The list recognises 180 entrepreneurs aged 35 and under who are building or leading businesses in India. It includes first-generation founders whose companies have valuations of at least $50 million and next-generation leaders heading family-owned businesses valued at $100 million or more.
Reliance Retail leads funding rankings
Reliance Retail Ventures, led by Isha Ambani, tops the list with $7.41 billion raised to date. PRISM (OYO), led by founder Ritesh Agarwal, follows with $3.71 billion, while Perplexity, co-founded by Aravind Srinivas, has raised $1.6 billion.
The rankings show the substantial funding accumulated by businesses operating across different sectors and stages of growth. The figures represent total funding raised, rather than the latest fundraising round or the companies' current valuations.
OfBusiness ranks next with $890 million in funding, followed by Rapido at $798 million and Spinny at $780 million.
Fintech company Razorpay has raised $742 million, while Decagon AI has secured $537 million. Ninjacart and Slice complete the top 10, with $413 million and $387 million raised, respectively.
Technology and consumer businesses feature prominently
The funding rankings include companies operating across technology, financial services, mobility, business-to-business commerce and consumer-facing services.
Perplexity and Decagon AI represent the artificial intelligence segment, while Razorpay and Slice feature in financial technology. Rapido and Spinny operate in mobility and used-car markets, respectively.
The range of businesses in the rankings illustrates how capital has been deployed across different business models, from technology-led ventures to large consumer and retail operations.
Listed companies feature in U35 cohort
The wider U35 list includes 40 publicly listed companies, the largest category by funding stage, followed by 23 companies at Series B. Businesses represented in the list collectively have a valuation of ₹48 lakh crore, up 23% from 2025.
The cohort also employs more than 5.88 lakh people, an increase of 4.5% year-on-year, according to the report.
The funding rankings provide a measure of the capital accumulated by businesses led by young entrepreneurs. However, the amount raised does not by itself indicate profitability, financial sustainability or investment returns, which depend on factors including operating performance, costs and future growth.