World Entrepreneur Day.
August 21 is observed as World Entrepreneur Day, an occasion to recognise entrepreneurs who transform innovative ideas into businesses, create employment opportunities and contribute to economic growth. The listicle is a celebration of entrepreneurs who have the spirit that turns possibilities into progress. Entrepreneurs do more than build businesses, they create opportunities, solve real-world challenges, foster innovation and inspire a culture of self-reliance. The entrepreneurs on the list come from diverse industries, such as technology, healthcare, beauty, education, and more.
1. Santosh Kumar Sahu: Building India's Next-Generation Agri-Warehousing and Rural Supply Chain Ecosystem
Santosh Kumar Sahu, Co-founder & CEO of Gogreen Warehouses Pvt. Ltd., is a first-generation entrepreneur transforming India's agricultural value chain through technology, warehousing and financial inclusion. An agriculture graduate from OUAT and MBA in Agri-Business, he brings over two decades of experience across warehousing, commodity financing, procurement, retail and logistics. Since co-founding Gogreen, Santosh has helped build an ecosystem connecting scientific storage, collateral management, quality assurance, logistics, farmers, FPOs, traders and banks. Under his leadership, Gogreen has scaled across India, managing millions of tonnes of commodities and enabling structured finance. His philosophy: build trust, empower people and create sustainable value.
2. Sagar Azad | Founder, Anecdote Publishing House
Sagar Azad is an Indian publisher and entrepreneur, and the founder of Anecdote Publishing House. Raised in a lower-middle-class family, he began his professional journey as a SIM card salesman before joining Crossword, where he rose to the position of Store Manager. His years in the book trade provided him with first-hand exposure to publishing, bookselling, and the literary community, inspiring him to establish his own publishing house. With a vision to identify and nurture distinctive literary voices, he founded Anecdote Publishing House committed to editorial excellence and meaningful storytelling. Under his leadership, the publishing house has built a catalogue of more than 200 titles across diverse genres, contributing to India's contemporary literary landscape while introducing new authors to readers across the country.
3. Dr. Vikram Kumar | Managing Director, SRV Media
In 2011, two graduates from Symbiosis had a shared conviction, digital was about to change how communication worked, and we wanted to build something around that. Fifteen years on, that's shaped integrated mandates across education, financial services, healthcare and manufacturing, and 50+ industry awards along the way. We've handled Rs 900 crore in cumulative media spend, over Rs 300 crore in FY25-26, growing 30% YoY, with 30-40% expected ahead. This is not a target we set, but the pace our clients are asking us to keep. None of that happens without our people. We've built internal AI agents and BI tools that help them move faster, less time on repetitive execution, quicker decisions and cleaner reads. It's technology that works for our teams, not around them.
4. Ravikant Nim, Founder & CEO, NOVOME Private Limited
With 19 years of experience building beauty and wellness brands across India and Southeast Asia, Ravikant Nim saw an opportunity hiding in plain sight-the need for skincare created with Indian skin in mind. His journey includes turning around Oriflame Myanmar and being recognised as Best MD across 62 global markets. Drawing on this experience, he founded NOVOME, a clinical-actives skincare brand focused on the specific needs of Indian skin. Set to launch in September 2026, NOVOME will introduce three targeted serums and a multi-active moisturiser addressing pigmentation, acne and skin-barrier repair. For Ravikant, the ambition goes beyond launching another skincare brand: it is about bringing greater relevance, transparency and science to skincare for Indian consumers.
5. Maddiee Amrutkar - Founder & CEO, Glad U Came:
For Maddiee, entrepreneurship has always been about turning an idea into something that creates real impact. When he started Glad U Came, the vision was to build a PR and influencer marketing agency that was not just about visibility, but about creating meaningful outcomes for brands.Over the years, that vision has evolved with the industry. They have embraced technology, AI and new-age influencer marketing while continuing to keep creativity and relationships at the heart of what they do. Maddiee believes success today cannot be defined only by revenue or scale. It is also about the kind of organisation you build, the people you empower, the innovation you bring to your industry and the impact you create along the way.
6. MANOJ PATEL, Founder, Chairman & Managing Director, SolarYaan | Visionary Technologist & Clean Energy Entrepreneur
Mr Manoj Patel is the Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of SolarYaan, and a Power Electronics engineer with a deep passion for technology, engineering and clean energy. The idea behind SolarYaan emerged from a personal experience when Manoj diagnosed a component-level defect in a solar inverter that had remained unresolved despite repeated service visits. Determined to understand the industry more deeply, Manoj travelled across India and internationally, interacted with solar users, installers, engineers and business partners, and studied inverter technologies and service practices across different markets.
This vision led to the establishment of SolarYaan on 24 November 2019. Under his leadership, the company has evolved from a solar inverter business into an integrated clean energy solutions organisation focused on solar inverters, hybrid energy systems, battery storage, power electronics and intelligent energy management.
7. Vini Aggarwal, Founder of Crux Public Relations
Vini Aggarwal is a seasoned Public Relations professional and the founder of Crux Public Relations, a boutique communications firm known for its strategic approach, personalised campaigns and strong media relationships. With experience across education, fashion, wellness, hospitality, e-commerce and culture, she has worked with leading brands and institutions including Shree Kurtis, Organic Harvest, Blackberrys, Menoveda, Sahitya Kala Parishad and Amity International School. At the heart of Vini's work is a belief that effective PR goes beyond visibility-it is about creating stories that resonate, building credibility and establishing meaningful connections between brands and their audiences. Through Crux PR, she brings together strategic thinking, storytelling and media expertise to create communication campaigns that deliver sustained impact. Her ability to understand a brand's core narrative and translate it into compelling media stories has positioned Crux PR as a trusted communications partner for brands, entrepreneurs and institutions looking to strengthen their presence in an increasingly competitive media landscape.
8. Rahul Kumar Gupta- Vice President - Digital Engineering at Incedo
As Generative AI moves from experimentation to enterprise adoption, the real challenge is no longer accessing AI-it is turning the technology into measurable business value. Rahul Kumar Gupta, Vice President - Digital Engineering at Incedo, is among the technology leaders working at this intersection. With 27+ years of experience, he has led 300+ global engineers and delivered 200+ accelerators, while building expertise across Generative AI, Agentic AI, cloud, automation and engineering transformation. His GenAI initiatives have delivered 40% efficiency gains and saved over 20,000 hours across nine global programs involving 800+ professionals. He has also established a GenAI Hub and enterprise AI marketplace, helping translate emerging technologies into scalable business solutions. As enterprises enter the age of AI agents and increasingly autonomous workflows, leaders like Rahul are helping shift the conversation from "What can AI do?" to "What can AI deliver?"
