The Candere Hurun India Women Leaders List 2025 spotlights India’s top five first-generation women wealth creators, led by Zoho’s Radha Vembu. These self-made entrepreneurs, across sectors like software, biotechnology, beauty, and e-commerce, represent the resilience and success of women in India’s business ecosystem.
The Candere Hurun India Women Leaders List 2025 has honored the country’s top five first-generation self-made women wealth creators, showcasing the growing influence of Indian and India-origin women entrepreneurs in building billion-dollar enterprises globally.
The list, compiled by Hurun India, in partnership with Candere, a fine jewelry brand owned by Kalyan Jewellers, celebrates women who have created substantial wealth without inheriting businesses—highlighting India’s evolving landscape of entrepreneurship and gender inclusion.
Topping the list is Radha Vembu, owner of Zoho Corporation, a cloud-based software powerhouse headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. With a personal wealth of ₹55,300 crore at the age of 52, Vembu has led Zoho’s rise to global prominence, supporting millions of business users worldwide.
Ranked second is Jayshree Ullal, CEO and President of Arista Networks, a cloud networking company based in California, USA. The Indian-origin entrepreneur’s net worth stands at ₹48,900 crore. Under her leadership, Arista has become a leader in high-performance cloud networking solutions.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, 71, founder of Biocon, one of India’s largest biopharmaceutical companies based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, holds third place with an estimated wealth of ₹32,000 crore. Known as a pioneer in India’s biotechnology sector, she has made critical contributions to affordable healthcare and biosimilars.
Falguni Nayar, 61, founder of Nykaa (FSN E-Commerce Ventures), an online beauty and lifestyle retailer headquartered in Mumbai, ranks fourth with ₹29,000 crore in wealth. Nayar launched Nykaa in 2012 and transformed it into a stock-market-listed unicorn, empowering beauty access across India.
Fifth on the list is Neha Narkhede, the Indian-born co-founder of Confluent, a software company focused on data infrastructure and real-time streaming. Based in Palo Alto, California, Narkhede has amassed ₹6,800 crore in wealth and has become a respected figure in the tech startup ecosystem.
The report further noted that the Software and Services sector dominates, contributing over ₹1.11 lakh crore to the wealth of these women. Other prominent sectors include retail, finance, media, and healthcare.
Other notable names on the list include Kavitha Subramanian of Upstox, Neha Bansal of Lenskart, former PepsiCo CEO Indra K Nooyi, and actress-turned-entrepreneur Juhi Chawla of Knight Riders Sports.
The Candere Hurun list reinforces the growing presence of women in the Indian business landscape and their potential to build and scale enterprises on a global level.
