Meet IITian who founded 17 failed startups, struck gold with his 18th, now runs Rs 40,000 crore business

In India, students from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are known for their visionary approach and pioneering minds. Most of the IIT graduates get hired by multinational companies and leading tech businesses with lucrative salaries, as IITians currently run some of the biggest tech companies in the world. However, those who do not take the corporate route generally work towards building their own brand and embark on an entrepreneurial journey. 

Failed Attempts

One such IIT graduate who created his own business is Ankush Sachdeva. He is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and started his business right after graduation. The business failed and left Ankush disappointed, but he did not give up. He tried multiple times and established 17 failed startups before striking gold with his 18th one.

Also Read: From social media star to becoming an IPS officer; Meet woman who cracked UPSC without coaching, got AIR...

Innovative Idea 

ShareChat is an Indian social networking service platform that caters to rural audiences and supports 15 Indian languages, including Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Punjabi, Telugu, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Bangla, Kannada, Assamese, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi, and English. The success of the social networking app is due to Sachdeva's realization of the lack of platforms for people from rural India and small towns to connect. 

Education

Ankush Sachdeva completed his education at Somerville School and attended IIT Kanpur for a Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) in computer science. He also interned at Microsoft from May to July 2014, which helped him gain valuable experience in tech businesses and their whereabouts. He graduated in 2015. 

Also Read: Started with Rs 5K and a few mangoes, now earns Rs 5 lakh/month, meet

 

Early Journey

After launching several failed startups, Ankush paired up with his IITian friends, Farid Ahsan and Bhanu Pratap Singh to create ShareChat. With intense hard work and perseverance, the team finally launched the ShareChat application in January 2015. In June 2022, the ShareChat application was valued at over 5 billion dollars or around Rs 40,000 crore. 

Ankush Sachdeva's success story is the epitome of resilience and working hard towards your goal, no matter what setbacks you face. 

Also Read: India Heatwave: How women in slum are using this simple effective method to cool down 20,000 homes

Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.