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Falguni Nayar
58 | Founder-CEO, Nykaa | India
Nayar did not start her career as an entrepreneur. For nearly two decades, she worked as an investment banker, leading IPOs and helping other entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. In 2012, she decided to work for herself, investing $2 million of her own savings to launch beauty and retail company Nykaa (which derives from a word in Sanskrit that roughly translates to “one who is in the spotlight”). Nykaa—which was profitable before it went public, a relative rarity for a startup—sells more than 4,000 brands across its beauty, personal care and fashion platform. In November 2021, Nayar took Nykaa public at a $13 billion valuation, and the transaction made Nayar India’s richest self-made woman.
–Maggie McGrath
Ritam Banerjee for Forbes
