet
of Things (IoT) network. DEX
has a rear carrier that can take
a load of up to 10 kg, making it
ideal for the ubiquitous delivery
personnel in our cities today.
Now as things are beginning
to return to a bit of normalcy,
30 Yulu is striking partnerships to
expand its operations, and make
more scooters available in more
locations. The idea is that in busy
and popular locations, people should
not have to walk more than a few
minutes to get to Yulu zones.

A
t literally the other end the Yulu smartphone app, locate Yulu recently partnered with
of the spectrum from the nearest bicycle, walk to it, Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited
high-performance unlock it with the app, ride it (Adani Electricity), Mumbai’s
motorcycles are the small, distinctly to another zone close to one’s largest power distribution utility,
light-blue electric mopeds that destination and leave it there and to expand its network of battery-
Yulu offers. It designed them for walk away. The app would deduct powered mopeds. Adani and Yulu
Indian conditions—including the fare. They realised that the plan to install over 500 battery-
a low top-speed that allows scooters, which they called Yulu swapping stations in the next 18
riders to use the bikes without a Miracle, were more popular. months. Next year, Bajaj Auto
two-wheeler driving licence. “The Western will roll out Yulu’s
In fact, about four years ago, world talks about YULU third-generation
Yulu’s founders, Amit Gupta, RK autonomous cars, Founded: 2017, Bengaluru Miracle scooters.
Misra, Naveen Dachuri and Hemant but we thought Yulu is currently
Founders: (From left) Amit
Gupta, started out by putting bicycles that our customers Gupta, Hemant Gupta, RK operating about
in different parts of Bengaluru, could ride their Misra, Naveen Dachuri 10,000 scooters in
which they called Yulu zones. Gupta, own two-wheelers Total funding: $22.5 million Bengaluru, Mumbai
the CEO, previously co-founded provided mobility- and Delhi. Over the
Important investors:
ad-tech company InMobi. Misra as-a-service could Bajaj Auto, Blume next three to four
was his senior at IIT-Kanpur, tick all the boxes,” Ventures, 3one4 Capital, years, Gupta aims
Dachuri was his batchmate and Gupta says. That Rocketship, WaveMaker to put a million
Hemant Gupta, a childhood friend. meant, convenience, SOURCE Company, Tracxn scooters on the roads
The idea was, one could use affordability, in about 10 cities.

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021


The ePlane Company: Electric wings
W
hile much of the
EV action is on the
ground, the human
fascination for flying has not left
the sector untouched. Some small
electric aircraft are already being
commercialised in the advanced
economies, but startups in India
aren’t too far behind. ePlane
Company, a venture incubated out
of Indian Institute of Technology
Madras (IIT-M), is developing
what the founders hope will
be among the first air taxis in
the country, as well as cargo
transport aircraft small enough
for last-mile delivery.
The ePlane Company is co-
founded by IIT-M professor Satya
Chakravarthy and his student
Pranjal Mehta. They are currently
testing a scaled-down prototype
and expect to have their first
cargo plane ready as early as next
year. The entrepreneurs have
also recently raised $1 million in
their series A round of funding.
Their first aircraft, the e200,
is expected to be one of the world’s
STARTUPS
The ePlane
Company
team
most compact two-seater planes, For example, one can’t simply 31
and capable of vertical take-off pack a very large battery into the
and landing in an area not much structure—it requires an exquisite
bigger than what it takes to park balance between keeping the aircraft
a mid-sized sedan. The plane is light enough to take off and fly,
designed to be light enough, at and the need for a reasonably good
around 600 kg, and range. The ePlane’s
have a range of 200 Company’s founders
km per charge, and THE ePLANE are also finding
also be able to land COMPANY ways of using the
on the average urban Founded: 2019, Chennai wings to keep the
concrete rooftop. aircraft in the air
Founders: Satya Chakravarthy,
“You know Pranjal Mehta and stable and not
professor has been always use the rotors
Total funding: $1 million
teaching for 24 years to guzzle power.
Important investors: Speciale
and I’m 24 years old,” Invest, IITM Incubation Cell,
Chakravarthy
Mehta jokes. “But our JavaCapital, First Cheque and Mehta are also
average age works out aiming to offer a
SOURCE Company, Tracxn
fine,” Chakravarthy price to the end
quips. The duo customer that will be
actually started out working on comparable to an Uber ride, “with a
a helicopter-based urban mobility 10X reduction in time” taken for the
venture but quickly transitioned trip, the professor says. Regulatory
to the electric plane option certification of the aircraft will
as the more attractive option, take between two and three years.
and they have been at it over That means, commercialisation
the last two years or so. will be around 2025, starting
There are extreme challenges with the cargo plane, and the
with an aircraft, unlike a car. passenger version will follow.
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 EV SPECIAL

32
JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES ASIA

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021

 HERO EV

Electric
Transformer
Hero MotoCorp Chairman and CEO Pawan Munjal is gearing
up to dominate India’s two-wheeled EV market despite
being a late entrant into a crowded field that includes
competing against his nephew’s company

BY MEGHA BAHREE

H
ero MotoCorp’s
motorcycles and
scooters adorn the
lobby of the company’s
research facility in
Jaipur, 270 km south of New Delhi.
Taking pride of place among the
models is the iconic CD 100, the
first motorcycle launched in 1985
by its former joint venture Hero
Honda with Japan’s Honda Motor
Co. The success of the CD 100 and
other models helped make New
Delhi-based Hero the world’s largest
maker of motorcycles and scooters
by units in 2001. Today, Hero still has
a commanding share of 37 percent
(by units) of India’s two-wheeled
market, well ahead of Honda, which
now has 25 percent and competes
against its former partner in India.
But Hero’s commanding position
could be threatened by the shift to
electric vehicles (EVs). While electric
two-wheeled transport is still a tiny
fraction of India’s market—143,837,
or just 1.3 percent of total annual
two-wheeled vehicle sales in the
year to March—that figure has grown
over four-fold in three years.
The government is also
underwriting the market’s growth. It
increased existing consumer subsidies
on two-wheeled EV prices by 50
percent and doubled the cap on this
incentive to 40 percent of the price,
bringing the formerly high prices
of two-wheeled EVs more in line
with similar gas-powered models.
In mid-September, the government
announced $3.5 billion in incentives
to ramp up the local production of
batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.
These moves are all in support of
the government’s declared goal to
have at least 30 percent of all new 33
vehicles sold in India—including
two-wheelers—be EVs by 2030.
The rise of EVs is one of the biggest
potential threats to Hero’s decades-
long market preeminence. While
Hero has a history of consistently
rolling out new models, it is an EV
laggard—it has zero electric two-
wheelers on offer. Meanwhile, over
a dozen companies in India—from
startups to large domestic rivals,
such as Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor—
now sell more than 50 different
types of electric two-wheelers in
India (two-wheelers are defined as
mopeds, scooters and motorcycles).
How does Pawan Munjal, the
company’s chairman and CEO,
respond to this challenge? He is
confident that Hero MotoCorp can not
only make the shift, but also dominate
the nascent EV market. “We have the
capability, we have the strength, we
have the wherewithal, we have the
financial muscle to become the EV
leader,” says Munjal, 67, in a video
interview in August from Baltimore,
US, where he was on a business trip.

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 EV SPECIAL
One of Munjal’s biggest competitors
in the EV space is—ironically—his
nephew Naveen Munjal, who runs
a wholly separate company called
Hero Electric Vehicles, which is
now India’s market leader in electric
two-wheelers by market share. With
34 about a dozen different variants, the
privately held Hero Electric last year
sold over 50,000 EVs. Sohinder Gill,
chief executive of Hero Electric, says
the entry of a big player like Hero
MotoCorp proves there is a real
shift happening and that will only
expand the market: “There is more
than enough room for everybody to
grow.” Complicating matters for Hero
MotoCorp is that it cannot use the
brand Hero Electric on any of its EVs.
This unusual situation arises from
2010, when the Munjals split the
family-owned Hero group into four.
Pawan kept the crown jewel JV Hero
Honda (renamed Hero MotoCorp
in 2011), while Naveen’s family got
the right to use Hero Electric on its
company and products. Naveen claims
to have been the driving force in the
creation of the family’s Hero Cycles’
IMAGE COURTESY: HERO MOTOCORP
first electric model way back in 2001
(which was a market flop)—so he can
legitimately claim to have pioneered
the two-wheeled EV market in India.
Another competitor that Hero will
have to contend with is Ola Electric,
an offshoot of domestic ride-hailing
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
The iconic
Hero Honda
CD 100, one
of the first
four-stroke
motorcycles
sold widely
in India
firm Ola, which has invested $322
million to build a new factory in
south India with the capacity to
produce 10 million electric scooters
annually. After Ola Co-founder
Bhavish Aggarwal announced
the launch of the Ola e-scooter
on Twitter in July, the company
clocked 100,000 orders within 24
hours when the bookings opened.
Hero’s plans to level the playing
field rely heavily on the company’s
Jaipur-based research facility, called
the Global Centre of Innovation
and Technology. It is here—and in
a similar Hero facility in Munich—
that Hero’s future in EVs hangs in
“WE HAVE THE
CAPABILITY, WE
HAVE THE STRENGTH,
WE HAVE THE
WHEREWITHAL, WE
HAVE THE FINANCIAL
MUSCLE TO BECOME
THE EV LEADER.”
PAWAN M U N JAL ,
CHAIRMAN AND CEO, HERO MOTOCORP
the balance. The sleekly designed
complex, which opened in 2016, is
spread over 250 acres and houses
1,000 engineers, research facilities,
an auditorium and testing grounds
for regular and electric models.
Solar panels on the roof help supply
electricity. “We are rolling out
new products, new technologies
from this R&D centre,” says
Munjal. This facility, adds Munjal,
is his “biggest, biggest pride”.
Coming soon, Munjal pledges,
is the company’s first two-wheeled
EV, a scooter, which should be
ready for an unveiling by March
next year. A one-minute glimpse
of what appeared to be a prototype
of the new scooter was shown at
the company’s tenth anniversary
ceremony broadcast in August from
the Jaipur facility. Saved as the finale
of the glitzy hour-long broadcast,
Munjal tells viewers that he has a
“little surprise.” Without revealing
any details, he stands next to a white
scooter that he describes as a “bolt of
lightning” and adds: “We are at the
cusp of revealing this to the world.”
While still tightlipped about its
features, Munjal does let on during his
interview with Forbes Asia that the
new e-scooter will feature plug-and-
charge technology. Despite being a
late entrant into the two-wheeled EV
market, Munjal leaves no doubt that
the company’s future will be electric.
“The way forward not just for us, [but]
for the entire global industry is EVs,
or similar technologies,” he says.
The Jaipur facility demonstrates
the company’s research commitment.
Inside its gleaming white-clad
walls one can see a motorcycle
frame undergoing stress tests on a
treadmill-like machine that replicates
the bumpy conditions of India’s
potholed roads. Nearby an engine is
on a continuous 200-hour test run to
check its durability, while on another
platform a bike handle is being turned
from side to side for 150,000 cycles
to see if it malfunctions. Outside in
the bright sunlight, various test tracks
 HERO EV

are designed to replicate India’s

myriad road conditions, from smooth
highways to rough offroad trails.

A
side from in-house research,
Munjal is building Hero’s EV
future through partnerships.
Way back in 2016, Hero invested in
Ather Energy, an Indian
e-motorbike company started in
2013 by two Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia
alumni. Hero now has a 35 percent
stake in the firm. Hero and Ather are
collaborating to develop a uniform
market standard for fast chargers in
India, and Hero plans to build a public
charging infrastructure based on the
standard. “The idea is to proliferate
the infrastructure,” says Munjal.
Another early partnership to get
into EVs in 2012 ended in failure. Back Hero Xtreme 160R, which has a fuel-injected engine

then, Hero took a 49 percent stake for Gogoro, one of the largest battery- “The future is going to be electric,
$25 million in the US motorcycle firm swapping suppliers in the world, and collaborative and modular,” Munjal
Erik Buell Racing (EBR), a deal that which powers 97 percent of all of said during the tenth anniversary
led to the development of prototypes Taiwan’s e-scooters and e-motorbikes. broadcast. One factor in Hero’s favor
of two EV scooters and a hydrogen Munjal has said that Hero will pursue is its financial muscle. Armed with 35
fuel-cell motorbike. However, these a dual track of using both battery more than $1 billion of cash on Hero’s
efforts fell by the wayside when swapping from Gogoro and regular books at the end of March, Munjal
EBR went bankrupt in 2015. charging in its EVs. He says Hero’s can spend heavily to get into the
Hero’s newest partnership that was second EV model will use Gogoro’s EV market. The company’s overall
announced in April is with Taiwan’s battery swapping technology. numbers this fiscal year to March

Lower Revs
While still India’s biggest two-wheeled vehicle producer, Hero has seen some erosion of its market share,
especially in scooters, in recent years

MOTORCYCLES SCOOTERS 884

805 790
8 800
6.8 719
6.4 675
5.8 5.6 5.6 5.8
6 5.4 5.3 5.4 600 545 551 554
4.8 5.1
443
397 403
4 400
55
54 53 52 54 52 52 52 52
51 51 20 19
18 19
2
16
200 13 14 13 11 10
7

0 0
FY11

FY12

FY13

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY19

FY20

FY21
FY11

FY12

FY13

FY14

FY15

FY16

FY17

FY18

FY19

FY20

FY21

Sales (in millions) Market share (%) Sales (in thousands) Market share (%)

FY to March 31 of indicated year. Market share defined as % of total units sold

SOURCE Hero MotoCorp

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 EV SPECIAL
The Global Centre of Innovation and Technology in Jaipur spreads over 250 acres and houses 1,000 engineers, research facilities, an auditorium
and testing grounds for regular and electric models
36
were weakened, however, by the
pandemic’s impact, as net profit fell
20 percent to 29 billion rupees on a 6
percent revenue growth to 315 billion
rupees. The family’s ownership in
publicly traded Hero and other
private assets gives Munjal a
net worth of $3.8 billion.
Being late to the EV party is a
challenge, says Aditya Makharia, an
auto analyst at HDFC Securities
in Mumbai, as Hero will only
be one of many when it finally
enters the EV market. With
Hero Electric already big in the
market, and Ola Electric snapping
up orders, Hero MotoCorp will
need to carve out its own identity
and market share, he says.
Munjal is no stranger to
challenges. He is the son of
IMAGE COURTESY: HERO MOTOCORP
the Hero group’s late founder,
Brijmohan Lall Munjal, who died
in 2015. After the family split the
business in 2010, and parted ways
with Honda in its joint venture,
Hero had the right to use Honda
technology through 2015; after that
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
it had to develop its own engines and
related technologies. The breakup,
however, allowed Hero to ramp up
its exports to global markets, which
had been restricted by Honda to
prevent the JV from competing with
Honda’s own sales abroad. Munjal
admits that Hero has yet to “make
its mark” in exports—a minuscule
3 percent of the total 5.8 million
Gaining Traction
Two-wheeled EV sales are still a small part of the total market
but growing fast, due in good measure to government
subsidies
FY TO MARCH 31
FY21 143,837
FY20 152,000
FY19 126,000
FY18 54,800
Total two-wheeled EV sales (units)
As % of total two-wheeled market
SOURCE Council on Energy, Environment and Water
units sold in the last fiscal year were
exported—but he is aiming to make
exports 15 percent of sales by 2025.
T
he pandemic struck India
hard. Munjal was proactive in
fighting Covid-19’s outbreak,
shutting Hero’s six factories in
India and one each in Bangladesh
and Colombia days before the
government imposed one of
the world’s strictest lockdowns
at four-hour’s notice in March
last year. “You could see what
was coming,” he says. Hero
employees switched to working
from home, and the company
1.3
started making sanitizers and
masks as well as distributing
0.9
meals in nearby communities.
Munjal initiated daily Zoom
0.7 calls with the leadership team
so they could make real-time
0.3 assessments and, as he describes
it, put “lives ahead of livelihood.”
Among the steps taken, the
company created a Covid-19
zone-mapping dashboard that

Hero’s factory in Neemrana, Rajasthan
allowed it to adjust production levels
depending on infection patterns
around its factories. It also developed
a system for anticipating supply
bottlenecks by pinpointing which
vendors were impacted and which
needed support to bring employees
safely back to work. Hero also started
selling its two-wheelers online.
When the Indian government
began to gradually ease the
nationwide lockdown from May
4, Hero was “ready to sprint,” says
Munjal. Within six months, it was
producing 30,000 vehicles a day, up
from 5,000 during the lockdown.
In January this year, it crossed the
100-million-unit landmark in two-
wheeler production, half of which
came in the last seven years. “They
COMING SOON,
MUNJAL PLEDGES, IS
THE COMPANY’S FIRST
TWO-WHEELED EV,
A SCOOTER, WHICH
SHOULD BE READY
FOR AN UNVEILING BY
MARCH NEXT YEAR
handled Covid well,” says analyst
Makharia. With factories spread
across India, Hero was able to quickly
adjust production, “sometimes on
an overnight basis,” he adds.
In gas-powered vehicles, Hero
remains India’s leader in motorcycles,
but has seen its market share erode in
scooters, which declined to 10 percent
in the last fiscal year from 18 percent a
decade ago. It also has a tiny 5 percent
of the high-end motorcycle market.
To gain share there, Hero tied up
late last year with Harley-Davidson
after it exited India following its
inability to gain a footing on its own
in the market. Under the deal, Hero
became the exclusive distributor
of Harley-Davidson motorcycles,
parts and accessories in India. It
will also develop and sell a range of
high-end motorcycles in India under
the iconic American brand. Says
analyst Makharia of Hero’s push into
the premium end: “Whether they
succeed or not is secondary, but at
least their products are up there.”
Looking ahead to the battle to take
pole position in the two-wheeled EV
market in India, Munjal says: “There
is no fun if there is no competition,
the more the merrier.”
HERO EV
Hero Story
The Hero group’s history goes back to
the founding of modern India in 1947.
That year, the late founder Brijmohan Lall 37
and three brothers set up a company to
trade and make bicycle parts. By 1956,
they had a license to make bicycles and
by 1986 Hero Cycles, as it was called,
was the world’s largest maker of bicycles
by units. The brothers also started to
produce mopeds before they secured
a joint venture with Japan’s Honda to
create Hero Honda in 1984.
In those days, the market was
dominated by two-stroke scooters and
motorcycles. Hero Honda’s innovative CD
100 model was one of the first
four-stroke motorcycles sold widely
in India. It offered a smoother ride,
reliability, an affordable price and decent
fuel economy. Its marketing slogan was
“Fill it, shut it, forget it.”
By 2001, Hero had toppled its
longtime rival Bajaj as the biggest four-
stroke motorcycle producer in India and
then became the world’s largest producer
by units. By 2009, rumors were surfacing
that the partners were mulling going their
separate ways. In 2010, the family split up
the business and by the end of the year,
the speculation was proven true when the
Munjals bought out Honda from the joint
venture. The end of this long partnership
was followed by Hero MotoCorp the
next year setting a new sales record at
the time of over six million units sold.
And this year, Munjal celebrated the
tenth anniversary of the birth of Hero
MotoCorp.
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 EV SPECIAL

Okinawa To
Gurugram: An
Electric Journey
How Jeetender Sharma, the man behind Honda Activa, made
Okinawa the second-biggest e-scooter brand in India

BY RAJIV SINGH

Jeetender Sharma,
founder and MD
of Okinawa EVs,
in Gurugram
AMIT VERMA
 OKINAWA

T
he electric journey of
Jeetender Sharma started
in 2015. “Cycle waala
bhi mere se aagey nikal
jaata hai [Even a cyclist
ovetakes me],” was what a teenager
in Gurugram, Haryana, replied when
asked about his experience with an
electric scooter. Sharma, then 39, felt
awkward to see a wide grin on the
boys who were narrating their tale.
While crossing a flyover, the second
one chipped in, the pillion rider has
to walk. “EVs [electric vehicles] are
toys,” he said in a dismissive tone.
Sharma was distraught. And rightly
so. As head of supplier and quality
assurance with Honda Motorcycle
& Scooter India (HMSI) for close to
14 years, his Catch-22 situation was
understandable. He was one of the
top guys behind the success of India’s
biggest scooter brand—Honda Activa—
which had an impeccable record in
mileage, performance and speed. The
former Honda employee, now toying
with the idea of making e-scooters,
decided to travel extensively across
cities and smaller towns to gather
consumer insight about EVs.
Irrespective of the geography he
visited, the feedback, unfortunately,
was depressing. “At best, EVs were
looked upon as a costly substitute for
cycles, and not scooters,” recounts
Sharma, who had jotted down a list
of issues plaguing EVs: Low speed,
poor mileage, zero infrastructure, lack
of spare parts, unskilled mechanics,
frequent breakdowns, poor quality.
What bothered Sharma most was
an unfair comparison. “Every aspect
of EV was sharply contrasted with
petrol scooters,” he rues. Consumers
were in no mood to come out of the
internal combustion engine (ICE) age.
Sharma, though, stayed adamant.
He started bootstrapped, managed
profession and joined the venture. The
enthusiasm of the husband-wife duo,
however, was not shared by many.
Friends, relatives and acquaintances
laughed at their bravado. “Consider
yourself lucky if you manage to sell
even 500,” was the jibe from one
of Sharma’s former colleagues.
The first-time entrepreneur’s
optimism probably stemmed from his
achievement at Honda. Back in 2001,
when he joined HMSI, the Japanese
major rolled out Honda Activa.
The gearless scooter then was an
aberration in the two-wheeler market.
The belief and persistence paid off
when Indian homes started buying
gearless scooters as the second vehicle
after a bike. In fact, in most of the
families with cars, a gearless scooter
emerged as the only two-wheeler.
In 2016, after two years of research,
Sharma made a prototype of an
electric scooter and rode it for 25,000
km across the country. The idea was
to iron out all the glitches—whatever
the scooter would encounter over
the long run—and incorporate the
changes in the final product. A year
Name & Game
First product
olled out in
rolled
017; touched
2017;
0,000-sales
50,000-sales
Okinawa was rk in 2019, and
mark
started by 1 lakh in 2021
Jeetender
Sharma
in 2015
Revenue
increased from
`140 crore in
FY20 to `155
crore in FY21
later, Sharma rolled out his maiden
scooter Ridge, and managed to sell
10,000 units in a year. With galloping
sales, business pole-vaulted. In
2018, Okinawa posted `100 crore in
revenue; and the next year, the brand
crossed the 50,000 sales mark.
Cut to October 2021. Okinawa
closed FY21 at `155 crore revenue,
has sold over 1 lakh scooters so far,
and emerged as the second-biggest
electric scooter maker in India with a
17 percent market share. While Hero
Electric tops the chart with 36 percent
share, the third on the pecking order
is Ampere with 14 percent, followed
by Ather with 11 percent, according to
data by JMK Research, a consultancy
firm. Okinawa has a manufacturing
plant in Alwar, Rajasthan, with an
annual capacity of 90,000 vehicles
in a single shift; has three e-scooters
under high-speed, and two under
the low-speed category, with prices
ranging from `61,998 to `1.05 lakh.
The company is now planning to 39
invest `200 crore to set up a new
plant which can make up to 1 million
units. The ambitious target is to
Company is the
second-biggest
EV scooter
maker by
volume
Has three
e-scooters under
un
high-speed, and
two under low-
lo
speed categ
category;
prices range
rang
from `61,998
`61,99 to
`1.05 lakh
Manufacturing
plant is in Alwar,
Rajasthan,
with an annual
INFOGRAPHIC: SAMEER PAWAR

capacity of
to build a kitty of `25 crore from 90,000 vehicles
Chunk of saless
friends, family and personal savings, in a single shift
comes from Investing `200
Karnataka, crore to set
and started his electric two-wheeler Tamil Nadu, up a new plant
Has a network
brand Okinawa. His wife, a doctor, was Maharashtra, of over 400 which can make
Gujarat, Rajasthan dealers across up to 1 million
convinced with her husband’s vision and Odisha the country units
in an electric future. She quit her

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA


EV SPECIAL
sell over a million units by 2025.
Sharma, for his part, reckons that
what is most gratifying for him is not
the second-biggest billing. “What
is priceless is the consumer trust,”
he says. For a brand, he explains,
which didn’t have any legacy or
any financial institution backing,
managing to change the perception
of EVs and silently nudge people
toward a greener future is a huge
sense of satisfaction. “The future
is EV, and it is here,” he says.
Okinawa’s success, reckon auto
analysts, can be largely attributed to
two factors. First, it had a portfolio of
low-speed and high-speed scooters,
and managed to strike a balance
between price and value proposition.
It started as a mass brand by rolling
out EVs for over `60,000 and is
now playing a premium game with
the launch of iPraise+, which is
priced at `1.5 lakh and claims to
run 139 km on a single charge.
40 It was the second factor, however,
that turned out to be magical. Explains
Jaspreet Singh Bajwa, management
consultant (automotive industrial
consulting group) at Nomura Research
Institute: Sharma was quick to kill
‘range anxiety’ among consumers.
Range, he says, was not only about
the mileage but also about the
speed of charging the batteries.
The Okinawa factory in Alwar, Rajasthan
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
“The comfort of detachable
lithium ion batteries soothed
all nerves,” he says. Users can
remove the battery and charge it
at home with a common three-pin
plug. In one go, Sharma killed all
apprehensions around charging
infrastructure. Bajwa adds that it
also removes the fear of overheating
or other issues if the battery is left
overnight to charge in the scooter.
What also gave Sharma massive
headroom for growth was targeting
smaller towns across India. Okinawa
has a network of over 400 dealers, and
sells mostly in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan
and Odisha. Staying away from the
cluttered top cities helped immensely.
Marketing experts, though,
point out the missing fourth ‘P’—
price, product and place being the
first three. Call it promotion or
positioning. “Having a Japanese
name was a marketing masterstroke,”
says Ashita Aggarwal, marketing
professor at Bhavan’s SP Jain Institute
of Management and Research
in Mumbai. Japan’s Okinawa—
nicknamed ‘Island of Longevity’—is
not only known for residents having
a long life, but it is also known
for the high level of environment
consciousness among people.
Japan also, she underlines, is one
OKINAWA
of the most assuring names in auto
technology. For a user who is getting
into a new technology for the first
time in her life, a Japanese name is
highly comforting. “They have lived
up to the billing as well,” she says,
alluding to the quality of vehicles.
Sharma, though, didn’t put on
a marketing hat while naming his
brand. During his stint at Honda,
he visited the island thrice and was
impressed with the quality of life and
awareness about a clean and green
environment. “That’s why I named
it Okinawa,” he says. Consumers, he
underlines, don’t stick to a brand if it
doesn’t deliver quality. “We are a 100
percent Indian company. We never
positioned it as a Japanese brand,”
he says, adding that the journey
has had its share of impediments.
One of the early challenges was
convincing banks. “It was not easy,”
Sharma recounts. Some of the
financial institutions he approached
had a bitter experience in backing
electric two-wheeler ventures. When
no amount of convincing helped,
Sharma thought out-of-the-box to
change the conventional wiring
of the lenders. At one of the zonal
offices of a bank, he kept his scooter
parked for 45 days. He offered the
employees to use it for free. The idea
was to make them realise the high
quality of the product, and viability
of the business. The gambit worked.
Another problem, which still
persists, was low awareness about EVs.
He rolled out campaigns educating
people not only bout the technology
and the product, but also about the
right way to use the batteries.
Recently, there have been
news of EVs catching fire. Sharma
reckons there is no reason to panic.
“Mishaps can happen if people
don’t follow the right procedures,”
he says. EVs, he underlines, are
not only about a new product, but
also about a change in mindset.
“Jolts, if any, must not halt
the progress towards a clean and
green tomorrow,” he signs off.
 BOUNCE

On the Bounce
How Sequoia- and Accel-backed scooter-rental startup Bounce is
morphing into a full stack EV player. Can it pounce on the big opportunity?

BY RAJIV SINGH

March 2018, Bengaluru stepped on the gas. By January 2020, businesses. “It was crazy,” he
it had a fleet of 25,000 scooters across recounts. Bounce had been scaling

V
ivekananda Hallekere’s
dream was turning
into a nightmare. The
chartered accountant,
along with his friends
Varun Agni and Anil G, had started
his entrepreneurial journey in 2014.
After four years, and experimenting
with a bunch of ideas and prototypes,
Hallekere and his gang had eventually
found their mojo with Bounce. The
scooter rental startup was making
a decent `30-40 lakh per month,
had a core team of five members
and had built a fleet of 800 scooters
operational across Bengaluru. Bounce
had finally sprung to its feet.
One thing, though, was missing:
VC (venture capital) backing. Till
then, the friends had managed to
raise `14 crore from a clutch of
angels and friends. “When will
VCs start queuing up to fund us?”
quipped Hallekere to his friends.
His wish soon came true. On
a Monday morning in March, six
VCs found themselves cramped in
a small room in Bengaluru. “There
was no place for all of them to fit,”
recalls the first-time founder, who
scurried around for a solution. One
of the VCs was escorted to a Café
Coffee Day outlet on the ground floor
of the building; two were shifted to
pigeon-holed meeting rooms on the
two cities; was doing 1.2 lakh rides per
day; and overall had clocked 16 million
rides so far. “We were at one-third
of Bengaluru Metro,” says Hallekere.
Metro was clocking 3 lakh rides.
Bounce, in contrast, was 1.2 lakh.
The same month, the shared mobility
startup raised $105 million (around
`748 crore) in a Series D round of
funding led by Accel, and B Capital
Group. Existing investors—Chiratae
Ventures, Falcon Edge, Maverick
Ventures, Omidyar Network India,
Qualcomm Ventures and Sequoia
Capital India—also participated.
Armed with money, Hallekere
was now set to enter Europe.
Then came Covid in March,
and a rude jolt for ride-sharing
Name & Game
Offered high-end bikes
and scooter rentals
to urban commuters
under the name
'Wicked Ride’
Started by
Vivekananda
Hallekere, Varun
Agni and Anil G
in 2014
Has an EV
manufacturing plant
at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan,
with a capacity of 180K
scooters a year
Will be exporting
and hiring massively, and suddenly
everything shuttered. While the silver
lining was raising a massive round
in January, the flip side was that
Bounce was burning from both ends.
Ballooning expenses on bike
EMIs, fat operational bills and a
hefty salary outlay were taking a
toll. After exploring all options for
four months, Hallekere decided
to bite the bullet. “We downsized
massively,” rues Hallekere. Other
steps were also taken. All petrol 41
scooters were sold to bring down the
EMIs and Bounce, which had been
piloting with some EVs in its fleet,
decided to completely turn electric.
Fast forward to October 2021.
Bounce has over 4,000 electric
Shifted to scooter rental
under 'Metro Bikes’,
which later became Later, tweaked the
scooter-sharing in the business model to a
form of Bounce dockless-scooter-
sharing service
Raised around $200
million in equity; last
equity round of $105
million was in January
2020
Backers include Accel,
Facebook co-founder Eduardo
Saverin’s B Capital Group,
Falcon Edge, Chiratae Ventures,
Maverick Ventures, Sequoia,
Omidyar Network India and
INFOGRAPHIC: SAMEER PAWAR

scooters to Latin
same floor, and the rest managed
America and a
few European
to find space in the Bounce office. countries
Hallekere got what he asked for:
Is getting into
Bounce closed its Series A round manufacturing of
of $10 million in June 2018. EV scooters; mass
production starts company 22 Motors
Over the next two years, Bounce from January 2022
Qualcomm Ventures
Used to have a fleet
of 30,000 petrol
Bought EV Started battery scooters; now has
manufacturing swapping last year; 4,000 electric vehicles
done over 400K across Bengaluru and
this year swaps in Bengaluru Vijaywada

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 EV SPECIAL

vehicles across Bengaluru and
Vijaywada; does 20,000 daily rides
across the two cities; and has built
an extensive battery swapping
infrastructure using mom-and-
pop stores. In fact, last year, it did
over 4 lakh swaps in Bengaluru
alone. In October, it also bought
EV manufacturing company 22
Motors to morph into a full stack
EV player, which will manufacture
scooters, and also continue with
the rental and sharing business. It
has also built an EV manufacturing
plant at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan, with a
capacity of 1.8 lakh scooters a year.
Hallekere explains why
manufacturing EVs makes sense.
Bounce, he says, has built a wide
battery-swapping infra and had
been in the scooter business for over
seven years. What this means is great
consumer insight and knowledge of
users’ needs and pain points. “We
will offer electric scooters without
batteries,” he says. The move, he
adds, kills all the apprehensions
of consumers around EVs in one
go—where to charge, how to charge,
how much time will it take to
charge, and replacement costs.
Removing the battery brings down
the upfront cost of a scooter by around

42
SELVAPRAKASH LAKSHMANAN FOR FORBES INDIA

(From left) Co-founders of

Bounce Vivekananda Hallekere,
Anil G and Varun Agni are
betting on battery swapping and
building a high-quality scooter
that won’t cost a bomb

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021


40 percent. “Now it beats petrol
scooters in price,” he says. Range
anxiety, charging worries, price issues,
and quality apprehensions are now all
things of the past. “We are building
a scooter for India, keeping in mind
what consumers need,” he says.
Bounce’s transition to an EV player
has found unflinching support from
investors. “It’s a natural transition,”
reckons Shailesh Lakhani, managing
director at Sequoia India. Bounce, he
lets on, is moving from ride-sharing
to scooter-sharing to now making its
own vehicles. The reasons are many.
First, EVs have better economics
and a larger user case. Second, Covid
disrupted the ride-sharing business
and hastened the transition to EVs.
The Bounce team, Lakhani underlines,
believes the current existing EV
two-wheelers are not great products
yet. “So there’s a gap in the market to
create a great consumer product,” he
says. Third, the EV push from states
and the central government means a
much more realistic chance of wider
and mass EV adoption in the future.
And lastly, rising fuel prices have
made people take a closer look at EVs.
For Hallekere, taking a closer
look at EVs didn’t happen overnight.
Bounce had been building a battery-
swapping infrastructure over the last
year or so. The seminal learning was
one: Charging won’t work in India.
He tells you why. When there is
hardly any space for parking, where
would you find room for charging
stations? he asks. “We have done
over half a million battery swaps,
and firmly believe that swapping is
the solution in India,” he asserts.
What about competition from big
boys such as Ola and Ather who are
loaded with money and have a head
start? Hallekere is not worried. “We
love being an underdog,” he says with
a smile. His confidence doesn’t come
from any ‘David versus Goliath’ kind
of stories. What gives him hope is
finding a niche and playing a game
that doesn’t pit him directly against
the Olas, Athers and Hero Electrics
of the world. While the others are
still making premium scooters that
need charging and are catering to
people who have parking space and
probably also a car, Bounce is going
after the masses. “We are making
for people who use two-wheelers
for their daily commute,” he says.
Mass play in EVs can’t happen at a
premium pricing. Bounce, Hallekere
underlines, will build a sturdy, high-
BOUNCE
“BOUNCE BELIEVES
THE CURRENT EV
TWO-WHEELERS
ARE NOT GREAT
PRODUCTS YET. SO
THERE’S A GAP IN THE
MARKET TO CREATE
A GREAT PRODUCT.”
S HAI LE S H L AK HAN I
MANAGING DIRECTOR, SEQUOIA INDIA
43
quality scooter that won’t cost a bomb.
“My scooter without battery will
cost as low as `36,000,” he claims.
On the funding front, he claims the
startup has enough runway. “We have
enough money in the bank to take the
product out to the market,” he says.
Bounce’s quest for a promising
future, interestingly, rests on its
past. “We understand scooters very
well,” says Hallekere. What also
differentiates Bounce is its vision
against ownership in the long run.
“Over the next 10 years, ownership
will become redundant,” he says.
Eighty-two percent of people in
India, he says, don’t own a private
vehicle. “Trust me, 82 percent of
them having access to a personal
vehicle is not good for society,” he
says. A full stack electric model—from
owning to renting to sharing—is the
future of mobility in India. Bounce,
he says, is not only redefining
MEXY XAVIER
mobility but is building a scooter
that India needs. “All of us will
bounce together,” he signs off.
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 EV SPECIAL
Electric Move
Former HSBC banker Sameer Aggarwal has been a prime
mover in financing electric rickshaws with RevFin. Will the
gambit pay off?
BY RAJIV SINGH
S
ameer Aggarwal’s tryst
with ‘prime’ started
early. He graduated from
IIT Kharagpur—one
of the top engineering
colleges—in 2006; his maiden job
was with HSBC, and after a few
years, the Delhi lad relocated to
London and continued to work with
one of the world’s largest financial
and banking organisations. His
almost-decade-long stint was dotted
with prime roles such as managing
44 £20-billion portfolio comprising
credit cards, personal loans and
overdrafts, handling credit risk for
retail assets globally, and working
across six continents in 15 countries.
In 2015, he quit his job. Though
keen to start his own venture,
Aggarwal wanted to check his appetite
for a startup life full of hustle. “I
wanted to check whether I am still
a corporate guy or do I have it in me
to take a solo plunge,” he recalls.
The second innings started on a
‘subprime’ note. Aggarwal joined
London-based subprime lending
startup Oakam. As head of risk and
analytics for two years, he gained
rich insights into the financial
lives of the underbanked, the ones
without any credit history and the
ones having a broken track record
of repayments. “From prime I
moved into subprime, and it was an
enriching experience,” he recounts.
The stint also prepared him to start
his entrepreneurial journey. “It was
clear that I wanted to do something
in the financial segment,” he says.
“But I didn’t know what. There was
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
a lot to explore.” Towards the end
of 2017, he came back to India.
After a few months of
brainstorming, Aggarwal bumped into
an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer.
“It was serendipity,” he recalls. It
was October, Delhi was gradually
getting chocked due to the annual
ritual of stubble burning by farmers
across Delhi-NCR, Haryana and
Punjab, and the air was already
oppressive due to heavy vehicular
emissions. “Why don’t you start
financing electric three-wheelers?”
the visitor nudged Aggarwal, who
was sitting in his one-room office
in Central Delhi. “They cost around
`1.5 lakh, and the headroom for
growth is massive,” he underlined.
The idea sounded electrifying.
“It was good for the environment,”
Aggarwal reasoned. “But was it good
business?” The former banker just
needed one set of data to take the
call. Back then, there were around 20
lakh electric three-wheelers on road
in India. What was glaringly missing,
though, was just one thing: Organised
“YOU CAN APPLY
FOR A LOAN AND
DRIVE OUT WITH AN
ELECTRIC RICKSHAW lending player. Aggarwal decided
to be a prime mover, and started
IN JUST 10 MINUTES. RevFin, a digital financing platform
THAT’S ELECTRIFYING for electric three-wheelers in 2018.
SPEED.” The beginning was slow: One
loan a day. But after six months, the
SAM E E R AGGARWAL , business gathered pace: Three loans a
FOUNDER, REVFIN day. RevFin quickly spread across 15
states and Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West

Bengal, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand
emerged as its top markets. “Before
March 2020, we were doing 10 loans
a day,” recalls Aggarwal, who raised
$4 million (about `30 crore) in a pre-
Series A round of funding in October
from a clutch of backers, including
Redcliffe founder Dheeraj Jain,
LetsVenture Angel Fund, Anuraag and
Ruchirans Jaipuria of Jaipuria group
and Rishi Kajaria of Kajaria Ceramics.
A year-and-a-half post the national
lockdown, the business is galloping at
an electric pace. RevFin has a monthly
disbursement run-rate of `3 crore, and
is on track to take it to `15 crore per
month by March next year. “By March
2023, we plan to disburse `100 crore
REVFIN
Sameer
Aggarwal
has financed
over 3,000 EVs
since 2018
45
per month,” says Aggarwal, adding
that the startup has financed over
3,000 EVs so far, and claims to have
a gross NPA (non-performing assets)
at 2.5 percent. “Before the pandemic,
MADHU KAPPARATH
there was not even a single case of
default,” he informs. Though some
of the borrowers—mostly daily wage
earners—missed their EMIs due to
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

EV SPECIAL
zero work during the lockdown, others
managed to exhibit fiscal discipline.
Backers of RevFin are elated
with the performance. “They have
quickly built a financing network in
over 100 small towns with near-zero
customer acquisition cost,” claims
Dheeraj Jain, founder of Redcliffe
Life Diagnostics. Commercial EVs,
he says, provide much better cost of
ownership to drivers compared to ICE
(internal combustion engine)-based
vehicles using petrol and diesel. “Most
ecommerce companies too have made
commitment to switch their fleet
to electric,” Jain says, adding that a
combination of better economics and
sustainability makes a compelling case
for high EV adoption in the country.
India has over six million [60
lakh] three-wheelers on road, and
the government plans to convert a
chunk of them into EVs. “Electric
mobility adoption is on the cusp of
a revolution in India,” he says.
46 Aggarwal, though, wants to talk
about a different kind of revolution
that RevFin is part of. “Over 90
percent of our users are new to credit.
They do not have any loan history,”
he says. Most of the customers, he
explains, are daily-wage earners
and owning an EV gives them an
opportunity to make more money
than driving any other mode of
mobility. In the absence of any formal
lending mechanism, most potential
borrowers end up taking money
from unorganised private lenders.
In January, Revfin received funding
from Shell Foundation in partnership
with electric vehicle operator SmartE
to accelerate adoption of electric
mobility solutions among the low-
income consumers from Tier II
cities of eastern Uttar Pradesh.
There is another reason why
India is primed to see electric
INFOGRAPHIC: SAMEER PAWAR
rickshaws across the country over
the next few years. “Still in a lot of
small towns, there is no concept
of last-mile passenger mobility,”
Aggarwal says. “Electric rickshaws
are the answers, and that’s why we
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
REVFIN
Name & Game
It has its own NBFC;
finances loans for
electric three-wheelers Has a monthly
in semi-urban, Tier III disbursement
and beyond run rate of
`3 crore Plans to take
it to `15 crore/
month by March
2022 and `100
crore/month by
RevFin was March 2023
started by
Sameer
Aggarwal
in 2018
Has financed
over 3,000 EVs
Backers include
so far; gross
Redcliffe Founder
Dheeraj Jain, NPAs are at 2.5
LetsVenture Angel percent
Fund, Anuraag and
Ruchirans Jaipuria
Present across 15 states;
of Jaipuria group Raised $4 million
and Rishi Kajaria of (`30 crore) in
top markets include Uttar
Kajaria Ceramics Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal,
Pre-Series A in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand
October 2021
see a huge opportunity there.” collaborating with OEMs (original
Can aggressive lending to a segment equipment manufacturers), dealers
which does not have any credit and point-of-sale finance, it will also
exposure turn out to be a potential deepen its footprint across 16 states.
challenge for the startup? Aggarwal The new business opportunity comes
reckons two factors have ensured that in ecommerce delivery business.
RevFin’s bets are hedged. First, all Aggarwal explains that as the
loans are secured loans. The vehicles Swiggys and Amazons of the world
are hypothecated to the startup. move into converting their fleet to
Second is the element of pride and electric, RevFin has started partnering
shame. “For daily-wage earners, it is with fleet operators who manage
a matter of pride to own a vehicle,” operations for ecommerce players.
he says. They do not want to get rid This business model, he says, would
of it as it generates a decent source be more focussed on big cities rather
of income. And for defaulters, the than small towns, and will also include
shame element is when loan collectors electric two-wheelers and e-autos.
knock on your doors for recovery. “By October next year, about half
RevFin is also planning to add of our business will come from this
more revenue engines. While it vertical,” he says, adding that over
will expand its core business of the next few years, ecommerce has
financing electric three-wheelers by the potential to become the main
source of revenue. RevFin, he claims,
“A COMBINATION OF is clocking an annualised revenue
run rate of `7 crore, and is targeting a
BETTER ECONOMICS three-fold jump over the next fiscal.
AND SUSTAINABILITY “Our next target is `25 crore, and then
MAKES A VERY `75 crore,” he says, adding that the
COMPELLING biggest challenge for the startup is to
stay focussed and stay aggressive.
CASE FOR HIGH
What Aggarwal should remember,
EV ADOPTION.” though, is that displaying too much
aggression in lending business—
D H E E R A J JAI N , whether prime or subprime—
FOUNDER, REDCLIFFE LIFE DIAGNOSTICS carries with it an inherent
warning: Shock and awe.
 EV SPECIAL
Subscribe & Drive
How Myles Zero is driving wider adoption of electric cars by playing
the subscription card. Can it click?
T
he toss-up between
‘electric’ and ‘shock’ was
a no-brainer for Ritesh
Dhingra. For the CEO
of Cossmic Products,
a manufacturer of personal care
products, two dominant reasons for
driving home an electric car this
year were simple. First, the running
costs of petrol and diesel vehicles
were fast turning out to be a shocking
experience. Equally disturbing was
the devastating impact of fossil fuels
on the environment. Mumbai-based
Dhingra, who had owned multiple
48 cars in the past, such as MG Hector
and Hyundai Creta, subscribed
to an electric car from MG Motor
from Myles, an online car rental
platform that rolled out electric
vehicles (EVs) in its subscription
plan ‘Myles Zero’ last year.
Dhingra reckons he made an
electrifying choice. While the EV
carried a tag of over `25 lakh, the
businessman settled for a monthly
payment of around `59,000 and drove
the car home. There was no down
payment, zero maintenance cost,
and insurance too was covered. The
Name & Game
Myles is present across 21 cities
and has over 2 lakh users
INFOGRAPHIC: SAMEER PAWAR
Started in 2013
by Sakshi Vij,
Myles offers car
rental services
Pegs around 30 percent of the EV sales in India
to happen through subscription over the next
two years
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
BY RAJIV SINGH
hassle-free car ownership—with a
minimum subscription period of 12
months for a new car—made ample
sense. “Subscription helps you enjoy
the latest technology without the
risk of owning a car,” he says.
Cut to Delhi. Sakshi Vij too is
excited. And she has all the reasons
to be so. “EVs form 40 percent of
vehicles on Myles Zero, which has
2,000 cars on its platform,” says the
founder of Myles, started in 2013.
Adoption for EVs on subscription,
she underlines, will be far quicker
than internal combustion engine
(ICE) vehicles. “I think subscription
will melt ICE,” she smiles.
Unlike electric two-wheelers,
where consumers have a wide range
of options and price points as low
as `50,000, electric cars are still
prohibitively priced. And it’s likely
to remain so in the future. So the
only way in which such cars can find
a wider appeal is via subscription,
which trumps leasing on a couple of
counts, especially the biggest one—
long lock-in periods. Vij explains
why electric car subscription is set to
take off in India. Such a flexible form
Launched last year, Myles Zero
offers car subscriptions
EV forms 40
percent of
subscriptions on
Myles Zero platform
Company has tied
up with OEMs
such as Toyota,
Maruti Suzuki, and
MG Motors
of ownership, she says, takes care of
three primary concerns of users.
First is the high total cost of
ownership. Second is an uncertainty
on the residual value of EVs. And the
third is a wariness around battery life
and charging. “Subscription smoothly
tackles all such issues,” she says.
The most compelling proposition is
that suddenly a `40 lakh car comes
down to `40,000 per month, she
says. “You don’t have to think about
fuel and fuelling it,” she adds.
For Myles Zero, interestingly, the
first set of electric users happened
to be senior citizens. What, though,
made them take the bait was a
bunch of factors such as high
comfort, zero maintenance and less
travel. The subscription, however,
gathered pace over the last year as
entrepreneurs, including startup
founders, started jumping in large
numbers on the bandwagon.
Back in Mumbai, Atul Yadav, a
steel trader, bought a Tata EV on
subscription. For the 35-year-old,
though, the intent was different.
“Silent vehicles make a loud
statement,” he laughs. The trigger to
try an EV was FOMO (fear of missing
out). Driving an electric car, he
explains, is the coolest thing around
the world. “And it doesn’t make sense
to buy,” he adds. The reason is not
the cost, but apprehensions. “It’s a
new technology and I don’t know
how it will turn out to be,” he says.
Better to hedge bets than display a
false sense of bravado, he smiles.
Vij, for her part, reckons that
the transition to electric would be
gradual and not sudden. “It’s quite
unlike 3G to 4G or now 5G,” she says.
 MYLES ZERO

49

The difference is simple. In mobile
technology, the device remained
the same. In cars—which carry a
much bigger ticket size—it’s not.
People will also need time to make a
switch from ICE to EV. Habits don’t
change overnight. Another factor
inhibiting wider adoption is limited
choice in EVs. Original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs), she lets on,
must come with more options.
Customer hesitancy is reflected in
the sales numbers. Out of the 34,316
units of EVs sold in September, only
1,221 were cars. While Tata Motors
and MG Motors accounted for 98
continued to clock high numbers:
16,641. An uptick in car subscription
is clearly the answer if India wants to
see more electric cars on the roads.
Vij is aggressively trying to do
her bit by adding more heft to Myles
Zero. The platform has partnered
“YOU DECIDE THE
AMOUNT YOU WANT
TO SPEND EVERY
MONTH, AND WE
WILL FIND THE RIGHT
EV FOR YOU.”
with Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, and MG,
and is in talks with at least five more
OEMs. In fact, a few OEMs want to
explore the option of making electric
cars and putting them on subscription
only. “They just want to ensure that
the initial cost of ownership and
other hesitancies melt,” she says,
adding that though the transition
to EV would be gradual, the pace
would not be slow by any means.
“Over the next three years, there
should be a significant growth in the
EV segment,” she says, adding that
Myles Zero is also working on adding
electric two-wheelers on its platform.
MADHU KAPPARATH

percent of registrations in the month, India is slowly, but surely, getting

the share of the former jumped from SAK S H I VIJ, charged up, and Myles Zero is
58 percent in August to 72 percent. FOUNDER, MYLES ensuring that electric cars get more
Meanwhile, two-wheeler EVs affordable and democratised.

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 In Focus

50

As part of the Save Aarey protests, Warli adivasis from 27 hamlets in Aarey Milk Colony protested outside the dairy office on May 28, 2019,
against plans to resettle them in rehabilitation buildings to make way for various development projects

Women Rise Against

Climate Change
An important goal of the UN climate summit in Glasgow is to curtail deforestation.
SATYABRATA TRIPATHY / HINDUSTAN TIMES VIA GETTY IMAGE

In India, including at the ‘Save Aarey’ movement, women have been at the forefront
of resisting threats to biodiversity in the name of infrastructure projects
By SUMAIRA ABDULALI

R
afia Abdulali’s support
of her husband
Humayun Abdulali—
my father-in-law—was
crucial to his being
“single-handedly responsible for
crafting one of the most unique
protected areas in the world”, the
104-sq km Sanjay Gandhi National
Park (SGNP) locatated in the heart
of Mumbai. His sustained interest
over many decades since the 1960s
to craft SGNP, to document its
birds and to ensure its long-term
protection from a highway in 1975
would have been impossible without
her: Rafia always accompanied him
on his Sunday birdwatching jaunts.
She was in charge of the tea. As an
honorary wildlife warden tasked
with bringing wildlife poachers to

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021


justice, frequent visits to the police
station and magistrates’ courts
were part of their regular beat.
Today, the role of women defenders cutting. The car shed for Metro-3,
of the environment is recognised as
vital and goes far beyond serving tea or Aarey, required this tree-cutting and
providing support to men. Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka, under-secretary
general of the United Nations (UN)
and executive director of UN Women,
said on World Environment Day [June
5], “Women and girls must be at the
heart of the fight for climate justice.”
SGNP, the world’s most visited
national park, is home to two lakes,
Tansa and Vihar, which supply
drinking water to Mumbai, and
the 2,400-year-old Kanheri caves.
Indigenous wildlife, including
254 species of birds, 40 species of
mammals, 78 species of reptiles and
amphibians, 150 species
of butterflies and over a
staggering 1,300 species of
plants, thrive within it.
In recent years, as threats
to SGNP’s buffer area—the
12 sq km-Aarey Milk Colony
and the Powai lake beyond
Aarey—have intensified,
numerous women have
engaged with a multi-
faceted and prolonged
struggle, becoming a force
to reckon with in the
‘Save Aarey’ movement.
In 2014, to ease congestion
in overcrowded suburban
railways, the Maharashtra
government, with funding
from the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA),
began construction of multiple
metro-rail links between
parts of Mumbai that lack rail
connectivity. Along metro
rail routes, potted palms and
the message, “Mumbai is
upgrading”, were displayed.
However, in a 33-hectare
plot within Aarey, a biodiverse
forest with 5 lakh trees where
leopards and poisonous
snakes are among the 290
species who live alongside traditional
forest dwellers of the Warli Adivasi
Tribe, 2,298 trees were marked for
which runs from South Mumbai to
was bitterly opposed by thousands
of people, including many women.
At a recent site visit, Amrita
Bhattacharjee, a prominent voice of
‘Save Aarey’, pointed to a high fence
that obscured from sight the place
where, in 2019, thousands of trees
were cut overnight amidst intense
conflict. She explained, “We do
not want the car shed to be within
Aarey and destroy its biodiversity.”
In the eye of a storm after the tree-
cutting incident, Ashwini Bhide, the
Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
officer who was then the Mumbai
Pramila (left) and Chaitali Bhoir outside their Aarey house, a brown
mud hut decorated with Warli paintings. Every painting depicts
their love for their home and the fear of its loss
ENVIRONMENT
Metro Rail Corporation Limited
(MMRCL) chief, emphasised the
valuable role the metro would play
in reducing pollution. “The trees
cut make way for public transport
which is a long term and sustainable
solution for pollution,” she tweeted.
However, since forests are
important carbon sinks, absorbing
more carbon than they release, and
since concrete is one of the largest
carbon emitters, concretisation
of the forest may not be a holistic
solution to reduce air pollution.
Research by Shweta Wagh,
associate professor, Kamla Raheja
College, also highlights that “Aarey
is an important catchment area of
the Mithi River, which originates in
SGNP and flows through Mumbai”.
Saving Aarey helps save Mumbai from
increasingly recurrent floods
and other environmental
catastrophes. These
realisations have served to
strengthen the collective 51
resolve to fight to preserve
Aarey’s biodiversity.
The existential threat
of climate change includes
interconnected threats from
loss of biodiversity, land
degradation, and air and
water pollution. ‘Making
Peace with Nature’, the
UN’s most comprehensive
blueprint on climate change
released this February,
emphasises that “it is
essential that these problems
are tackled together”.
In the six years since
Bhattacharjee first became
involved with the Save Aarey
movement, she has filed
litigations in the Bombay High
Court and Supreme Court,
faced successes and reversals,
but has not given up.
Bhattacharjee has been
SUMAIRA ABDULALI
effective in creating grassroots
momentum, gaining diverse
support from hundreds of
Warli forest-dwellers and
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 In Focus
young people. As a result of the Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP.
protests, the Maharashtra government The struggle to ‘Save Aarey’ has
announced in 2019 that it would been one of India’s most prominent
shift the car shed away from Aarey. environmental battles and has brought
However, Bhattacharjee laments that together young and old people, men,
despite waiting for two years, the women, housewives, tree lovers,
car shed area remains barricaded. students, researchers and activists.
“I will continue my struggle to save Writers, designers, illustrators, artists,
Aarey until we succeed,” she says. all have contributed to making ‘Save
She even stayed up all night to Aarey’ a true citizens’ movement.
support youngsters who protested In 2020, while Covid-19 lockdown
tree cutting on a Friday night after made on-ground activism impossible,
the Bombay High Court dismissed the young people went online to
a petition (filed by another activist) communicate their message through
to stay deforestation. Hundreds of social media where Instagram posts
people were unexpectedly herded into from ‘Youth for Aarey’ thanked
police vans and detained at the police Warli women, “The true guardians
station, 29 of whom were arrested and and protectors of #AareyForest.”
jailed. “I attended court hearings until An early initiative of the motley
orders for exemption from mandatory new group to Save Aarey in 2015
“We do not want the car
shed to be within Aarey
and destroy its biodiversity.
52 I will continue to save
Aarey until we succeed.”
AMRITA BHATTACHARJEE,
SAVE AAREY ACTIVIST
quarterly appearance before the police was the ‘Aarey Mahotsav’, which
station were passed,” Bhattacharjee consisted of a tree walk, music
says. Cases against all arrested and art to create awareness about
people have now been withdrawn. Aarey and to encourage people
Pramila and Chaitali Bhoir, a to visit and see for themselves.
Warli mother and daughter-in- Surjit Kaur, 72, who loves
law, were among those arrested for running, organised the first ‘Run
protesting plans that would mean loss for Aarey’. “My generation has
of the forest they have considered ruined the environment for our
home. Pramila kept smiling as she children, but at least we can now
spoke of the two nights she spent help in preserving what remains
in jail, “This was a first for me!” for our grandchildren,” she says.
Prominent among those who were As the movement continued
arrested were numerous urban and to gain traction, tree-lover Renee
young people, many of them women, Vyas held tree walks and the group
who have throughout been a driving acknowledged trees as family
SUMAIRA ABDULALI
force of the Save Aarey campaign. members when they tied rakhis
Even political leaders were detained, to them on Raksha Bandhan.
including former mayor Shubha They invoked protection of Lord
Raul and Priyanka Chaturvedi, Ganesha, with artist Aparna Bangia
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
painting Ganeshas on trees during
Ganpati and producing the ‘Chipko
Re’ song that channels the Chipko
(tree huggers) movement.
Warli women like Vanita Thakre,
who carries prominent claw-marks
on both elbows from a leopard
attack on her, even invited urban
residents to experience tribal meals
and the forest for themselves.
Bhide tweeted in September
2019, “Early commissioning of a
safer, faster, more comfortable
and environmentally more
sustainable #PublicTransport for
#Mumbai is need of the hour.”
Environmental hazards contribute
singly and collectively to the climate
emergency. They are irretrievably
intertwined. Neither forests nor
air pollution mitigation can be
at the cost of the other. While
Mumbai needs public transport, it
also needs Aarey’s biodiversity.
Alternatively, less environmentally
damaging sites are available for the
car shed. People and the environment,
however, continue to suffer: From
deforestation and concretisation in the
midst of felt effects of climate change;
from the threat of eviction from homes
and loss of livelihood; from non-
completion of the metro even after
hundreds of crores have been spent.
Meanwhile, the most promising
alternative space at Kanjurmarg is
enmeshed in a prolonged court battle
to determine ownership between
the state and central governments,
while previously short-listed,
technically feasible sites at Kalina,
Cuffe Parade and BKC have not
been reconsidered recently.
The Save Aarey movement has
spilled over to its neighbouring area,
Powai Lake, an artificial wetland
beside Aarey and connected to Tulsi
and Vihar lakes within the SGNP. On
a site visit, I observed stones being
laid across a narrow dirt trail in dense
undergrowth bordering the lake for
a new ‘bicycle track’. With a width of
6-8 metres, the new road is certainly
wide enough to be motorable.

Walking ahead of the construction,
a brown cobra slithered past. I caught
a glimpse of a golden oriole above.
Among its diverse biodiversity, this
beautiful spot is an important breeding
site of the Schedule 1 protected
species, the marsh crocodile.
Protests against the ‘bicycle track
under rapid construction’ were
held by Powai residents, including
Pamela Cheema, ward coordinator
of NGO Agni, and others. Even
bicycle clubs and cyclists opposed
the track, spurring the government
to set up an expert committee
to study environmental impacts.
Unfortunately, it was too late to
prevent its hasty construction.
An important goal of COP26 [or
the 26th Conference of Parties to
the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change], which began
on October 31 in Glasgow, UK, is
to “curtail deforestation”. In the
name of public transport, bicycling,
and prevention of pollution,
irreplaceable biodiversity continues
to be destroyed around SGNP.
Bhattacharjee first moved near
Aarey in 2001 and was devastated
to realise it would be destroyed by
the metro car shed in 2015. “I could
not bear to know that this beautiful
forest will be chopped down for an
infrastructure project even though
there are less ecologically damaging
land options available,” she says.
While women of Reini,
Uttarakhand, who first hugged their
trees decades ago to save them from
cutting and initiated the Chipko
Movement, remain inspirational, the
importance of mainstreaming gender
in formulation of climate strategies is
recent. It is reflected in an agenda item
of the COP26, ‘Gender and Climate
Change’, which calls for sensitive
planning “integrating a gender
perspective into their processes”.
Within Aarey, I watched as Pramila
and Chaitali Bhoir stood in front
of their home, a brown mud hut
decorated with Warli paintings. On
every painting, love for their home
and their fear of its loss was evident.
The central panel on their main
door depicted the metro line; cars; a
chimney spewing smoke. Trees were
cut down, their trunks lay on the
ground. Above this dismal scene was a
group of Warli people holding up the
Earth, animals and birds clustering
around a spreading tree on its top.
Pramila pointed to an older,
happier scene. I turned and saw a
tree alive with frolicking monkeys.
A leopard sauntered by underneath
while another one climbed up its
trunk. People carried baskets on
their heads. They stood atop a
cobra and swung high up in the
branches of a tree. “We paint what
A new bicycle track under construction near Powai Lake has faced stiff opposition from
environmentalists. With a width of 6-8 metres, it is wide enough to be a motorable road
our life is. For generations, we
have lived alongside leopards and
snakes, and consider them part
of our community. It is this new
concretisation that we fear,” she says.
Returning after I met the Bhoirs
at the Warli village in Aarey, I saw a
hoarding for super-luxury housing.
In a lush forest with children
and animals, it was headlined:
“Why live in a concrete jungle
when you can live in a forest?”
The next day, I read in my
newspaper about a new 4.5-km
highway planned through SGNP.
Similar to the one my father-in-law
successfully opposed in 1975, for
ENVIRONMENT
which biodiversity and trees within
SGNP would be destroyed, “mitigation
measures” are being considered.
As they did every weekend,
my parents-in-law, ornithologist
Humayun Abdulali and wife Rafia,
were birdwatching at the SGNP one
Sunday over 20 years ago. On the
verge of the deserted road, a battered
thermos containing hot, sweet
tea lay on the bonnet of their car.
The binoculars around their necks
were raised upwards, focussed on a
hornbill in flight. When Humayun
collapsed suddenly after miscreants
appeared from the undergrowth and
threw a stone which hit him on the
head, his wife, a frail woman under
53
five-feet tall, stood up bravely and
threw little stones in retaliation.
It is 20 years since Humayun died
after prolonged complications of a
stroke following the attack on him
within SGNP. He would be delighted
to know that women, young people,
Warli adivasis, and so many people
across so many different interests,
professions, and life situations still
work to make his life’s mission on
this Earth worthwhile. They protect
the irreplaceable biodiversity of our
SUMAIRA ABDULALI
city-forest today. Thanks to them,
Humayun ’s legacy will endure.
● SUMAIRA ABDULALI IS THE CONVENOR
OF AWAAZ FOUNDATION
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 Cross Border

GUERIN BLASK FOR FORBES

54 FTX co-founder
Sam Bankman-Fried
built a $22.5 billion
fortune before his 30th
birthday by profiting
off the cryptocurrency
frenzy—but he’s not a
true believer. He just
wants his wealth to
survive long enough to
give it all away

THE
CROESUS
OF CRYPTO
By STEVEN EHRLICH AND CHASE PETERSON-WITHORN

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021


I
t’s a hazy late-summer
evening when Sam Bankman-
Fried drifts into Electric
Lemon, a “clean, conscious”
eatery on the 24th floor
of the five-star Equinox Hotel in
Manhattan’s Hudson Yards complex.
The 29-year-old cryptocurrency
billionaire has jetted in from Hong
Kong in part to co-host this private
party but nonetheless tries to slink to
the corner of the room unnoticed.
His standard attire—black hoodie,
gray khaki shorts, beat-up New
Balances—might be camouflage on
the streets below, but in this sea of
cufflinks and cocktail dresses he
stands out even more than 6-foot-9
Obi Toppin, the New York Knicks
power forward who’s mingling with
the crowd. It doesn’t take long before
Bankman-Fried is mobbed: Can I
pitch you something? What do you
think about the latest crypto crash?
How about a photo for Instagram?
It’s all part of the job for the richest
twenty-something in the world.
Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency
exchange, FTX, which enables traders
to buy and sell digital assets such as
bitcoin and Ethereum, raised $900
million from the likes of Coinbase
Ventures and SoftBank in July at an
$18 billion valuation. It handles
some 10 percent of the $3.4 trillion
face value of derivatives (mostly
futures and options) traded by crypto
investors each month. FTX pockets
0.02 percent of each of those trades on
average, good for around $750 million
in nearly risk-free revenue—and $350
million in profit—over the last 12
months. Separately, his trading firm,
Alameda Research, booked $1 billion
in profit last year making well-timed
trades of its own. Lately, Bankman-
Fried has been hitting the TV circuit
to opine on bitcoin prices, regulations
and the future of digital assets.
“It’s a really weird, awkward in-
between time for the industry,” he
says. “There’s just a lot of uncertainty
in half the countries in the world.”
Four years ago, Bankman-Fried had
yet to buy a single bitcoin. Now, five
months shy of his 30th birthday, he
debuts on this year’s Forbes 400 at No.
32, with a net worth of $22.5 billion.
Save for Mark Zuckerberg, no one
in history has ever gotten so rich so
young. The irony? Bankman-Fried is
no crypto evangelist. He’s barely even
a believer. He’s a mercenary, dedicated
to making as much money as possible
(he doesn’t really care how) solely
so he can give it away (he doesn’t
really know to whom, or when).
Steve Jobs obsessed over his
sleek and simple products. Elon
Musk claims he’s in business to
save humanity. Not Bankman-Fried,
whose philosophy of “earning to
give” drove him into the crypto
gold rush, first as a trader, then as
the creator of an exchange, simply
because he knew he could get rich.
Asked if he would abandon crypto
if he thought he could pile up more
money doing something else—say,
trading orange juice futures—he
doesn’t even pause: “I would, yeah.”
At the moment, Bankman-Fried’s
Save for Mark Zuckerberg, no one in history
has ever gotten so rich so young. The irony?
Bankman-Fried’s not a crypto evangelist—
he’s barely even a believer. He’s a mercenary
“effective altruism”, the utilitarian-
inflected notion of doing the most
good possible, is almost entirely
theoretical. So far, he has given away
just $25 million, about 0.1 percent
of his fortune, placing him among
the least charitable members of
The Forbes 400. He’s betting that
he’ll eventually be able to multiply
his giving by a factor of at least 900
by continuing to ride the crypto
wave instead of cashing out now.
“My goal is to have impact,” he says.
But to get there, Bankman-Fried, who
moved to Hong Kong in 2018 and to
the Bahamas in September, will have
SAM BANKMAN-FRIED
to survive increasing government
attention and outflank an army of
competitors vying for the business
of more than 220 million traders
worldwide—all while braving the
boom-and-bust crypto cycles that
can spawn great fortunes at historic
speeds yet level them just as quickly.
“He’s a phenom,” says Kevin
O’Leary, star of ABC’s Shark Tank,
who recently invested in FTX and is
a paid spokesperson. “He’s achieved
a lot so far, and he has the respect
of a lot of investors—I’m one of
them—but his job is just beginning.”
T
he son of two Stanford law
professors, Sam Bankman-
Fried grew up reading Harry
Potter, watching the San Francisco
Giants and listening to his parents talk
politics with West Coast academics.
After graduating from a small private
Bay Area high school that, he says,
“would have been really great if I were
more hippie-ish and liked science 55
less”, he enrolled at MIT, where
he “half-assed” his way through a
physics degree, spending more time
playing video games Starcraft and
League of Legends than studying. He
figured he might become a physics
professor. But he was fundamentally
more interested in ethics and morality.
“There’s a chicken tortured for five
weeks on a factory farm, and you
spend half an hour eating it,” says
Bankman-Fried, who is a vegan.
“That was hard for me to justify.”
He read deeply in utilitarian
philosophy, finding himself
especially attracted to effective
altruism, a Silicon Valley–esque spin
on philanthropy championed by
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 Cross Border
Worth $22.5 billion, Sam Bankman-Fried is the richest self-made newcomer in Forbes 400 history.
And at 29, he’s one of the youngest. Here’s how he stacks up against the competition
Sam Bankman-Fried
FIRST JOINED THE FORBES 400:
2021 • Age 29 (worth $22.5 bln)
Mark Zuckerberg
2008 • Age 24
(worth $1.9 bln)
Sergey Brin
2004 • Age 31
(worth $5.7 bln)
Bill Gates
1986 • Age 30
(worth $800 mln)
Michael Dell
1991 • Age 26
(worth $600 mln)
$500 MLN
Princeton philosopher Peter Singer
56 and favoured by folks like Facebook
co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. The
basic idea: Use evidence and reason
to do the absolute most good possible.
Typically, people give to trendy
causes or those that have affected
them personally. An effective altruist
looks to data to decide where and
when to donate to a cause, basing
the decision on impersonal goals like
saving the most lives, or creating the
most income, per dollar donated.
One of the most important variables,
obviously, is having a lot of money to
give away to begin with. So Bankman-
Fried shelved the notion of becoming
a professor and got to work trying
MARK, BILL, MICHAEL, SERGEY: AFP PHOTO; SAM: GETTY IMAGES
to amass a world-class fortune.
After graduating from MIT in
2014, he took a high-paying finance
gig, trading ETFs for quant firm
Jane Street Capital, and funnelled
a chunk of his six-figure salary
into philanthropic causes.
He paid little attention to the
rough-and-tumble early days of
crypto—when the FBI shut down the
Silk Road illicit online marketplace in
2013 for selling all sorts of contraband
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
Young Bucks
Crossed the $22.5 billion mark: Age 29
Age 29
Age 39
Age 41
Age 52
$1 BLN $5 BLN $10 BLN $22.5 BLN
Net worths when joining The Forbes 400 have been adjusted for inflation.
in exchange for bitcoin, for example,
or when Mt. Gox, then the world’s
primary crypto exchange, collapsed
in 2014 after losing 850,000 bitcoins,
worth about $460 million at the
time. But towards the end of 2017,
when bitcoin was charging through
its first mainstream bull run, leaping
from $2,500 to nearly $20,000 a
coin over just six months, he spied
an opportunity. He noticed that the
nascent market was not efficient: He
could buy bitcoin in the US and sell it
in Japan for up to 30 percent more.
“I got involved in crypto without
any idea what crypto was,” he
says. “It just seemed like there
was a lot of good trading to do.”
In late-2017, he quit his job
and launched Alameda Research,
a quantitative trading firm, with
about $1 million from savings and
Towards end-2017, when bitcoin was charging
through its first mainstream bull run, leaping
from $2,500 to $20,000 a coin in over six
months, Bankman-Fried spied an opportunity
Current age & net worth: 29 • $22.5 bin
37 • $134.5 bln
48 • $118.5 bln
65 • $134 bln
56 • $50.1 bln
$50 BLN $100 BLN $200 BLN
from friends and family. He set
up shop in a Berkeley, California,
Airbnb with a handful of recent
college grads and began working the
arbitrage trade, hard. Sometimes
his entire staff would have to stop
work to swarm foreign-exchange
websites because they couldn’t
convert Japanese yen to dollars fast
enough. At its peak, in January 2018,
he says he was moving up to $25
million worth of bitcoin every day.
But he soon grew frustrated
with the quality of the major crypto
exchanges. They were geared towards
making it easy for individuals to
buy and sell a few bitcoins, but they
were in no way equipped to handle
professional traders moving large sums
at rapid speeds. Sensing his moment,
he decided to start his own exchange.
In 2019, he took some of the
 SAM BANKMAN-FRIED

ANTHONY KWAN / BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES

profits from Alameda and $8

million raised from a few smaller
VC firms and launched FTX. He
quickly sold a slice to Binance, the
world’s biggest crypto exchange by
volume, for about $70 million.
At first it was slow going. A dozen
employees toiled from standing desks
in a Hong Kong WeWork, trying to
lure traders to their new exchange.
He soon found a niche catering to
more sophisticated investors looking
to trade derivatives—things like
bitcoin options or Ethereum futures.
Many derivatives traders have little
to no ideological conviction about
crypto. Like Bankman-Fried, they
simply want to make money.
As a result, they tend to make
substantially more trades, and for
higher amounts, than the average
retail investor. That leads to more fees
for FTX, which takes a cut of between Much of Bankman-Fried’s profits have gone straight to one of his biggest competitors. In
late 2019, Binance—the crypto exchange run by billionaire Changpeng Zhao, known as “CZ”
0.005 percent and 0.07 percent of (above)—pumped about $70 million into FTX. In July, Bankman-Fried bought out CZ’s stake for
each transaction. FTX is also one $2.3 billion. No wonder they’re “still friends”, as CZ told Forbes at the time
of the few exchanges that feature 57
tokenised versions of traditional makes it the fourth-largest derivatives round, which pushed its valuation to
stocks—offering, for instance, a exchange, behind only Bybit ($12.5 $18 billion. FTX is now worth more
crypto token that represents a share billion), OKEx ($15.5 billion) and than Carlyle Group or Nippon Steel.
of Apple. Since the business has industry leader Binance ($61.5 billion). It was founded just 29 months ago.
almost no overhead, its profit margins A year ago, it was doing just $1 billion

are high: Around 50 percent.
Bankman-Fried didn’t have
the proper licences to operate in
America’s highly-regulated derivatives
markets. So he based the business in
Hong Kong, partly because he had
just attended a bitcoin conference in
nearby Macau. At the start, that helped
him win over clients in Asia, a hotbed
of crypto trading. But digital nomads
grow few roots. Towards the end of
September, he announced (via Twitter,
naturally) that he plans to move the
headquarters of his 150-person outfit
to the Bahamas to take advantage
of clearer crypto regulations and
less-stringent Covid-19 travel
restrictions. (His smaller American
exchange is based in Chicago.)
In just two years of catering to the
more-sophisticated trader, FTX has
gotten huge. Its $11.5 billion average
daily derivatives-trading volume
in trades each day across 200,000
users. As Bankman-Fried’s user base
has ballooned to 2 million, he has
raced to scale up his servers and beef
up customer service and compliance.
“He can, through the force of
his character, move engineering
timelines up by unbelievable amounts
of time,” says Anatoly Yakovenko, the
founder of Solana, a cryptocurrency
with a $43 billion market cap.
Bankman-Fried’s nimbleness and
speed of execution has attracted
plenty of investor attention. In
January 2020, crypto-focussed
venture capital firms including
Pantera Capital and Exnetwork
Capital pumped $40 million into the
business at a $1.2 billion valuation,
according to PitchBook. By this July,
seemingly every blue-chip VC in the
world wanted a piece of FTX. He was
able to raise that monster $900 million
F
or all his early success, there’s
one way Bankman-Fried shows
his age: Among America’s 50
richest people, he’s remarkably cash-
poor. Forget Swiss bank accounts or
a well-balanced portfolio of stocks
and bonds. Virtually all his wealth
is tied up in his ownership of about
half of FTX and more than $11 billion
worth of FTX’s publicly traded FTT
tokens—which can be used to make
payments or for trading discounts
on the FTX exchange, akin to a gift
card or store credit. He also holds a
few billion dollars’ worth of other
cryptocurrencies he’s backing.
It’s no surprise, then, that he has
done a lot more earning than giving
so far. His $25 million in lifetime
donations, directed towards a
smattering of causes, including voter
registration, global poverty mitigation
and artificial intelligence safety, is the

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA


Cross Border
rough mathematical equivalent of a
typical 29-year-old American stuffing
$15 into a Salvation Army bucket.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,”
he admits, saying major giving is “not a
short-term goal. It’s a long-term one.”
At the moment, essentially none
of his profits are going towards
philanthropy. Including a pledge of
1 percent of its net fees, FTX and
its employees have earmarked $13
million for charity so far. But mostly
he’s plowing billions back into his
businesses, including spending $2.3
billion in July to buy back Binance’s
15 percent stake in FTX—doubling
down on his bet that if he keeps
building his wealth, he can make
a bigger charitable impact later.
The trade-off between earning
now and giving later has tormented
billionaires for ages. Warren Buffett
bickered with his late wife, Susan,
over whether they should let the
magic of compound interest grow
58 their fortune and then give it away,
or donate their assets during their
lifetimes. After all, money compounds,
but so do many of the world’s
problems. In the end, Susan won.
In 2006, Buffett announced he was
beginning to give away nearly all
his wealth, to be spent right away.
“I see little reason to delay giving
when so much good can be achieved
through supporting worthwhile
causes,” Chuck Feeney, the 90-year-
old co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers,
who has given away his entire $8
billion fortune, said in 2019.
Another concern: Is making
money from crypto fundamentally
at odds with Bankman-Fried’s
mission to do good? A year of crypto
mining, the process of solving
arbitrary mathematical problems
to generate new coins, uses gobs of
energy, enough to power Belgium.
“Those concerns are real, but
sometimes a little overblown. If you
look at carbon produced per dollar
of economic activity, crypto is not
a huge outlier,” Bankman-Fried
claims. “It’s probably a factor of
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
two or three worse than the average
company but not a factor of 20 or
30.” He notes that FTX buys carbon
credits to offset its consumption and
is investing $1 million into carbon
capture and storage initiatives.
Perhaps his biggest challenge
of all, though, is where he goes
from here. Specifically, he needs
to find a way to maintain FTX’s
hypergrowth without running
afoul of government regulators.
Cryptocurrencies are outright
banned or face draconian restrictions
in countries including China, Bolivia
and Turkey. In the US, Congress has
already introduced at least 18 bills this
year that directly affect the industry.
Brian Armstrong, the billionaire CEO
of Coinbase, recently denounced
the Securities and Exchange
Bankman-Fried has done a lot more earning
than giving so far. His $25 million in lifetime
donations is mathematically equivalent to a
typical 29-year-old American stuffing $15
into a Salvation Army bucket
Commission during a spat over Lend,
a proposed crypto lending product.
Coinbase ended up dropping it.
Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried has
been putting FTX’s $900 million
cash infusion to work, hunting for
acquisitions that will either expand
his user base or give him licences
to operate in key jurisdictions. In
August, FTX announced that it would
acquire LedgerX, a New York–based
exchange that has already won
permission from the US Commodity
Futures Trading Commission to sell
crypto derivatives. That means FTX
may soon be the first major crypto
exchange to offer derivative products
in America, ahead of Binance,
Coinbase and Kraken. “They moved
commendably rapidly to cut that
deal,” says Christopher Giancarlo,
former chairman of the CFTC.
SAM BANKMAN-FRIED
He’s also pouring hundreds of
millions into mainstream marketing.
He agreed to pay $210 million to stamp
the FTX brand on leading esports
league TSM in June, struck a $135
million deal to rename the Miami
Heat’s arena in March and inked a
$17.5 million contract for the naming
rights to UC Berkeley’s football field
in August. Plus he recently launched
a $30 million ad campaign to promote
FTX through ambassadors such as
Shark Tank’s O’Leary, NFL legend
Tom Brady and NBA superstar Steph
Curry. All three have equity in FTX.
Bankman-Fried’s aim: To position
his risk-taking two-year-old financial
firm as something safe and mature.
If your company becomes part of
everyday discourse, it’s much harder
for politically-sensitive regulators
to shut you down. It’s a playbook
written by PokerStars during the
first great online gambling boom,
which peaked around 2010, and
later adopted by sports gaming
outfits FanDuel and DraftKings.
He also wants to move beyond
crypto. Last year, he steered FTX
into prediction markets, which let
traders bet on the outcome of real-
world events like the Super Bowl and
presidential elections. He’s eyeing
broader expansion, too: The hope is
that one day customers will be able
to buy and sell everything from an
Ethereum call option to a share of
Microsoft or a mutual fund on FTX.
“There’s a wide world out there,”
says the single biggest beneficiary of
the crypto boom. “We shouldn’t think
that crypto is going to be the most
fertile ground to work in forever.”
 CAPITOL INVESTOR

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES

CAPITOL
INVESTOR
On most of Wall Street, “government”
is a four-letter word. But private equity
billionaire Ramzi Musallam has turned
tragedy into a Forbes 400 fortune by
mastering the motivations of the largest
player in the global economy
By NATHAN VARDI AND HANK TUCKER

59

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 Cross Border
R
amzi Musallam
returned to his desk
after a quick trip to the
bathroom on September
10, 2012, to
find his assistant visibly shaken.
She informed him that a call had
come in about Musallam’s boss,
Robert McKeon. He had just killed
himself in his southern Connecticut
mansion at the age of 58.
Musallam jumped in his car and
raced the 40 miles from Midtown
Manhattan to Darien, Connecticut.
He was close to McKeon and knew
his boss was struggling with his
mental health. But Musallam never
expected McKeon would take his
own life. He was a force of nature.
Through sheer will, McKeon had
worked himself up from the streets
of the Bronx, where his father
was a Drake’s Cakes delivery man
supporting seven children, to the
upper echelons of
60 finance. Musallam was in shock.
“It was just so devastating,”
Musallam says. “For as long as I
had known him, we had worked
together. It was tough. I had never
experienced anything like this.”
While McKeon’s American
dream had soured into a nightmare,
Musallam’s was about to soar. He
returned to the office to devise a
plan to stave off the collapse of
Veritas Capital, the private equity
firm McKeon had founded in 1992.
Musallam had come onboard
in 1998 and was Veritas’ second-
highest-ranking executive. The
morning after the suicide, Musallam
began holding emergency meetings
with the company’s investors.
McKeon’s death meant they
suddenly had the right to tear up
their commitments to fund Veritas’
deals. Instead, Musallam persua-
ded them to bet on him. He also
cut a deal with McKeon’s family
that would transfer ownership of
McKeon’s majority stake in Veritas,
mostly to Musallam. Years later,
the hasty deal would produce bad
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
blood—and a lawsuit—between
Musallam and McKeon’s family.
But these manoeuvres laid the
foundation for a stunning Wall Street
success. Nearly a decade later, Veritas
Capital’s assets have grown from
$2 billion in 2012 to $36 billion
today, and its funds have generated
staggering net internal rates of return
of 31 percent. The funds have lost
money on only a single investment
($87 million on a solar panel company
in New Mexico), and since Musallam
took over, Veritas has distributed
$12 billion to its investors. At 53,
Musallam finds himself worth
an estimated $4 billion, good
enough for a debut appearance
on this year’s Forbes 400.
Musallam produced this track
record by focusing on technology
companies that operate in sectors
dominated by the United States’
federal government, particularly
defense, health care and education.
America’s $6.8 trillion worth of
annual spending and sweeping
regulatory power give it unparalleled
sway in these markets. While many
buyout firms try to avoid investing
in areas affected by government
interference, Musallam’s strategy
hinges on understanding what
the most influential player in the
“There are people in the private equity world
who have a lot of visibility. That is not Ramzi.
He is understated but extremely effective.”
global economy will do next.
“I and the firm maintain a very
close proximity to government
because government is at the
forefront of all the complexities
and issues that confront us,” says
Musallam, sitting in his Manhattan
office, whose broad views of Central
Park mark it as distinctly distant
from Washington, DC. “These are
government-influenced markets,
no doubt about it, and being close
to how the government thinks
about those markets enables us to
understand how we can best invest.”
The formula has worked. In
January, Veritas was listed as the
private equity industry’s fourth-
best-performing firm by the closely
followed HEC–Dow Jones ranking
(see ‘Best in Buyouts’), ahead
of high-flying firms like Thoma
Bravo, Vista Equity Partners
and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
Despite his ease navigating
Washington and Wall Street,
Musallam shuns publicity. He rarely
speaks to the press. He is one of
a handful of financiers with top
government security clearance.
“There are people in the private
equity world who have a lot of
visibility. That is not Ramzi. He is
understated but extremely effective,”
says David Solomon, CEO of
Goldman Sachs. “He has quietly built
an extremely valuable business being
at the intersection of government-
regulated markets and technology,
which is rare for private equity.”
A
Palestinian Christian born
in Jerusalem, Ramzi’s
father, Samih Musallam,
landed in New York City in late
1950, shortly after the first Arab-
Israeli war in 1948. His first night at
the YMCA, all his belongings were
stolen. He persevered, eventually
earning a civil engineering degree
from the University of Missouri
before settling—and prospering—in
Effingham, Illinois. By the mid-
1960s, the now successful Samih
returned to the Middle East; his
second son, Ramzi, was born
 CAPITOL INVESTOR

in 1968 in Amman, Jordan. tired of funneling most of his unit’s helped convince McKeon to move
Samih Musallam worked for profits to Bruce Wasserstein. beyond his deal-by-deal approach
the US Army Corps of Engineers, At Veritas, McKeon owned and raise private equity funds from
moving his family constantly. a majority of the company and institutional investors that would lock
Ramzi’s formative years were raised money on a deal-by-deal up cash for years. That gave them
spent in emerging markets such basis from a network of CEOs, flexibility and helped the business
as Saudi Arabia and Tanzania. including Chevron’s George Keller grow. Second, Musallam figured
“We were literally in the middle and Ford’s Harold “Red” Poling. out that defense contractors would
of nowhere—there was nothing His only partner was Thomas be fertile buyout targets for funds
there, no village, nothing,” recalls Campbell, a fellow banker who had willing to deal with the idiosyncrasies
Musallam of his years in Africa. “We left Wasserstein Perella with him of government contracting. Starting
were homeschooled and learned to start Veritas and who McKeon with the purchase of PEI Electronics,
through correspondence. There was would shove out the door in 2007. a Huntsville, Alabama-based military
no iPad. We would do an assignment Musallam pushed McKeon equipment maker, Veritas cobbled
and my mom would mail it in.” in two new directions. First, he together what would become
Musallam says the experience was Integrated Defense Technologies,
an immersion course in navigating High Flier: At 38, Robert McKeon was a which it listed on the New York Stock
Wall Street wunderkind doing big deals at
relationships with people from Wasserstein Perella, such as a reported Exchange in 2002. Defense deals
different cultural backgrounds, $300 million buyout of makeup company would become Veritas’ bread and
Maybelline in 1990. He even contemplated
one that taught him sensitivity and running for governor of Connecticut. It would butter. When one looked particularly
resilience. His family was once held all come crashing down 20 years later when promising, McKeon would take a
he took his own life at 58
at gunpoint in Tanzania and shaken
down by bandits on a dirt road. “I
thought it was normal,” he says.
By the time Musallam was in
high school, his family returned to 61
the US and landed in Pine Brook,
New Jersey. He studied economics
at Colgate University and started
on Wall Street as a JPMorgan
investment banker in 1990 before
jumping two years later into private
equity at a boutique firm, Berkshire
Partners. He then headed to the
University of Chicago for business
school, where he talked himself into
a job with the investment operation
of Jay Pritzker, the billionaire who
built the Hyatt Hotels chain. When
he graduated in 1998, Musallam
headed to New York, where he
was hired by Robert McKeon.
Six years earlier, McKeon had
founded Veritas Capital after
leaving Wasserstein Perella & Co,
the pioneering investment bank
co-founded by Bruce Wasserstein
and immortalised in a 1989 Forbes
story, ‘Bid ’em Up Bruce’, which
described how the firm’s clients
were often coaxed into overpaying
for targets. McKeon had run
Wasserstein Perella’s successful
private equity arm and had grown
SHERRIE NICKOL-CNYB

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 Cross Border
cue from Bruce Wasserstein and
grab more of the riches for himself.
He personally made $350 million
just from DynCorp, a military
contractor that was sold in 2010.
McKeon’s death tripped Veritas’s
“key-person” provision, giving the
firm’s investors the right to stop
providing capital for new deals. Had
enough of those investors walked
away, it would have destroyed the
firm. Musallam had six months to
get through the key-person process
before the investor spigot turned off.
“I don’t get stressed,” Musallam says.
“I was very focussed because I
knew in my heart that we had
a tremendous opportunity.”
He traveled across America
to meet with Veritas’ investors,
ultimately convincing every one
of them to stick with him and his
team, partly by cutting Veritas’
management fees. “There was no
real precedent for this,” Musallam
says. “We got 100 percent approval
62
from our investor base, which
nobody thought we could get.”
At the same time, Musallam
had to persuade McKeon’s estate,
controlled by one of his brothers
and established for the benefit of his
four children, to transfer McKeon’s
Veritas ownership to him. Absent
Musallam’s efforts to get investor
buy-ins, the whole firm would
have collapsed, so his negotiating
position with the family was strong.
By January 2013, McKeon’s family
agreed to transfer ownership of
Veritas in exchange for 10 percent
of the proceeds of any future sale
of its management company and
the three general partnerships
associated with its existing funds.
They also retained a reduced portion
of McKeon’s performance fees from
existing Veritas funds and 5 percent
of the performance fees for the next
two funds Veritas raised. It was a
complete victory for Musallam: The
firm would remain in business with
him as its majority owner and CEO.
“He was not just dealing with
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
the investors and the firm—he was
dealing with losing someone he
was close to, and he never wavered,
even answering questions that were
sometimes probing and personal,”
says Veritas investor Claudia Baron,
who runs $6 billion of private equity
investments for Chicago-based
asset manager PPM America. “I
thought, if that is how he acts during
a stressful time, he’s going to have
the same level of thoughtfulness
and integrity in deal work.”
F
or years, Musallam was
obsessed with the digitisation
of health records. He
was first turned on to the idea
of a government–private sector
partnership involving health care IT
through conversations with Kerry
Weems, who headed Medicare in
George W Bush’s administration.
Musallam made a habit of staying
McKeon’s death tripped Veritas’s “key-
person” provision, giving investors the right
to walk away, destroying the firm. Musallam
had six months before the investor spigot
would turn off.
close to people like Weems, who
controlled one of the largest
budgets in the US government.
Veritas would dip its toe into
these waters in 2007 by buying its
first health care IT services firm,
Vangent. It would sell the company
to General Dynamics four years
later for a $350 million profit.
“Health care is a broken
system,” Musallam says. “My
fundamental belief is that
technology can improve it.”
In 2012, Musallam approached
information giant Thomson Reuters
about buying the businesses it had
cobbled together to provide data
on insurance claims and health
care expenditures to hospitals and
insurance companies. Musallam was
certain that Veritas needed to go
big on health care data—and after
putting up $465 million, Veritas was
able to acquire the group in a $1.3
billion leveraged buyout, making
it one of the firm’s largest bets.
Musallam renamed the Thomson
Reuters unit Truven Health
Analytics and initiated $165 million
of new capital expenditures to help
transform the company from a
mere data provider into a business
that could help customers learn
how to provide better care while
reducing costs and waste. To speed
things along, Truven was paired
with a defense intelligence software
company Veritas had purchased from
Lockheed Martin that had already
developed efficient algorithms
to analyse petabytes of data.
“We make our companies
collaborate,” Musallam says. “It’s not
a nice thing to do, it’s a requirement.”
Musallam pivoted Truven
toward the public sector. It began
selling its services to government
customers such as Medicare for the
first time. In 2016 Truven sold to
IBM for $2.6 billion, making Veritas
3.2 times its original investment.
Veritas is the rare government-
focussed buyout shop that does not
hire prominent former politicians
or government officials. Instead,
Musallam prefers to tap into decades
of relationships. He spends a lot
of time sitting through briefings
in “sensitive compartmented
information facilities” (SCIFs) set
up by the military, for which top
security clearances are required—

Best in Buyouts
Private equity is a notoriously secretive business—which makes it hard
for outsiders to assess which firms are outperforming. The best data
comes from Oliver Gottschalg, a professor at HEC Paris business school,
who analysed 529 firms over a 10-year period.
RANK FIRM ASSETS PERFORMANCE SCORE
1 Francisco Partners
$25 bln 2.4
2 Genstar Capital Partners
$33 bln 1.79
3 Vitruvian Partners
$12 bln 1.71
4 Veritas Capital
$36 bln 1.65
5 Waterland Private Equity Investments
$11 bln 1.57
6 Thoma Bravo
$83 bln 1.48
7 Hg Capital
$37 bln 1.48
8 Leonard Green & Partners
$50 bln 1.47
9 Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
$43 bln 1.29
SOURCE HEC–Dow Jones
and mobile phones are banned. buyout. Veritas had BeyondTrust
“The US government is the boost its R&D spending by 44
largest single investor in technology, percent to bolster its products,
bar none, by multiples of what the which stop both rogue employees
entire venture capital community and external bad guys from hacking
invests—dozens of different federal in. BeyondTrust’s revenue swelled,
agencies investing directly into growing 20 percent a year, and in
companies,” Musallam says. “A lot 2018 Veritas sold it for $755 million,
of the businesses that we’re very making 3.8 times what it put in.
familiar with have gotten their Musallam has kept one foot firmly
start through government-funded in the defense arena. In 2015 Veritas,
customer R&D programmes. together with some co-investors, put
Google, Apple, a lot of what is down $845 million to buy flailing
on your iPhone. Tesla is another aerospace repair company Standard-
example, the space companies— Aero from Dubai Aerospace in a $2.1
built through collaboration in some billion deal. Musallam had just raised
form with the government.” $1.9 billion for Veritas’ first new
The burgeoning field of fund under his watch and wagered
cybersecurity is another focus for a big chunk of it on the Scottsdale,
Veritas. In 2014, Musallam bought Arizona, company. (Musallam knew
a busted security startup called aerospace well given that Veritas had
BeyondTrust, putting up $145 formerly owned Vertex Aerospace,
million of equity in a $310 million a StandardAero competitor.)
CAPITOL INVESTOR
StandardAero quickly expanded
in Europe and Asia. Having
developed a way to trim the time
required to repair jet engines, it
was soon winning new government
contracts. In 2019, Musallam sold
StandardAero to Carlyle Group
for $5.3 billion, more than tripling
Veritas’ initial investment.
By 2019 Veritas was humming,
with all five of its buyout funds
performing in the industry’s top
quartile, according to research firm
Preqin. Simultaneously, the great
bull market had outside investors
lining up to own stakes in Wall
Street’s most successful firms, and in
2020, New York–based Dyal Capital
approached Musallam to buy a stake
in the business. In October 2020,
Musallam agreed to sell 11.8 percent
of Veritas to Dyal for $725 million in
cash, plus a $200 million sweetener
in the form of a loan to Veritas, which
created a windfall for Musallam and
his Veritas partners, who pocketed 63
most of the proceeds. The deal
valued Veritas at $6.2 billion, with
Musallam retaining a majority stake.
Unfortunately, the Dyal deal
upset Robert McKeon’s heirs. This
February, the family sued Musallam
for breach of contract, claiming the
$200 million loan was designed to
cheat them out of their right to 10
percent of the proceeds of any sale of
the firm, some $20 million. In court,
Musallam claimed he stayed true to
the contract. “A loan is not a sale,” he
stated. In September, the New York
State Supreme Court agreed with
Musallam and tossed out the case.
While dealing with McKeon’s
family, Musallam worked from
a desk near a large picture of his
father, Samih, who died a decade ago.
It’s a reminder that the American
dream is alive and well—but also
that great happiness requires
more than just great wealth.
“He did what you hear and
read about—he took the boat to
New York,” Musallam says. “He’s
overlooking and watching me.”
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 In Focus

House of Brands
Content, creators and commerce: Glance, an InMobi group company, wants to lead
India’s next big online opportunity by executing a long-term live commerce strategy
By HARICHANDAN ARAKALI

R
emember the old
teleshopping channels
on your cable
television? The mobile
internet version of
that will happen on your phone’s
locked screen—at least that is what
Glance is betting on, given that it is
the biggest provider of locked-screen
content in some seven markets in Asia,
including India, which is its base.
Glance is part of India’s first tech
unicorn InMobi, an ad-tech platform
company, and also owns a popular
short video app, Roposo, which it
purchased about two years ago. It is
64 betting that the next modern version
of retailing will increasingly be what
is called a creator-led commerce,
or ‘live commerce’, where talented
folk, including celebrities, will
entice us to buy everything from
mascara to sneakers and headphones.
The company expects this to be a
multi-billion dollar opportunity.
With $145 million in funding
from Google and Mithril Capital,
which it announced in December
2020, Glance’s first big purchase was
an ecommerce company, Shop101,
in June, which meant it acquired

“When mobile
shopping is live,
and influencer led,
it makes shopping
more interesting
and authentic.”
PIYUSH SHAH
CO-FOUNDER, INMOBI

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021

 GLANCE

Mega Content Platforms—Agile and Innovative Platforms Emerge from China and India

100
WAVE 3 WAVE 2 WAVE 1
INNOVATION FIRST PLATFORM MOBILE FIRST PLAYERS FIRST ENTRANTS - DESKTOP ERA
90
Daily Active Users in mln (DAU)

80

70

60

50

40

30

20
Note: TikTok growth between 50-100
10 mln driven by acquisition of Musical.ly

SOURCE Zinnov
0
Launch 12 24 36 48 60 72 84
Months since launch to reach 100 mln DAU

a full-stack online commerce very different model altogether.”

platform. And since Glance did not Glance has its platforms with a 65
want to leave the creative side of large audience to offer, whereas the
things to chance, it struck a joint Collective Artists Network will bring
venture with the Collective Artists forth its access to the creator and
Network in July, probably India’s celebrity side of things, he says.
largest talent management agency. “We believe that both live
The joint venture—majority commerce and creative video
owned by Glance, and operated commerce are on the cusp
jointly with the Collective Artists of disrupting the shopping
Network—is called Glance Collective. ecosystem, not just in India, but
Asia and globally,” says Mansi
CELEBRITY-LED ECOMMERCE Jain, vice president for content
“Glance Collective is a very and revenue at Glance.
interesting play, linked to our focus How Jain expects this to work is
on influencer and celebrity-led
ecommerce, but more to be able
“Glance Collective that the combination of Glance and
Roposo offers a large audience to the
to directly incubate and create a wants to create creators by way of millions of daily,
bunch of celebrity and creative a 100 new weekly and monthly active users.
brands,” Piyush Shah, co-founder
of InMobi, and president and COO
brands around Glance alone has over 130 million
daily active users. “We will be working
of Glance tells Forbes India. the identities of with the creators end-to-end, from
Through the joint venture, celebrities and creation of the brands to launching
Glance expects to work with several
creators and celebrities — a hundred
influencers.” and scaling them,” Jain says.
The joint venture expects to work
for starters — “to actually create VIJAY SUBRAMANIAM with “top Bollywood celebrities
these brands which they can be CO-FOUNDER AND GROUP CEO, to leading digital influencers”
calling their own,” Shah says. “It’s COLLECTIVE ARTISTS NETWORK in different categories such as
going to be an overall effort for us entertainment and food, for example,
to create a house of brands in a she says. There will be some

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 In Focus
names in the near future, she says.
These celebrities could be actors,
comedians, and home chefs and so on,
says Vijay Subramaniam, co-founder
and group CEO of Collective Artists
Network. Glance Collective wants
to create a 100 new brands around
the identities of an equal number of
celebrities and influencers, he says.
The idea here is that the creator
and the celebrity can go live
themselves on Glance and Roposo
to talk about their own brand. “They
will bring their heart and soul to
this because they want the (brand)
experience to reflect who they are, and
that’s where we think this will create
magic for the consumers,” Jain says.
A typical example is a young
influencer posting short videos
describing various beauty products
on both Glance and Roposo. In the
coming days, she will be able to
integrate that with features like polls
and questions that viewers can pose.
66 Eventually, a shopping cart process
will be built into the apps, where
users can browse products that the
influencer has been talking about, and
buy them. This will be increasingly
interactive, and in local languages too.
Shop101’s integration with
Glance and Roposo will provide all
the technology and infrastructure
needed for online commerce—from
manufacturing to distribution. It
also offers an online marketplace for
any direct-to-consumer brand out
there that wants to tap the Glance
and Roposo user base. That means
creators can not only promote
their own brands, but also “pick up
any product and showcase them
within their content”, Jain says.
India’s ban on global short-video
leader TikTok set the scene for
domestic startups such as Glance,
ShareChat and Dailyhunt to capitalise
on the opportunity. A year down
the line, Indian short-form video
apps captured most of the user
base left behind by TikTok and
are growing the market as well.
It was time for brands to tap
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
India’s Live Commerce
to become ~$4-5 billion
GMV by 2025
Live Commerce GMV—split by type
of platform
Total live commerce
$4-5 bln
$~2 bln
Via ecommerce
platform
Via Short-form platform
$2.5-3
bln
30-40% 60-70 %
Fashion and
Beauty &
Personal care Others
Beauty & Personal
care to generate
$1+ bln GMV in
2025 from short-
form live commerce
SOURCE RedSeer
into this, consultancy RedSeer
noted in a report in June. The live
commerce segment is expected to
clock a gross merchandise value of
$4-5 billion by 2025, led by strong
growth in beauty and personal care
and fashion, both in metros and
small cities, RedSeer projects.
RedSeer expects short-form
content to catalyse a live commerce
volume of $2.5-3 billion by 2025
in India. Short-form content is the
fastest growing content category in
India as well as globally, according
to the consultancy. The market is
expected to see a three-fold growth
in users in the next five years in
India. As short-form sees more
adoption, it will inevitably boost the
live commerce segment as well.
Some of the reasons for this growth
are continuity in entertainment,
fresh content every day, localised
reach for creators, and decreasing
attention span among viewers.
WHAT’S THE COMPETITION?
Glance has competition. VerSe
Innovation has raised $450 million
in its Series-I funding round, said
the Bengaluru-based local language
technology platform company
in a press release on August 12.
Investors include Siguler Guff, Baillie
Gifford, and affiliates of Carlyle
Asia Partners Growth II. Existing
investors Sofina Group, Qatar
Investment Authority (QIA) and
BCap also participated in this round.
VerSe Innovation says its
proprietary technology platform
serves one out of every two internet
users in the country through its short
video platform Josh and its local
language content platform Dailyhunt.
Less than six months earlier in
February, VerSe raised more than
$200 million in an investment
from Falcon Edge Capital via
Alpha Wave Ventures, Glade
Brook Capital Partners, Google,
Microsoft and QIA, taking the total
capital raised in the first half of
2021 alone to over $650 million.
The latest investment will
be focused on strengthening
the company’s position as the
“largest, fastest growing local
language AI driven content
platform in the country”, VerSe
says in its press release.
“With a strategic focus on video
content and building for Bharat, we
have seen strong traction emerging
from the next billion users coming out
of regional India,” Virendra Gupta,
VerSe’s founder, says in the press
release. “This investment comes at a
time when we are on path to further
expand into newer geographies
and widen our family of apps to
serve audiences at a global level.”
VerSe plans on both deepening and
broadening its artificial intelligence
and machine learning capabilities

to “drive further on monetisation
including ecommerce and live
streaming”, the company says. VerSe
has a local language creator base
of over 50 million people, and
its platform sees over 80 billion
video plays per month, according
to the company’s press release.
VerSe has more than 115
million monthly active users
and over 56 million daily active
users. Dailyhunt serves over 300
million users every month, offering
content in 14 languages from more
than 100,000 content partners
and individual content creators,
according to the press release.
“The company’s accelerated growth
over the last 24 months has positioned
them as category leaders in the digital
local language content space in India
with both Dailyhunt and Josh,”
Vikram Vaidyanathan, managing
director, Matrix India, an early
investor, says in the press release.
Mohalla Tech, which operates
the local language social media
platform ShareChat, and a short-
video platform, Moj, said in July that
it raised $145 million as an extension
of its Series-F round of funding.
The investment valued Mohalla
Tech at $2.88 billion. Investors
include Singapore’s Temasek, Moore
Strategic Ventures and Mirae-Naver
Asia Growth Fund, which is jointly
set up by Mirae Asset and South
Korean web portal Naver Corp.
In April, Mohalla Tech raised $502
million. The company will use the
money to improve its AI feed, attract
and incentivise content creators and
buttress cybersecurity. In total, the
six year-old startup has raised $911
million so far. The company has
hired senior executives in the AI/
ML spaces in recent months in the
UK and the US, and continues to
aggressively look for more senior
recruits in this space, Mohalla Tech
said in a press release in July.
Moj has a monthly active user base
of 160 million, with nearly one in three
of them making and adding content
GLANCE
Short-form content advantage may not last, it certainly
gives Glance the early-mover edge.
to see 3x growth Shop101 was founded by
by FY26 in India Abhinav Jain, Aditya Gupta and
00 Kalpak Chhajed in 2015 as a social
500-6 ecommerce platform. Today, it is a
Short-form MAU full stack ecommerce company, with
(mln users) ~2.7x
a 300-strong team, a network of 10
300 million resellers and 10,000 supplier
partners, serving customers in 2,000
215 towns. Among its investors were Vy
Capital, Stellaris Venture Partners,
Unilever Ventures and Kalaari Capital.
FY 26P
FY 22P “When we invested in Shop101
FY 21E 67% in 2017, the thesis was that people
36% 45% are more likely to buy something
U
orm MA from someone they trust. This was
Short-f rtphone users)
f sma
(as % o beginning to happen on social media
and today it’s called social commerce.
Age-wise adoption of short-form
(% of smartphone users) We expect it to become a large
opportunity,” Rahul Chowdhri, a
85 founding partner at Stellaris Venture
75 75
Partners tells Forbes India. “And
60
53 Shop101 and Glance have synergies
46
that will hopefully lead to much
32 33 larger outcomes as a combine.”
25 67
FY26P
FY21E
“It is very clear that Glance has a
3 large base of users who come to their
14-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 44+ properties and spend a lot of time
YRS YRS YRS YRS YRS looking at influencer videos. Shop101
SOURCE RedSeer
brings the commerce expertise and
that’s the synergy that we think
to it, Ankush Sachdeva, co-founder works very well with the two of them
and CEO of Mohalla Tech, says in coming together,” Chowdhri says.
the press release. “To strengthen our
leadership position, we will continue THE EVOLUTION OF GLANCE
to invest in our AI capabilities, Glance is among the fastest-growing
scaling our global AI organisation, content platforms, and the largest
building advanced editing tools platform of its scale to come out
and helping our creators monetise of India, according to Zinnov, a
on the platform,” Sachdeva says. consultancy. It is part of the latest
The company says that an average wave of mega content platforms,
user spends 34 minutes a day on the third wave, which includes
Moj, and the platform receives 4.5 TikTok and WeChat from China,
billion views daily. ShareChat has and Glance from India. Glance
an average user time spent of 31 took less than 21 months to race
minutes daily. Moj and ShareChat to 100 million daily active users,
together reach 340 million users. Zinnov notes in a whitepaper on
India’s digital economy in March.
THE SHOP101 ADVANTAGE Shah recalls building Glance
One thing that seems to give Glance “almost like a stealth project”. The
an edge is its quick move to acquire a lock screen came across as pristine
strong ecommerce capability through mobile real estate, yet untapped, so
the purchase of Shop101. While the there was an opportunity to reimagine
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

In Focus
how content was discovered. With
its 130 million daily active users
across India and Southeast Asia,
Glance is among the top 10 content
platforms worldwide, he says.
The company works closely
with five handset makers including
Samsung, Xiaomi and Oppo,
and has an installed base of over
300 million smartphones. The
lock screen app surfaces news,
games, and entertainment, and
soon, there will be shopping.
Glance acquired Roposo in 2019
with the idea that the next generation
of content for youth will be led by
influencers. Acquiring Shop101 was
about looking at the intersection of
content, creators and commerce to
reimagine mobile shopping altogether.
“Our thesis is that traditional
ecommerce is functional and intent-
led. More and more, I would say,
consumers, especially youth, are
looking for shopping experiences that
68 are fun and entertaining, and yet the
product has to be good as well,” Shah
says. “We’ve seen this happening in
China in a big manner. When mobile
shopping is live, and influencer led,
it makes shopping more interesting
and authentic. And we want to bring
that change in India and globally,
through creators, influencers and
celebrities—that’s the overall plot.”
Glance and Roposo are strong on
the content and creator side, and
Shop101 brings a strong ecommerce
backbone, tech and infrastructure.
“This is the first major strategic
investment we have made after our
funding in December, so you can
imagine that this is pretty important
to us,” Shah says. “We were already
monetising through ads as one
pillar, but now commerce is going
to be our second important pillar for
monetising Glance and Roposo.”
The deal was a mix of cash and
equity, and the entire 300-person
team at Shop101, including the
founders, is being integrated with
Glance. While the content experience
will happen on Glance and Roposo,
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
App (non-gaming) ranking
by downloads across iOS
and Android in India
Josh Moj ShareChat Dailyhunt Roposo
2 7 25 30 37
5 2 9 57 129
7 9 18 61 197
Q2 2021 (Jan-Mar) Q1 2021 Q4 2020
App (non-gaming)
ranking by MAU across
iOS and Android in India
ShareChat Dailyhunt Moj Josh Roposo
21 22 24 64 164
21 26 23 88 204
27 23 73 104 163
Q2 2021 (Jan-Mar) Q1 2021 Q4 2020
SOURCE App Annie
the technology backbone and supply
chain infrastructure will come from
Shop101. Glance will also tap into
Shop101’s reseller network, Shah says.
This will enable all kinds of
brands, be it a large consumer
goods company or a new-age
direct-to-consumer brand or even
a small-town entrepreneur making
garments. Sellers started with large
ecommerce marketplaces when
those were the only options, but the
content and creator-led online sales
model offers a more authentic and
intimate alternative, Shah says.
This has prompted many direct-
to-consumer brand startups to start
making the effort to use digital content
to connect with their brands. Sugar
Cosmetics, which has been doing this
for some years now, is an example,
as is, more recently, Pankhuri, a
women-oriented online community-
based social commerce site.
GLANCE
The overall experience makes
it “better than a television
advertisement”, Shah says. In the long
term, “a loftier ambition is to help
young creators monetise their talent
on a more sustained basis and not
just a one-off cheque”, he explains.
This is because there will be revenue-
sharing models that will emerge in
India too. The concept is not new—in
the US, for example, a reviewer of an
electronics gadget, who has a large
following, will get a small cut for every
purchase of the gadget made using a
link provided on her Youtube channel.
A team of more than 40 data
scientists is continuously working on
the AI to make the Glance experience
very relevant and personalised.
Glance is also working on making the
content visually appealing “like an
Instagram on your lock screen”, says
Shah. Finally, Glance aims to be live
as up-to-the-minute as possible with
what is happening around the user.
In the future, there are other areas
that Glance could expand into. For
example, if there is a greater sense of
normalcy next year with more people
being vaccinated against Covid-19, and
perhaps even vaccines for children,
it will not be difficult for Glance to
offer coupons and discounts to stores
in local malls. Financial services
can be offered too—with the idea of
embedded finance catching up in the
digital world—and this is something
Shah says they are keen on, but have
not invested in enough yet, because
currently the focus is entirely on
growing the live commerce segment.
Over the next two years, Shah
expects Glance to be much more
international—“that’s a huge ambition
for us”. InMobi has a large part of its
core business coming from the US
and China. In the same way, Glance
will go global over the next two
years. The next step will be to take
Roposo global as well. “Who knows
how we evolve as a platform. Just
look at how WeChat has evolved in
China, or ByteDance,” Shah says.
“We want to do this step by step.”
 Eye For Detail
And Change
Text By DARIELLE BRITTO

rchitecture has the power the factors that have led to Raman Sikka, 53, an associate

A to influence change
and affect behaviour,
whether we realise it or not.
creative designs and innovative
methods to better build these ‘built
environments’ we live in and use.
principal at Sikka Associates
Architects, is big on using green
technologies to create enjoyable and
69

Every detail—location, layout,
materials, purpose—of a particular
project can transform the lives
of occupants, a society and
contribute to nation building.
The Top 30 architects in India
have a common desire to have
a meaningful impact in a way
that their works serve people
and create a positive change.
The pandemic, global warming,
need for adaptive design, and
greater urbanisation are among
Some of the top architects in the
country, who have long advocated
for change in the field, are working
on designs to build structures
that cater to our current needs,
while being mindful of nature
and our planet’s resources.
For instance, Debasish Guha,
69, founding director of ARCOP
Associates Private Limited,
believes technology should be
used as a tool to enhance design
and creative capability.
environmentally friendly spaces.
For Canna Patel, 59, founder
and chairperson of HCP Interior
Design Pvt Ltd, modern techniques
need to be tweaked to echo
Indian sensibilities that will lead
to more efficient daily living.
And Sandeep Shikre, 56,
CEO and founding principal of
Sandeep Shikre and Associates,
combines art and engineering to
create functional and contextually
relevant structures for people.

M ETH O DO LOGY
The research process was two-fold: One, we made a long list of architects from across the country.
The next step was narrowing down to a ‘shorter longlist’—the names most likely to make it to the top 30 architects. The final list was decided on
specific parameters—duration in the field, achievements, prominent projects, contribution to the field, use of sustainable practices.

* This is the second part of the Forbes India The Bold Club: India’s Top 30 Architects Powered by Kohler. The remaining 10 names on the list will be
published in the next edition

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 Sustainability Through
Passive Architecture
he desire to improve

T environments, to breathe
new life in the people that
inhabit them, has been a driving
force for Debasish Guha and his
firm ARCOP Associates Private
Limited, which he co-founded with
Ramesh Khosla in Delhi in 1985.
The company has expanded its
offices to four locations in India and
overseas in Oman. Over the last three
years, it has made between `50 crore
and `55 crore in revenue per year.
Creating designs to have a positive
effect has been at the core of every

ARCOP Associates
Private Limited
70
Debasish Guha, 69
Founding Director

project in the firm’s portfolio.

Guha says the Garden Estate in
Gurugram, which was one of the
first residential gated communities
in the country in 1989, “had a very
positive effect in transforming the
real estate scenario in India”.
Some of the firm’s major projects
include the Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT)-Hyderabad Debasish Guha’s major projects include the IIT-Hyderabad campus, the Medanta Super
campus design, government Speciality Hospital in Gurugram and (above) the Taj Resort & Convention Centre in Goa
housing in Amravati, Medanta
Super Speciality Hospital in the unknown frontier in mind, we regenerative principles and a lean
Gurugram and the Taj Resort & created a strategy of partnering design approach,” says Guha. “My
Convention Centre in Goa. Its between client, architect and design philosophy is to achieve
ongoing projects include residential contractor to work together towards simplicity through a creative
and real estate developments achieving common goals.” process which is sensitive to the
EDRIC GEORGE FOR FORBES INDIA

for Emaar and Bharti Realty.
For Guha, working on the Kabul
Sarena Hotel in 2002 was one of
the most exciting and challenging
experiences. “Kabul was devastated
after the long war in Afghanistan,”
he says. “With the challenges and
Sustainability through passive
architecture has been a major
element in the company’s design
process. “All our institutional
projects such as IITs, IIMs, AIIMS,
IISER etc. are designed as GRIHA-
rated sustainable campuses using
surroundings and the natural
environment.” He adds that
technology will play a dominant
role in shaping architecture in the
future. “Technology should be used
as a tool to enhance our design and
creative capability,” he says.

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021


Creating Order With
Model Structures
onali Bhagwati knew
S CEPT University in
Ahmedabad—an institute
that she describes as “the most awe-
inspiring”—was the place to be at
to make her dream of becoming an
architect a reality. It was also where
Sohrab Dalal fell in love with the
field after taking the architecture
exam on a whim. It was probably
fate that prevented him from
pursuing a career in engineering.
The couple, who met at college
to pursue a similar goal, had
established a firm in 1991, which
they merged in 2010 to form
Designplus Associates Services Pvt
Ltd (DPA)—an integrated design
consultancy firm with offices in
Haryana, Delhi and Gurugram.
DPA, whose turnover in the
Sonali Bhagwati
and Sohrab Dalal
have worked on
over 300 projects
last couple of years has been
approximately `20 crore per annum,
has worked on over 300 projects,
including Taj Vivanta in Bengaluru,
Holiday Inn in Aero City, New
Delhi, Thapar University in Patiala
and Paras Quartier in Haryana.
“We believe in creating built
environments which are meaningful,
well-designed, well-detailed and
well-integrated,” says Bhagwati.
Designplus Associates
Services Pvt Ltd (DPA)
Sonali Bhagwati, 59
Managing Partner
Sohrab Dalal, 61
Partner
The duo strives to use design
to inspire end-users, whether it’s
working on a family home or a
university campus. “I think design
plays a very strong role in motivating
the user of that project,” says Dalal.
The Nasscom headquarters in Noida,
for instance, was designed to include
public space for activities. “Good
design is intelligence made visible
and caring for our environment
should be the foundation of all
future developments,” says Dalal.
DPA’s ongoing works include
two large mixed-use projects
for an international developer
in Noida and Gurugram.
Bhagwati feels cities need to be
shaped in an organised manner
to foster social interactions and
encourage well-being. “I think we
need to get out of our comfortable
offices—‘our oasis’ —and look at
the chaos in our public realm, and
try and do small pilot projects
to improve our community 71
and create order through good
design,” says Bhagwati.
MADHU KAPPARATH
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 Catalyst Of Change
he journey to becoming

T prominent figures in
the architectural world
was shaped by different events
for three ambitious men.
As a child, Yatin Patel was
fascinated with shapes and blocks
with which he used to make
structures, utility objects and
prototypes. Bimal Desai’s family
structural engineering business
heavily influenced his desire to
create iconic high-performance
structures. Having an architect-
father shaped Mehul Shah’s
early inclinations to leave his
own mark in the industry.
Somewhere along the way, their

DSP Design Associates

72
Yatin Patel, 56
Mehul Shah, 56
Bimal Desai, 53
Founders and Principals

paths crossed and in 1988, the trio

established DSP Design Associates,
an internationally renowned
architecture, interior design and
smart building advisory practice.
The firm, whose current financial
year turnover is `200 crore, has five
multi-disciplinary studios in India
and an overseas office in Singapore.
“Our firm’s principles mandate us as
designers to design tech-intelligent
human-adaptive spaces,” says Patel.
Commercial Campuses for
Capgemini in Mumbai, high-rise
NEHA MITHBAWKAR FOR FORBES INDIA
(From left) Bimal
Desai, Yatin Patel and
Mehul Shah design
tech-intelligent human-
adaptive spaces
catalyst of change, uniquely, and one-of-its-kind in the entire
for each client’s organisational Southeast Asian region,” says Desai.
ambitions,” says Desai. Its ongoing projects include a
The Oracle Financial Services multi-tenant office in Hyderabad
(formerly i-Flex Solutions) in for the Sattva Group and Tech-
Bengaluru, an award-winning Commercial Campuses for
design, is a testament to how the Bagmane Group in Mumbai.

building Omkar 1973, and mixed-
use development TransStadia
in Ahmedabad are some of
their prominent projects.
“DSP Design as a studio
is committed to delivering
a design that is contextually
relevant while acting as a
firm can exploit the design potential
of a space with even a client’s one-
sentence brief. “An inspirational
statement and thought-provoking
brief by the client triggered our
creativity and innovation to
conceive a project which would be
an architectural engineering marvel
The firm believes smart buildings
can yield substantial improvements
in performance, wellness and risk
mitigation. “This can be achieved
by a purposeful and methodical
approach to technology in design,
development and property
management,” says Shah.

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021

 Tweaking Techniques
To Reflect Indian Ethos
anna Patel has had a 30-year
C career as an architect and
interior designer, executing
over 300 projects of varying scales.
However, none of it may have come
to fruition if fate hadn’t intervened.
A failed attempt at getting into
an undergraduate programme in
textile design led Patel to explore
her love for art and architecture.
“I enrolled for a bachelor’s in
architecture at CEPT University,
and have since never looked
back,” says Patel, daughter of
architect Hasmukh Patel.
In 2006, Patel established
interior design and architecture
firm HCP Interior Design Pvt Ltd
in Ahmedabad, which has worked
on projects in Delhi, Mumbai,
Indore, Jaipur, and Gujarat. There
is a distinctive Indianness in its
works, which helps to render
Canna Patel’s
projects reflect
a fine sensitivity
to the Indian
climate and
social norms
HCP Interior Design Pvt Ltd
Canna Patel, 59
Founder and Chairperson
them timeless for the setting they
occupy. “Our projects reflect a fine
sensitivity to the Indian climate,
social norms, cultural values and
aspirations; features that are
essential, yet often missing in
contemporary projects,” says Patel.
The Sachivalay project is one of
its landmark projects that reflects
the practice’s ethos. Swarnim Sankul
1 and 2 were proposed on either
side of the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha
(Gujarat Legislative Assembly)
building in the Sachivalay complex
in Gandhinagar to accommodate
the various ministers of state.
“This required designing spaces
that would represent the state—a
personification of Gujarat,” says
Patel. For the project, the firm
integrated various traditional
crafts, art and motifs inspired by
the heritage of the state. “Each
space, regardless of hierarchy,
would encourage encounters with
some element that was innately
from Gujarat,” says Patel.
Currently, the firm is
serving as the interior sub-
consultant for the prestigious
Central Vista Redevelopment
Project in New Delhi.
Patel feels abstracting design
concepts from the country’s
culture is important. “As Indian
designers, we need to rethink 73
modern techniques and products,
and tweak them to echo Indian
sensibilities that will lead to more
efficient daily living,” says Patel.
MAYUR D BHAT FOR FORBES INDIA
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 Spiritual Side To
Timeless Designs
iran Patel’s inspiration to
H become an architect came
from his family. His father
was a town planner and government
officer. His older brothers were
civil engineers. “I saw them making
models when I was in school,”
says Patel. These experiences
74
MAYUR D BHATT FOR FORBES INDIA
Hiren Patel is
a believer in
incorporating
nature in city
projects
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
introduced him to the world of
designing and building structures.
Eventually, he completed B Arch
at CEPT University in Ahmedabad
in 1989. Shortly after, Patel worked
in Switzerland for a year before
returning to Ahmedabad and
establishing design studio HPA
(Hiren Patel Architects) in 1990.
The architecture, interior design
and landscaping studio works on a
mix of projects—private residence,
farmhouses, apartments, schools
and hospitality—across India and
overseas in France and the US.
“We have a love for design and
details,” says Patel. “People love
the blend of nature in our work.”
Creating timeless, meaningful
architecture and design in a spiritual
way is the firm’s mission. “To me,
my work is a worship to God and
it shall reflect at the end when the
work is completed,” says Patel.
Out of the numerous
projects of all sizes and scales
HPA (Hiren Patel Architects)
Hiren Patel, 56
Founder
in the firm’s portfolio, there
are two in Ahmedabad that are
particularly special for Patel—
the Dadamiyan Mosque and the
Manav Gulzar Community Centre
for underprivileged children.
“Because of their quality and
purity in design, and their positive
impact on users,” says Patel.
“These are spaces that cannot be
captured in photos. One needs to
visit the place to understand.”
Currently, the firm is
working on high-end homes and
apartments across the country.
Patel feels Indian cities need to
be shaped to incorporate nature
as many lack gardens and urban
forests. “Doing that will change
the psychology of people living
in urban areas,” he says.
 Scaling New Heights
Niroop Reddy’s
firm has a diverse
portfolio—high-end
homes, hospitals,
boutique hotels, and
business schools
iroop Reddy’s journey to
N becoming an architect
began with an idea that
was not his own. “It was not my
childhood dream to be an architect,”
says Reddy, who was into computer
science in his youth and had
plans to take up engineering.
Worried that he might move
abroad to pursue this stream,
his father persuaded him to take
up architecture so that he could
be closer to home. A jovial and
obedient Reddy was up for the
challenge and earned a B Arch at
the Madras University in 1999.
Reddy’s journey in the field began
when he joined a startup in Delhi
to gain practical training. By 2001,
Reddy and his wife Rupana founded
Hyderabad-based architecture and
NA Architects
Niroop Reddy, 45
Founder and Principal Architect
Rupana Reddy, 41
Principal Interior Designer
interior design firm NA Architects.
Reddy got his first big break
in 2004 when the chief minister
of Andhra Pradesh approached
him to design his offices and
residence. It was his work on that
project that helped take the firm
to new heights. “We had a lot of
references and then a lot of big
developers approached us,” he says.
Today, the firm has offices
in Bengaluru and Dubai and a
75
diverse portfolio—high-end homes,
hospitals, boutique hotels, and
business schools. It has worked on
projects in India and overseas.
The Twins in Hyderabad, the
world’s largest single floor plate
luxury residential apartments, and
a newly completed 400-bed smart
hospital in Dubai are a reflection of
the firm’s innovative design solutions
to meet a client’s requirements. Its
ongoing projects include a high-rise
building W for DSR in Hyderabad.
VIKAS CHANDRA PURETI FOR FORBES INDIA
But it is his firsts in various
categories—residential, commercial
etc.—that are most special to Reddy.
“That’s where I got a chance to prove
myself in different categories,” says
Reddy. “I am one of those architects
who wants to improve every day and
do something new every day.”
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 Amalgamation
Of Art And Logic
76
Viraj and SP Patki
believe in a mindful
approach to each
project’s function
and requirement
volving with the times
E has helped SP and Viraj
Patki thrive for decades as
designers of creative structures.
SP still considers himself a
student of architecture despite
having over 30 years of experience.
“My journey is an evolution because
I feel architecture itself is one of
the most dynamic professions,” says
SP. “It evolves as societies evolve.”
“I think it is one profession
where art and logic meets,”
says Viraj, whose career has
spanned over 20 years.
Today, the couple runs one of the
NAYAN SHAH FOR FORBES INDIA
country’s top architectural firms,
PG Patki Architects, which was
founded 45 years ago by SP’s father,
the late PG Patki, in Mumbai. The
firm’s portfolio includes diverse
projects, from luxury hotels to
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
PG Patki Architects
Viraj Patki
Principal Architect, Interior
Designer
SP Patki
Principal Architect
residential townships, including
landmark projects such as the St.
Regis and Palladium in Mumbai,
The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, and
AIG Hospitals in Hyderabad.
Ethical practice is foremost
for the firm. “We realise what we
build is going to live for generations
because I think whatever we build
is going to influence the way people
live,” says Viraj. Work on the
meditation centre for Osho in Pune—
inspired by the Louvre Museum in
Paris—is a reflection of the firm’s
mindful approach to each project’s
function and requirement. “This is a
black pyramid surrounded by a water
body. The engineering is just perfect
in the sense of air conditioning,
structure and acoustics,” says Viraj.
“It’s a statement of simplicity and
still incorporates everything that you
would want to strive to achieve.”
The firm’s ongoing projects
include shopping malls and hotels.
While there is greater use
of technology and mechanical
services, SP feels architects need
to understand such practices to
practice good architecture. “I
think what the newer generation
of architects should practise is
something that will benefit the
future generations,” he says.
 Designing For The
People And Future
ecoming a cricketer was
B Sandeep Shikre’s boyhood
dream, but after much
contemplation, architecture
seemed to be a natural career
choice that aligned with his goals.
“I think architecture is a very
noble profession,” says Shikre.
“It’s extremely rewarding.”
In 1989, Shikre set up design
consultancy firm Sandeep Shikre and
Associates (SSA) with wife Alpa in
Mumbai, which houses architecture,
Sandeep and Alpa Shikre have designed over 8 million sq ft of green-certified projects
interior design and construction
management under one roof. What
started as a two-person company
has expanded to 200-plus staffers.
There’s also an office in Pune.
In the past 32 years, the
internationally-recognised firm
has produced several prominent
works. The Dandi Memorial, for
instance, was designed to capture
the experience of Mahatma Gandhi’s
Salt Satyagraha from Sabarmati
to Dandi. The Mudra House in
Mumbai, which won the firm the
AIT Award-Germany, features
unique characteristics of Indian
ethnicity in a contemporary manner.
The Kohinoor Square in
Mumbai is a mixed-use high-rise
building created with revolutionary
design elements. “Many firsts for
the Indian subcontinent were
introduced during the execution of
the Kohinoor Square, including the
jump-form shuttering, compass-
Sandeep Shikre and
Associates (SSA Architects)
Sandeep Shikre, 56
CEO and Founding Principal
77
Alpa Shikre, 52
Principal
based vertical transportation, and
unitised curtain wall,” says Shikre.
SSA’s ongoing projects include
the urban renewal of Mahim
Bay and a commercial complex
for Kirloskars. The firm’s ethos,
‘Architecture and Beyond’,
signifies a collaborative approach
to combine art and engineering to
create functional and contextually
relevant structures for people.
“Architecture is space, people and
happiness,” says Shikre. “At the
end of the day, you are designing
for the people, so your architecture
has to be people-centric.”
In addition, all projects reflect
NEHA MITHBAWKAR FOR FORBES INDIA
the basic principles of sustainability.
“SSA has designed over 8 million sq
ft of green-certified projects,” says
Shikre. Designing for the future,
says Shikre, will have to “be about
understanding sociology, people
and technology, and integrating it
into a human-centric design.”
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 Reconfiguring Spaces
In Impactful Ways
78
childhood interest in
A sketching, designing and
engineering drawing
became the building block for
Raman Sikka to reconfigure spaces
in impactful ways. Honing his
boyhood passions helped Sikka
make Sikka Associates Architects
(SAA)—an architectural design
consultancy firm established by
his father SR Sikka in 1981—one of
the leading firms in the world.
The New Delhi-based firm
comprises a multi-talented team—
planners, architects, designers and
engineers—working on a range
of projects in all sectors, from
architectural design to master
planning across the country,
AMIT VERMA
including Jodhpur, Shillong and
Leh, as well as overseas in China,
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
Sikka Associates
Architects (SAA)
Raman Sikka, 53
Associate Principal
Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Oman.
The firm has won many accolades
for its innovative designs and it is
now working on a landmark project,
the NSCBI Airport in Kolkata,
that stands out in its impressive
portfolio. “It is a unique statement
of seamless landscape, architecture
and structure,” says Sikka. Other
ongoing projects include the World
Trade Center—one of the world’s
largest single office buildings—in
New Delhi and the museum on
Indian prime ministers in the capital.
Raman Sikka of Sikka
Associates believes
in providing holistic
sustainability and
unique experiences
with his designs
‘Live by Design’ is the firm’s
mission and philosophy that has
helped it achieve great heights.
“Working with leading international
architects and firms has kept us
abreast of global standards and
trends,” says Sikka. Apart from
making efficient and cost-effective
buildings, SAA is big on using green
technologies to create spaces that
are enjoyable and environmentally
friendly. “Our own head office
in New Delhi—LEED Platinum
rated—is a live example to our staff
and clients of our commitment
to sustainability,” says Sikka. He
believes “holistic sustainability and
unique experiences” are the key
elements designers and architects
should keep in mind when creating
structures for the future.
 Global Practices
For Smart Architecture
ong before making a name

L for himself as an architect,

Vijayanandan Somurao was
designing small residences at the
age of 15. “I generally had a great
affinity towards this profession,” says
Somurao. “I believe our work is going
to fill a large part of our life and the
only way to be truly satisfied is to
do what you believe is great work.”
Somurao, who has been in the
industry for 25 years, established
Chennai-based architectural firm
Taamaesek Engineering Consortium
in 2001. The company, which has an

Taamaesek Engineering
Consortium
79
Vijayanandan Somurao, 51
Founder

annual turnover of approximately

`3.5-4 crore, provides a wide
range of services—architecture,
project management, quantity
surveying, and mechanical and
engineering services. It is known
for its innovative and cost-effective
designs across India, including
cities such as Chennai, Bengaluru,
Hyderabad and Coimbatore. Vijaynandan Somurao‘s
firm has joint ventures
The company has also entered with companies in
into joint venture agreements Japan and Singapore
for global projects
to collaborate on global projects
with companies such as Japan’s
Fujita and Yamashita Sekkei, and design for the end user without Taamaesek strives to implement
Singapore’s I Buildings and Dr Yee. compromising their carpet area,” international architectural practices
While the firm has worked on says Somurao. “Effective usage in Indian projects and takes natural
many housing projects, commercial space in bio labs is generally 40-45 resources into careful consideration
P. RAVIKUMAR FOR FORBES INDIA

estates, bio parks, hotels, and
information technology parks, the
Ticel Bio Park in Chennai remains
one of the most memorable projects
for Somurao. “We gave high floor
efficiency and flexibility in the
percent, but in this project we
achieved up to 70 percent,” says
Somurao. The Chennai Trade
Centre, Tidel IT Park in Pattabiram
and Bannari IT space are some
of the firm’s ongoing projects.
during every stage of a project. “We
produce smart designs and use
available technologies to ensure
that structures generate minimal
harmful effects to the ecosystem and
the communities,” says Somurao.

NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

 In Focus

Once Upon a
Time in Korea…
How Kross Komics is wooing Indian readers with gripping Korean stories narrated
in the webtoon format—and filling the gap in content for young women
By RAJIV SINGH

S
halini Mishra starts
narrating her favourite
story on a Zoom video
call from Kanpur, Uttar
Pradesh. A business
proposal, a blind date and then… that’s
how the Korean romantic comedy
webtoon—A Business Proposal—starts,
in an office setting. “Shin Ha Ri is
neck-deep in debt,” says the 19-year-
old, alluding to the protagonist.
Reading the gripping story on the
Kross Komics app installed on
her smartphone, the young Hindi
undergrad student reveals more
about the plot. “Karz mein hai,
aur dil bhi toota hai bechari ka (To
add to her debt woes, the young
employee is heartbroken over her
seven-year-long crush),” she adds.
Enters Kang Tae Mu, a third-
generation business conglomerate,
who is hell-bent on marrying the next
girl he meets to keep his grandfather
happy. Meanwhile, Ha Ri gets a
business proposal: Go on a blind date,
and get rejected to earn a few extra

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021


bucks. “Taiyaar ho gayi woh (She is
game),” says Mishra, with a twinkle
in her eye. Ha Ri wears a wig, puts on
heavy makeup and portrays herself
as a foul-mouthed diva. In a twist,
the blind date—who happens to the
company’s CEO—gets smitten by her.
Back in Delhi, Ritika Guha is ready
to talk about a special story. She finds
the name, and the plot, of the Korean
digital comic quite fascinating: I Was
tricked into this Fake Marriage. The
fantasy plot, underlines the 15-year-
old school student, begins in a royal
court and revolves around Leyrin
Efran, who becomes a countess
overnight. But to secure her family’s
title and estate, she is left with only
one option: To get married. “Efran
decides to marry a mysterious and
arrogant stranger,” stresses Guha like
a professional storyteller. Everything
was going according to the script,
but then something happened…
In the financial capital of India,
Rohit Gupta is in love with a web
comic title—Do as you Like it. The
Korean fantasy story revolves around
Dian, who travels to Evenhart Castle
in place of Lady Selene to help her
avoid an unwanted marriage. The
feisty maid makes a daring approach
by taking refuge with Sir Evenhart
claiming a false identity. “What
happens next is…,” Gupta’s voice
disappears as the internet goes
for a toss. After a few minutes, he
reconnects. “I suppose the internet is
at its best only in a fictional world, and
not in Mumbai,” he says with a smile.
Meanwhile in Seoul, South Korea,
Hyunwoo Thomas Kim is eagerly
waiting to unravel a triangular
love story: Korean fiction, Indian
readers, and Kross Komics. “It’s
a blockbuster,” he says smiling.
Thomas—as the entrepreneur prefers
to be addressed—starts with the
numbers. Kross Komics has 45,000
daily active users in India. “We have
had over 4.3 million app downloads
in such a short span of time,” says
the co-founder and president of
Kross Komics, the Korean webtoon
KROSS KOMICS
NAME
& GAME company which started operations
in India in December 2019.
Kross Komics caters to young
readers—15 to 25; makes available
Founded in May 2019, Kross Korean stories in English, Hindi and
Komics is based out of Seoul
Telugu; and works on a freemium
Started India operations in model. Readers can access the first
December 2019 five episodes of the digital comics
for free, and then they have the
Offers content option to ‘wait and pay’, which
in English, Telugu, means they can either wait for a
and Hindi across
nine genres couple of days and choose to read
the next episode when it’s available
for free or make a payment and
unlock the stuff immediately.
Thomas, for his part, has indeed
Works on a freemium managed to unlock the business
model—first five potential which rides on the K-wave.
episodes are free “There is a strong overlap between
the Indian and Korean cultures,”
Has 45,000 daily active contends Thomas, underlining
users and 4.3 million the reason behind the K-pop,
app downloads K-drama, K-food, K-cosmetics and
Kross Komics rage in the country.
Majority of readers are women A Business Proposal, one of the
from Tier I and II cities best-selling webtoons from Kross 81
Forayed into mobile gaming Komics, is now being remade into a
with Kross Games in Sept 2020 K-drama. The story, he explains, is
Kross Komic’s best-selling a light, enjoyable romantic comedy
webtoon—A Business Proposal— that keeps readers hooked due to
to be remade into a K-drama its intriguing twists. The characters
are realistic, sweet, quirky, and are
entangled in family expectations.
“They are also extremely relatable
to Gen-Z and millennials,” he adds.
What has made Korean web
stories click massively in India,
though, is another sweet fact.
A majority of the readers are
women from Tier I and II cities.
Marketing experts decode the
magic sauce used in the saucy Korean
“The Korean entrepreneur
has understood the genre
that appeals best to the
modern young woman.”
JESSIE PAUL
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PAUL WRITER
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 In Focus
stories of Kross Komics. Once upon
a time, romance novels by Georgette
Heyer and Mills and Boons were a
staple for young women. “One had
to hide their ‘shocking’ covers under
text books,” says Jessie Paul, chief
executive officer of Paul Writer, a B2B
marketing agency. And vernacular
magazines and their serialised stories
were a staple for those who read in
local languages, and made readers
graduate from comics to books.
As the trend now moves to
shorter and more visual content,
the need is met by graphic novels.
“Surprisingly, this market need is
satisfied by a Korean entrepreneur,”
says Paul. Thomas, she lets on,
has understood the genre that
appeals best to the modern young
woman. The long digital tail is
finally delivering value to an often-
ignored audience: The young Indian
woman. “Move over Chetan Bhagat.
Hyunwoo Thomas Kim is here,”
82 underlines the marketing expert.
What has also helped Kross
Komics find wider acceptance is its
smartness in sharply identifying its
audience or readers. While most
of the blockbuster Korean comic
series rolled out by the company
have women as the hero, the rest
narrate the story from the lens
or perspective of a woman.
Thomas, some reckon, has
done an Ekta Kapoor.
Ashita Aggarwal explains. Two
decades ago, the K-series—TV serials
starting with the letter ‘K’—made
Kapoor the undisputed soap opera
queen. Though the magic looked
simple, the producer was able to
do what others couldn’t: Target
homemakers in the 25-50 age group.
Before the K world, Indian
television was mostly dominated
by family shows with dominant
male protagonists, and women
were seen supporting the story
in their traditional role. “K-series
predominantly had women
protagonists and, for a change,
males supporting the story,” says the
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
MEET K-STAR
HYUNWOO
THOMAS KIM marketing professor at Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan’s SP Jain Institute
of Management and Research in
Mumbai. The central characters
not only resonated with the target
Finished college from Yonsei audience, but the series were also a
University, Seoul; and MBA from reflection of the positive and negative
Waseda University, Tokyo emotions experienced by women.
Has had stints with Goldman Sachs, Fast forward 20 years. The
Bain & Company, and Walt Disney entertainment world seemed to
Imagineering have forgotten girls in the 15-20
age group—who don’t identify with
soap operas, find the idiot box a
In 2004, started
Kross Pictures, boring place and are hooked to
a multinational OTT for binging salvation. This age
film and group had also outgrown Tinkle
es production and other comics. The Gen-Z girl,
Kross Pictur
company dealing
Aggarwal points out, is seeking her
in the production
and distribution individual identity. The imagery
of films and TV of traditional ‘women’ didn’t find
dramas favour and ‘glamour anchors’
were seen as repulsive. “The
Korean webtoons were just what
she was looking for,” she says.
The stories, characters and the
fantasy world of Kross Komics
resonated with young Indian women.
The women are aspirational, career-
oriented, seek more meaningful
relationships and look at a life
beyond marriage and in-laws.
Kross Picture “Finally, women were not the
office in 20 s set up its India supporting characters,” she adds.
15
four Indian , and has produced What also boosted the popularity
movies: TE3
2016), Oh! B N (Hindi, of Kross Komics is the availability
Netrikann (Taby (Telugu, 2019), of content in Hindi and Telugu.
Blind (Hind amil, 2021), and
i, 2021) Back in 2015, when Thomas
came to India, he was running
Kross Pictures, a multinational film
distribution and production company
started in Seoul in 2004. His window
to Indian cinema opened with 3
Idiots, which released towards the
end of 2009. “I was highly impressed
with that movie,” he recalls. The
Korean producer decided to set up
shop in India, and in 2015 he started
Indian operations for Kross Pictures.
The reaction of his family and
In December 2019,
started webtoon friends about the Indian move
platform Kross Komics was along expected lines. “They
branded me crazy,” he says smiling.
Though Thomas had mapped two
quintessential Indian things that

Koreans loved—yoga and curry—
what he also found intriguing was
the fact that while many Koreans
had visited India as tourists, there
were only a few who were doing
business by staying in India. But he
was confident of finding opportunity
in the land of chaos. “I somehow
knew that India would work out
well for me,” he recounts.
Mumbai—and Bollywood—became
his first stop. The first movie to be
produced by Kross Pictures was Teen
(Te3n), a remake of South Korean
film Montage. Though the mystery
thriller assembled a big cast—
Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin
Siddiqui and Vidya Balan—it didn’t
do well at the box office. The
lesson was learnt: A sharper script,
and strong women characters.
Three years later, in 2019,
Thomas backed a Telugu movie
Oh! Baby. This time the storyline
of the fantasy comedy, which was a
remake of South Korean film Miss
Granny, had a woman protagonist.
A surly septuagenarian, Netflix
points out in its movie description
section, gets another chance at
her 20s after having her photo
snapped at a studio that magically
takes 50 years off her life. The plot
clicked, the movie worked, and
Thomas unwittingly got his success
formula for prospective webtoons.
SAY HELLO TO HALLYU
Interestingly, by the time Thomas
rolled out Kross Komics, Korean
culture in the form of K-pop,
K-drama, K-food and K-cosmetics
had made deep inroads in India,
and across the world. K-dramas
such as Love Alarm, True Beauty,
Itaewon Class, My ID is Gangnam
Beauty, and Extraordinary You
were making waves globally.
Back in India, the ripple effect
was strongly felt. In 2019, when
KARD—one of the biggest names in
the Korean pop (K-pop) industry—
toured India for its maiden
concert in Delhi and Guwahati,
KROSS KOMICS
“Webtoons are just the
right ‘snackable’ reading in
today’s times when people
are seeking meaningful
entertainment.”
ASHITA AGGARWAL
MARKETING PROFESSOR, SP JAIN INSTITUTE
OF MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
the response was overwhelming. from Korea: Digital comic stories.
“We didn’t know we had a huge The opportunity, though, came
fan following here,” BM, one of the with its own set of unique challenges.
band members, reportedly said. For an outsider, the diversity of
While KARD was pleasantly culture and language in India is
surprised with India’s growing extremely fascinating. But for the
love for Korean culture, Seo Young investment banker-turned producer,
Doo was quick to sense the trend. India was an overwhelming
In December 2018, the Korean experience. In the beginning, he
entrepreneur launched an online too fell for the widely-held
venture—Korikart—to etail Korean perception among foreigners
beauty, skincare, food, fashion, that vernacular languages in the
home and kitchen products. The country are quite similar. “The 83
company saw a huge uptick in biggest challenge was to strike a
sales not only from metro cities balance between similarities and
but also from regions like Punjab differences,” he says smiling.
and the Northeast. “We also see Another tough task was
rising demand from Bihar and Uttar learning Hindi. “I have only learnt
Pradesh,” the founder said in an one word: Namaste,” he says
interview to Forbes India last year. with a laugh, adding that he did
Interestingly, around the same take some lessons in Hindi but
time, young Indian girls were falling gave up quickly. “It’s difficult to
in love with Korean cosmetics pronounce the words,” he says.
brands. About 39 percent of Indian In spite of the challenges, Thomas
women stated that their skincare persisted with his India journey.
routine consisted 25 percent of A big credit goes to food. One of
K-beauty products, according to his Indian friends in Seoul started
a survey conducted by Rakuten a restaurant serving authentic
Insight last year. About 3 percent Indian curries. “I love tandoori
of the surveyed women in India chicken,” he says laughing.
said that all their skincare products For the Korean entrepreneur in
were from Korean brands. India, the next big challenge and
The trend has only gathered pace. opportunity would be to take his
As part of a global collaboration stories from K to K—Kashmir to
with South Korean boy band BTS, Kanyakumari—in multiple regional
which has got a massive following languages. Is he game? “Absolutely,”
across the world, American burger he says. And if he does manage to
brand McDonald’s rolled out a BTS expand his kingdom of stories in
meal in India in June this year. India, one might get to read a
Back in 2019, Thomas found success story that goes, “Once
the market ripe for another offering upon a time in India, a Korean…”
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 Interview

‘Indian Businesses yet to Make

The Most of AI Solutions’
Romesh Wadhwani, Indian-American billionaire and CEO of SymphonyAI, on
his 50-year entrepreneurial journey and why businesses that are early
adopters of AI will be the ones to create sustained advantages
By NAANDIKA TRIPATHI

F
rom getting rejected by
124 VC firms to building
a company which brings
in $2.5 billion in annual
revenues, and becoming
a listee of Forbes’ richest people
in the world, SymphonyAI CEO
Romesh Wadhwani has transformed
and built over 40 companies in his
50-year entrepreneurial journey. In
a conversation with Forbes India, the
74-year-old speaks about starting his
84 first company in a foreign country,
the challenges he faced along the way,
diversifying business into AI and its
role in replacing jobs. Edited excerpts:

Q How is SymphonyAI different

from other AI firms?
One of our biggest differences is the
way we’ve structured our company
around various vertical business
units, each of them serving a different
purpose. We are targeting life
sciences, hospital systems, retailers,
consumer packaged goods companies,
financial services companies,
manufacturers, and media companies.
The second thing we’ve done is
that rather than trying to sell the
technology platform, we are selling
solutions. We have developed our
EurekaAI technology platform
primarily to help us offer the best
value generating solutions for our
customers, not because we want
to just sell the technology or the
platform technology by itself. So we
use the platform technology as an
enabler to create better solutions
faster than we would be able to.
Q How far has India come
in implementing AI?
It’s coming along pretty fast. I would
say India has come very far, we have
a fast growing team of very high
quality data scientists and AI scientists
who are helping build some of our
solutions but also helping other
companies. But talking about how far
has Indian business come in using AI
solutions, I would say, not very far.
Q You have built/transformed
over 40 companies. What are
some of the challenges you
have faced in your career?
When I was starting my first
company, Compuguard Corporation,
in Pittsburgh, to develop and
commercialise software for energy
management and security in
commercial buildings, immediately
after getting my PhD, no one would
give me any venture capital. I only
needed $100K, but I had to call 125
different VC firms all over the US; the
first 124 said no, the last one, Urban
National Corp in Boston, said yes, and
that led to my building Compuguard
and the start of my business career.
When I was building my second
company, American Robot, in
Pittsburgh, as a robotics technology
leader, I raised over $40 million

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021


in venture capital. Unfortunately,
Japanese manufacturers of robots
started dumping their robots in the
US at below manufacturing cost
to win market share. As a small
company, we were caught in this
trade war, and I could not think of
a successful business model in this
brutal environment. At the same
time, I felt honour-bound to do the
best for the VCs who had invested
because of their faith in me. So I spent
several years working round the
clock to transform the company into
a computer integrated manufacturing
software company, ultimately
delivering most of their investment
back to the VC firms. After 10 years
of working 90–100-hour weeks,
I came away from this gruelling
experience with just a few hundred
thousand dollars as my equity reward
but a wealth of experience in how
to build a technology business in
a tough market with aggressive,
well-financed competitors.
When I was building my third
company, Aspect Development Inc,
a leader in enterprise software for
supply chain management, I decided
that I’d need to do this in Silicon
Valley to attract the best talent. So I
moved to Silicon Valley with my wife
and daughter after resigning from
multiple boards in Pittsburgh. We
left behind a large circle of business
colleagues and friends in Pittsburgh
and started life as an entrepreneur
all over again in Silicon Valley with
no network of any kind. It was
difficult but ultimately rewarding.
Q What was the thought behind
the Wadhwani Institute for
Artificial Intelligence which you
founded with your brother at the
University of Mumbai in 2018,
committing over $30 million?
My brother Sunil and I jointly
established Wadhwani Institute for AI
for social good to leverage the power
of AI in improving public health,
agriculture, skilling, infrastructure
and other areas of social need. Our
approach is to identify important
areas of social need, develop AI-
powered solutions, and then work
with the central government, state
governments, foundations, and other
partners to validate these solutions
in pilot programmes. If these pilots
are successful, we then implement
these solutions at a much larger scale.
The institute has grown rapidly to
about 100 talented AI programme
managers, engineers, data scientists,
and researchers, all based in India.
Q To what extent do you predict
AI will replace jobs? Has it
started happening already?
For the most part, AI doesn’t replace
jobs—it helps humans make better
decisions. In some cases, it allows
humans to focus on what they are
good at, and offloads things that a
computer and AI algorithms can do
better. For example, in life sciences,
AI can help find new drugs faster by
giving researchers better insight to
select trial patients, which accelerates
trials and increases the likelihood
of success. In manufacturing, an
“For the most part, AI doesn’t replace jobs—
it helps humans make better decisions.”
engineer can use his/her limited
time to service equipment in the
factory right before it breaks, by
better predicting when machines
will fail. AI can help risk officers in
banks sift through the millions of
daily transactions to pinpoint likely
fraud, so they can reduce the time
wasted investigating false positives.
That said, AI is automating typical
mundane tasks, and the nature of
work and the types of jobs will change.
Certain types of jobs, like first-line
customer service or IT helpdesk, are
already impacted—AI handles many
initial issues so humans can focus
on higher-value, more complicated
matters. Like previous tech waves
ROMESH WADHWANI
displaced jobs, AI will too, but
remember that all new technologies
unleash new types of work.
Q What recommendations would
you give CEOs who haven’t
started looking into AI yet?
Get going now. The early adopters of
AI will be the ones to create sustained
business advantages. The best recipe
is to focus on AI use cases at the senior
level for buy-in and to do the work to
ID the right use cases where AI can
drive rapid value. Don’t waste time on
general AI platforms—get packaged
software to solve specific problems.
Many companies have wasted years
and millions on large sprawling
projects that don’t yield results.
Q What does wealth mean to you?
Wealth is a privilege and a
responsibility. I worked hard to
achieve success, just the way others
have done. Wealth means I have
the means to help others achieve 85
success, which is what the Wadhwani
Foundation efforts are for. I’m part
of the Gates Buffett Giving Pledge,
to contribute the majority of what
I have to philanthropic causes.
Q Have you had any failures? What
were the lessons from those?
After 50 years and 40 companies, I’m
thrilled that I’ve had no corporate
disasters or meltdowns resulting in
the complete failure of a company. My
first two companies were mediocrities:
I didn’t know that then, but I know
now with the benefit of hindsight
and experience. Aspect Development
and Symphony Technology Group
have been extremely successful.
SymphonyAI is going well, and
we hope to get to $1 billion in
revenue in the next four years.
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 Cross Border

I Covid’s
n the gritty, gray concrete
lobby of Firebrand
Collective—a women’s
coworking space in Kansas

Entrepreneur
City’s industrial West
Bottoms district—Jackie Nguyen
makes lattes laced with cardamom

Explosion
and lychee from her colorful mobile
coffee shop. A colossal dragon head
covers the shop, Cafe Cà Phê, painted
the bold yellow and red of the South
Vietnamese flag, with dashes of
bright blue in a nod to the French High unemployment, the magnifying power of the web
influence on the country’s food. “And and fresh fintech financing are fuelling an eruption of
of course, this is Kansas City,” says startups not seen in decades. And America will never go
Nguyen, 32. “They’re the colours back to business as usual
of the Chiefs and Royals, too.”
Cafe Cà Phê serves “Hella Good
By MANEET AHUJA
Lattes” and “Saigon” iced coffee to

86
PHOTOGRAPHS: CHRIS CRISMAN FOR FORBES

Matt Redler’s startup, Panther, helps companies hire low-cost but Former Miss Saigon star Jackie Nguyen left Broadway’s limelight
far-flung foreign workers. “Since the pandemic hit, we have all to open Kansas City Vietnamese coffee shop Cafe Cà Phê. “I really
participated in an uncharted experiment around remote work.” wanted to own something on my own.”

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021


some 200 customers a day. Monthly
revenue is roughly $30,000. “It’s
been a crazy, amazing ride,” says
Nguyen, a first-time entrepreneur.
“The only business I knew before
this was show business.”
A little over a year ago, Nguyen
was an actress who had spent nearly
two decades in musical theatre.
Before the pandemic, she made
$90,000 a year on the touring
production of Miss Saigon. On
March 15, 2020, she performed in
Fort Myers, Florida. The next day,
the lights went out on Broadway.
“I didn’t have a house, car or any
significant savings,” Nguyen says.
She moved to Kansas City from
Long Island City, Queens, investing
$10,000 from her scant savings
and an additional $13,000 from
Kickstarter (it helps to have 4,000
Instagram followers). She’s never
going back to the Great White
Way. “As an actress, my career was
always at the mercy of someone
else,” she says. “Now I get to make
all my choices and get to be very
intentional behind what I choose.”
N
guyen is one of the 4
million–plus people
fuelling America’s
unprecedented entrepreneurial
explosion. Sparked by pandemic
unemployment not seen since the
depths of the Great Depression, a
permanent shift in where we live
and work, access to fresh sources of
capital through fintech, ubiquitous
cheap technology and dogged
determination, Americans are
betting on themselves and launching
companies at a historic rate.
Every recession seeds a bumper
crop of startups. As the maxim goes,
necessity is the mother of invention.
But this time it’s different. Just as
the Covid recession, in its breadth,
size and speed, was astounding,
so will be its impact on America’s
small-business landscape.
In 2020, more than 4.3 million
people registered for new business
A Hundred Years
Of Unemployment
In a matter of months, Covid-19 destroyed
jobs on a scale not seen since the Great
Depression. Millions of Americans have since
started companies out of need—and opportunity
Unemployment rate
25%
Great Depression
25% in August 1933
20%
15%
14.7%
April 2020
10%
5%
0%
1920
SOURCE Bureau of Labor Statistics, St. Louis Fed
applications, according to the US
Census Bureau. That’s nearly 840,000
more than 2019—a 25 percent jump.
It’s a stark difference compared to
the 2008 credit crisis, which saw an
8 percent drop in new applications.
“This makes you sit up and pay
attention,” says John Lettieri, co-
founder and CEO of the Economic
Innovation Group, a bipartisan
think tank. “It’s not what many
of us would have expected on
the front end of this crisis.”
Up also are the number of new
startups likely to hire employees.
Labelled “high-propensity”
businesses by the IRS, these
potential job creators jumped
15 percent in 2020. “During
2008’s Great Recession, the new-
employer businesses fell by nearly
230,000 from their previous year’s
level,” Lettieri says. “During the
Covid crisis, they climbed over
200,000—it’s a mirror image.”
And the most significant spikes
in these job-creating businesses
are happening far from expensive
coastal hubs. Instead, the deep
South is driving the boom,
with triple-digit growth across
Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama
POST-COVID ENTREPRENEURSHIP
and Louisiana. To spotlight this
upcoming, diverse, entrepreneurial
generation, Forbes is launching
the Next 1000, a reader-nominated
list of small-business founders,
scattered across America, with
less than $10 million in funding
and revenue. Businesses like these
drive the economy, employing
more than 30 million Americans.
The startup surge continues
through 2021. In February, there
were nearly 430,000 registrations
for new businesses, an increase
of 40 percent from February
2020—the last month before
the pandemic froze the global
economy. As the world gets back
to business, many new founders
2021 like Nguyen aren’t looking back.
A
month into the nationwide
lockdown, 22 million jobs
vanished. Unemployment
neared 15 percent—the second-
highest rate in 100 years, topped 87
only by the Great Depression.
The hardest hit were thriving
experience-based industries
like restaurants, retail, travel,
Hollywood, sports and other live
events. Nearly 40 percent of all
jobs lost came from the travel and
hospitality industries, based on a
US Travel Association study. By
mid-April 2020, the restaurant and
retail sectors had each lost roughly
2.5 million jobs. Those lucky enough
to keep their positions awoke to a
seemingly endless new reality of
remote work and virtual school.
After the pandemic terminated
her gig as a wedding photographer,
Jade Adams threw herself into her
houseplant hobby, collecting more
than 200 exotic plants like rare
alocasias and philodendron pink
princesses. When the vegetation
overtook her apartment, she began
selling the plants on Facebook and
then, in July, she hawked $15,000
worth at a pop-up in Knoxville,
Tennessee’s Central Collective
event space. By last October, Adams,
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA

Cross Border
23, bet her entire $20,000 savings
on a brick-and-mortar shop called
Oglewood Avenue. She earned the
investment back within a matter of
days. “The houseplant market has
blown up during the pandemic,” she
says. “More people are home and
trying to bring the outdoors inside.”
Adams, who made about $48,000
a year as a wedding photographer,
has grossed $265,000 in revenue
since October. She uses Instagram
to share photos of her plants and
give gardening advice to 15,000
followers. In January, she hosted
Houseplants 101 on Handmade,
HGTV’s 630,000-subscriber
YouTube channel. The former
marital shutterbug isn’t going back
behind the camera anytime soon.
“I make too much money to do
that,” Adams says. “This is it.”
I
f Covid’s economic carnage
created the need for millions
88 of Americans to start a
business, technology provided
the tools. Widespread video
communication, social media,
e-commerce, cloud computing and
DIY websites make it cheap and
easy for anybody to launch a global
company from their basement.
“The internet economy has
become so pervasive and so
intertwined with every aspect
of our economy,” says EIG’s
Lettieri. “Today, you have the
opportunity to do things remotely
that would never have been
possible even ten years ago.”
Shopify, the $150 billion (market
cap) software company that lets small
businesses sell online, saw a near-
80 percent increase in new stores in
2020. Digital-payments giant PayPal
had a 40 percent rise in business
accounts over the same period.
According to a Salesforce survey, a
whopping 70 percent of new startups
are either technology companies or
digital-first from day one. Meanwhile,
a host of online lenders are giving
a wide range of founders more
FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021
Startup Nation
As new businesses spring up across the country,
the South shines. In Q1, applications for startups
deemed likely job creators by the IRS have surged
by more than 80% in Alabama, Louisiana and
Georgia. Mississippi saw a 125% bump
resident Matt Redler co-founded
25% 50% 75% 100%
the software company Panther to
help businesses hire programmers
and designers from around the
world. Before the pandemic, Redler,
23, had used overseas coders to
build a website for booking private
chefs. Covid killed the appetite for
that service, but Redler quickly
shifted. He wagered that the rise
of remote work would create a
tidal wave of demand for cheap
SOURCE Economic Innovation Group
foreign labour. “Companies that
tap into global talent pools will
Digital Dominance be far better positioned to excel
Seventy percent of new startups were either tech- over the next decade,” he says.
based companies or relied on online tools from the
start, a recent Salesforce survey found
While less expensive than
American employees, international
Startups that are workers come with a host of
digital or relied on payroll and compliance headaches.
tech from day one
Panther gives US companies
Startups that added
tech tools to scale
access to tech workers in 160
countries. Its software handles
Startups not using
tech to operate background checks, onboarding
and payroll, and helps firms follow
local labour and tax rules. Redler
CASH FLOW SHOP POP
has recently raised $4.2 million
PayPal saw business Since Covid, stores selling
payments climb 33% internationally on Shopify from Soma Capital, Adapt VC
in 2020 increased by a third and angel investors including Jon
$866 B
Oringer, the billionaire founder
690,000+ of Shutterstock, who’s also a
client. Says Redler: “Talent is
$649 B 520,000+ everywhere, but opportunity is not.”
The Covid lockdowns proved
that most employees can be as
productive without a central
office—and millions will never
return to one. A March Harvard
2019 2020 2019 2020
SOURCE Salesforce, PayPal, Deloitte
Business School study found that
more than 25 percent of office
workers hope to remain remote.
options to borrow cash. In 2020, Maisha Burt launched
business-loan marketplace Lendio Workchew, a Forbes Next 1000
fulfilled more than 100,000 non-PPP honoree, in 2018 to turn hotels, bars
small-business loans—a 500 percent and restaurants into coworking
increase from the previous year. spaces during the daylight hours,
“The influx of new technology has when they’re often unused. Burt,
made the barrier to entry zero,” says 46, got the idea while working
Shopify’s global head of sales and as a government consultant. “I
marketing, Loren Padelford. “You was stuck working from home,”
can launch a company overnight she says. “I needed something
and start selling globally.” between a coffee shop, which was
Tech lets people work from unpredictable, and a WeWork,
anywhere, too. In June 2020, Tampa which was too expensive.”

Before the pandemic, Burt targeted
individuals, but she has since chased
company-wide deals as employers
look to reduce office space—and
employees grow weary of working
out of kitchens and repurposed
closets. “We are reimagining
what communal workspaces look
like, cost and feel like,” Burt says.
“For partners, we activate and
monetise their underused spaces.”
In March, Burt raised $2.5
million from Harlem Capital
Partners, Techstars Ventures,
Etsy co-founder Chris Maguire
and Kabbage co-founder Kathryn
Petralia. Cash in hand, Burt is now
expanding Workchew to 17 new
cities including New York, Detroit,
Seattle and San Francisco. “We’re
charging full speed ahead,” she says.
She’s not alone. Millions are
leaving their old careers to start
new businesses. That’s a silver
lining to the devastating and tragic
Covid crisis. The 1930s, wracked
by the Great Depression, also gave
us television, commercial airlines
and air conditioning. Just as FDR
gave us Social Security and federally
guaranteed bank deposits, President
Biden is proposing a massive
expansion of federal government
programmes. Titans like Microsoft,
Genentech, Vanguard and Home
Depot emerged from the stagflation
of the 1970s. And while the 2008
recession decimated the financial
sector and housing markets, it
also launched Instagram, Uber,
Airbnb, WhatsApp and Slack.
The pandemic has already
spawned more than 4 million new
businesses. For their founders,
there’s no going back. “We could
see a revival of society and economy
just as the Roaring ’20s unfolded
after the first World War and
the 1918 flu,” says Dan Wang, an
associate professor of business at
Columbia University. “It’s not a
stretch to suggest that we will see
an explosion of new ideas coming
from these new ventures.”
The Next 1000
Pandemic Pivots
These five standouts from the Next 1000, our new listing
of entrepreneurs from across America with less than $10
million in revenue or funding but infinite hustle, are making
quick adjustments and creative plans to position their
businesses for post-pandemic success
NORTHEAST
Christine Marcus • 50
Alchemista • Boston
When Covid closed offices, corporate caterer
Marcus lost all her clients but one: Vaccine
maker Moderna. To reach new customers, the
MIT grad developed temperature-controlled
food lockers that sell Alchemista’s salads and
sandwiches in socially distanced settings.
She rents high-tech vending machines, which
are stocked daily, to landlords and building
managers for up to $5,000 a month. Sales are
on track to hit $8 million in 2021.
SOUTHWEST
Dennis Cail • 50
Zirtue • Dallas
This entrepreneur is breaking the rule that
friends and money don’t mix. In 2018, the Navy
vet created Zirtue to let you borrow cash from
your personal network. His software handles
the terms, rates, loans and repayments. Business
doubled during the pandemic, with Zirtue
brokering $10 million in friend-to-friend loans.
Google, Morgan Stanley and Northwestern
Mutual recently invested $2.5 million
in Cail’s startup.
POST-COVID ENTREPRENEURSHIP
WEST
Nathalie Walton • 36
Expectful • San Francisco
Pregnancy rates plummetted during the
pandemic, but stress on young moms soared.
So Walton is transforming her pregnancy-
meditation app, Expectful, into a wellness
company for new and aspiring mothers. Walton,
an alum of Google and Airbnb, offers guides
on stress and parenting, plus virtual support
groups and remote yoga classes. Subscription
revenue could top $2 million in 2021. In January,
she raised a $4 million–plus seed round from
investors including Harlem Capital and the
Sequoia Scout Fund.
MIDWEST
Ryan Meitl • 35 89
Rivet Work • Detroit
Meitl is taking collaboration software from the
cubicle to the construction site. His software
startup, Rivet Work, connects offices to far-flung
job sites, digitally organising workers, supplies
and schedules. The added efficiency helped
builders cope with the pandemic’s housing
boom. Launched in 2020, the early-stage startup
has partnered with local construction companies
in Michigan and recently raised $600,000 to
expand elsewhere.
SOUTHEAST
Jason D. Rose • 33
Skyler • Orlando
Proving that technology enables you to start a
global company from anywhere, Rose built his
Hong Kong mattress brand from the comfort of
his Orlando home. He launched Skyler in 2017,
using Shopify to sell a bed-in-a-box customised
for the Hong Kong market—a firmer mattress
with a cooling gel for the city’s steamy summers.
After the 2019 anti-government protests and the
pandemic pushed down storefront rents, Rose is
finally opening a physical Skyler shop and staffing
it with unemployed salespeople. But he still lives
and works in Florida.
NOVEMBER 19, 2021 • FORBES INDIA
 ForbesLife thoughts
ON TRANSPORTATION
BRITTA PEDERSEN / POOL / AFP
The reality about
transportation is that it’s
future-oriented. If we’re
planning for what
we have, we’re behind
the curve.
—ANTHONY FOXX
American lawyer
GETTY IMAGES

Public transportation
is like a magnifying
glass that shows you
civilisation up close.
—CHRIS GETHARD
American actor Every mode of transport that we use—
whether it’s planes, trains, automobiles,
90
Our goal was to bikes, horses—is reusable, but not rockets.
completely change
transportation. Change So we must solve this problem in order to
traffic. And make it
possible to get anywhere
become a space-faring civilisation.
you want to go without —ELON MUSK
owning a car.
American entrepreneur
—LOGAN GREEN
American entrepreneur
With Hyperloop One,
we are on the brink of
Uber is a company the first great
that is redefining the breakthrough in
transportation industry transportation
on a global basis; to technology of the 21st
be part of that story century, eliminating
is something that is the barriers of time
AFP PHOTO

AFP PHOTO

interesting and would be and distance and

a real privilege. unlocking vast economic
—DARA KHOSROWSHAHI
opportunities.
Iranian-American Bike is the most —SHERVIN PISHEVAR
For every $1 billion
businessman democratic transport American entrepreneur we invest in public
vehicle. Bike is the most transportation, we create
daring, challenging as 30,000 jobs,
it gives its owner the save thousands of
tempting feeling of An advanced city is not dollars a year for
freedom, that is why one where even the poor each commuter,
one can say without any use cars, but rather one and dramatically
exaggeration, bike is a where even the rich use cut greenhouse gas
symbol of freedom. public transport. emissions.
—VLADIMIR PUTIN —ENRIQUE PENALOSA —BERNIE SANDERS
AFP PHOTO

President of Russia Colombian politician American politician

FORBES INDIA • NOVEMBER 19, 2021

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