Bhavin Turakhia (born 21 December 1979), is an entrepreneur,[1] and the founder of Titan, Flock, Radix, CodeChef, and Zeta.[2][3][4][5] In 2016, Bhavin, a billionaire,[6] was ranked as the 95th richest person in India, along with his brother Divyank Turakhia, according to Forbes.[7][8][9] He was a 2011 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.[10][11][12]
Early life
Bhavin was born in Mumbai in a middle-class Jain family. He did his schooling from Arya Vidya Mandir, Bandra.[7] He attended D.G. Ruparel College[13] to study science and later dropped out. He completed his bachelor’s degree in commerce from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics.[14][15] As of 2017, he is based in London.[16]
Career
In 1998, at the age of 18 and with a capital of ₹25,000[17][18] (equal to roughly US$675 in 1998), Bhavin Turakhia started his first tech venture Directi with his brother Divyank Turakhia.[19][5][20]
In 2014, Bhavin and Divyank sold four of their web companies – BigRock, LogicBoxes, Reseller Club, and Webhosting.info – to web-hosting firm Endurance International Group for $160 million.[21][22]
In July 2019, his banking tech[23] venture Zeta[24] received an investment from Sodexo at a valuation of $300 million.[25][26] In 2021, Zeta secured $250 million in investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2.[27] This Series C investment values Zeta at $1.45 billion.
In August 2021, Titan,[28] the professional email service founded by Bhavin, received a $30 million investment from Automattic, valuing Titan at $300 million.[2]
As of 2022, Bhavin operates companies Titan,[2] Flock,[29] Radix and Zeta.[30][31]
Awards and recognition
- Ranked #95, with a net worth of US$1.3 billion, on the Forbes list of India’s 100 Richest People (2016).[7][32][33]
- Serial Entrepreneur of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year in Innovation and Technology by Entrepreneur (2016).[34][35][36]
- The ETPanache Trendsetter Award by The Economic Times (2016).[37][38][39]
- Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Geneva (2011).[40]
- Bharti Entrepreneur of the Year award by the Bharti Foundation & the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (2005).[41][42]
- Chairperson of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)’s Registrar Constituency for several terms.[43][44]
- Mentioned as one of the first Indian dotcom founders of the 21st century [45]
See also
References
- ^ “Video I followed my father’s advice and became a billionaire”. BBC. 6 November 2019.
- ^ a b c “Automattic Values Business-Email Startup Titan at $300 Million”. Yahoo Finance. 3 August 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ “Bhavin Turakhia to invest $25 mn in Flock, an enterprise team messenger”. The Hindu Business Line. 15 March 2017.
- ^ Banerjee, Sudeshna (4 November 2016). “The winner takes it all”. Asian Age.
- ^ a b Mendonca, Jochelle (19 September 2016). “Directi, founded by brothers Bhavin and Divyank Turakhia, to buy 1 lakh sq feet building”. Economic Times.
- ^ “Family matters: Bhavin Turakhia credits his father, humble beginnings for success”. The Economic Times. 3 December 2019.
- ^ a b c Raghunathan, Anuradha (1 December 2016). “Meet the technology whiz kids Bhavin and Divyank Turakhia”. Forbes India.
- ^ Singh, Rajiv (18 January 2016). “Bootstrapping – running a startup without equity funding is the better way forward”. The Economic Times.
- ^ “इस गुजराती ने 18 साल की उम्र में ही कर ली 8700 करोड़ की कमाई” (in Hindi). Daily Bhaskar. 23 November 2016.
- ^ “Sanjay Chandra,11 other Indians among WEF Young Global Leaders”. Geneva: Deccan Herald. 9 March 2011.
- ^ “12 Indians among WEF’s Young Global Leaders”. rediff.com. 14 March 2011.
- ^ “World Economic Forum names Bhavin Turakhia ‘Young Global Leader 2011’“. Business Standard. 18 March 2011.
- ^ Nair, Sulekha (12 September 2016). “Never give up, take risks, hire best talent: Business lessons from Bhavin Turakhia”. Firstpost.
- ^ N, Shivapriya (2014). “Brothers born and bred in city sell e-firm for $900m”. Economic Times.
- ^ “India’s Internet billionaires”. Telegraph India. 12 September 2016. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016.
- ^ “Bhavin Turakhia: The man who is building a Slack killer”. FactorDaily. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ “The strength of start-ups”. Deccan Herald. 17 December 2016.
- ^ “The world’s newest billionaires are two Indian brothers who founded a tech company in their teens”. 23 August 2016.
- ^ “Know how these two Mumbai brothers turned Rs 25 thousand into Rs 9,000 crores”. Zee News. 26 August 2016.
- ^ “From Rs 25,000 to over Rs 12,000 crores: Know Bhavin Turakhia’s journey from middle-class boy to billionaire”. 1 October 2016.
- ^ Arora, Varun (26 August 2016). “We will set up family office soon, says Bhavin Turakhia”. VCCircle.
- ^ Modgil, Shweta (10 January 2017). “It’s Our Moral Obligation To Make An Impact Directly Proportional To Our Potential: Bhavin Turakhia, Co-Founder, Directi Group”. Inc42.com. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- ^ “Zeta becomes a unicorn with $250 million SoftBank-led funding”. Techcrunch. 24 May 2021.
- ^ “Home”. Zeta US. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ Singh, Manish (23 July 2019). “Fintech firm Zeta’s valuation climbs to $300M in its first external funding round”. TechCrunch. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ S.H, Salman (23 July 2019). “Fintech platform Zeta valued at $300 mn in its Series C round led by Sodexo”. Livemint.
- ^ “Banking Tech Startup is Unicorn with $250 Million from SoftBank”. Bloomberg. 24 May 2021.
- ^ “Titan Email for Professionals and Businesses”.
- ^ Shaikh, Shadma (16 March 2017). “Bhavin Turakhia invests $25 mn in enterprise messenger Flock for expansion”. Economic Times. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- ^ “Personally Tech With Ringo Founder-CEO Bhavin Turakhia”. NDTV. 24 July 2015.
- ^ Mendonca, Jochelle (12 September 2016). “Directi’s Bhavin Turakhia to invest $110 million in newer ventures”. Economic Times.
- ^ Sunkara, Keshav (22 September 2016). “Patanjali’s Balkrishna, Turakhia brothers enter Forbes rich list; Flipkart founders exit”. VCCircle.
- ^ Karmali, Naazneen (21 September 2016). “As India’s Richest Make Big Gains, The Entry Price To The Top 100 Touches $1.25 Billion”. Forbes India.
- ^ Jain, Samiksha (5 September 2016). “Here Are The Winners Of The Prestigious 6th Annual Entrepreneur India Awards 2016”. Entrepreneur.
- ^ Kurup, Rajeesh (23 August 2016). “The Turakhia brothers are now worth $1.4 billion”. The Hindu Business Line.
- ^ Bhosale, Akshay (25 August 2016). “‘Serial Entrepreneur’ Bhavin Turakhia Bags Dual Awards At Annual Entrepreneur India Awards 2016!”. DigitalConqurer.
- ^ “ETPanache Trendsetter Awards 2016: Ananya Birla, Dipa Karmakar, Karan Johar emerge winners”. The Economic Times. 18 October 2016.
- ^ “ET Panache Trendsetter Awards 2016”. Economic Times. 17 October 2016.
- ^ “Search for News, Stock Quotes & NAV’s The winners of the ETPanache Trendsetter Awards 2016”. The Economic Times. 17 October 2016.
- ^ “List of 2011 Young Global Leaders Honourees”. 2011.
- ^ Talent needs opportunity (annual review of activities (2005 – 2006) – Airtel) (PDF). p. 15.
- ^ “BCEI invites nominations for the Bharti Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2008”. Business Standard. 24 November 2008.
- ^ “Registrar Constituency Statement” (PDF). Icann.org. 12 July 2005.
- ^ New, William (13 July 2015). “ICANN’s Process For Strategic Plan, .Net Domain Renewal Questioned”. Ip-watch.org.
- ^ “The First Class of the Indian Startups: The Unsung Heroes”. www.startupguru.co. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
External links
Media related to Bhavin Turakhia at Wikimedia Commons