Turning their back on the American Dream has proven to be a fortuitous decision for a number of technology entrepreneurs who are crafting multimillion-dollar businesses within a few years of returning to India. Mostly in their early thirties, these highly-skilled professionals are building ventures that focus on the Indian market and offer a range of services from online retail to car-rental services, telephony products and refurbishment of used electronic products. "It's like when people climb the Everest or go to the North Pole. There is a sense of achievement in coming back to India and participating in this unimaginable growth," said Ambarish Gupta, who gave up a career at Microsoft to build a cloud-based telephony product in India.
While he was still plotting a comeback, Gupta, 36, convinced his IIT-Kanpur batchmate Pallav Pandey to join him. He worked after-hours to build a prototype and landed in India convinced about its potential. It is an assessment by the former McKinsey consultant that has proven to be correct. This fiscal, Knowlarity, which has received venture funding from Sequoia Capital, is slated to earn revenue of Rs 60 crore. And the Gurgaon-based company boasts a roster of clients including Medanta Medicity, Dr Lal Path Labs and Jeevansathi.com.
"I am unwilling to accept a broken system, there is an oppurtunity to to fix everything," said Gupta, who plans to return the coveted US Green Card, next year as he puts down permanent roots in his native country.
Land of opportunity
For a number of others, too, India is proving to be the land of opportunity. Among those creating companies that cater to the rising demand from an expanding middle-class are Kunal Bahl of online marketplace Snapdeal, Hitendra Chaturvedi of electronic refurbishment venture Reverse Logistics Company and Gaurav Aggarwal of Savaari Car Rentals.
"If you can do business in India, you can do it anywhere else in the world," said Chaturvedi, a US citizen who was posted to India by Microsoft in 2006. He came with plans of returning in two years but never did. Instead, spotting an opportunity in selling refurbished seconds from major electronic brands, Chaturvedi launched Reverse Logistics, which sells these products through an online portal GreenDust as well as through offline stores.
The Delhi- based firm expects to double revenue to Rs 500 crore by the end of next year. Such strong growth has also attracted the attention of investors. Last year, Vertex Ventures, Sherpalo Ventures and Kleiner Perkins together invested Rs 171 crore in the company.
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Posted By: Ariana Caprio
Monday, May 5th 2014 at 6:23PM
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