Ruchi Kalra and Asish Mohapatra have become the country’s first couple to turn their respective startups into unicorns with a valuation of over $1 billion.
Ruchi Kalra and Asish Mohapatra are an Indian couple who are the first husband and wife to each found a startup that became a unicorn, a company with a valuation of at least $1 billion:
A unicorn is a privately owned startup valued at over $1 billion. To become a unicorn, a company must have an innovative idea, a clear vision for growth, and a way to pitch to investors.
The couple met at the Indian Institute of Technology and worked together at McKinsey & Co. in New Delhi before marrying in 2009. Kalra and Mohapatra met in 2007 while working at McKinsey & Co. in New Delhi and married in 2009. They started OfBusiness in 2015 and founded Oxyzo in 2017 as an offshoot of OfBusiness. Both startups are based in Gurugram.
A unicorn
Oxyzo Financial Services:
In 2017, they established Oxyzo Financial Services, the lending arm of OfBusiness, which supports buyers on their platform. Oxyzo raised $200 million, reaching a valuation of Rs 8,200 crore.
It is a digital lending startup co-founded by Kalra that provides cash flow and working capital financing to small businesses.
OfBusiness:
In 2015, Ruchi and Asish launched OfBusiness, a B2B platform that sells raw materials and industrial supplies. Today, it has a valuation of Rs 44,000 crore, making it one of India’s leading unicorns. It is a B2B raw material supplier that provides credit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) .
Both the startups, based in Gurugram, are profitable, a feat difficult for young growth companies to achieve.
Although the two companies have separate offices and teams, they both target the same group of industries in the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.
