10 Trailblazing Entrepreneurs From NITs Who Redefined Business, Technology, and Innovation 

Entrepreneurs from India’s National Institutes of Technology (NITs) are a standout group, known for their ability to innovate and build successful businesses. From tech startups to ventures in healthcare and digital media, they’re leading companies across industries and serving millions of customers worldwide.

Their success stories show what happens when strong technical skills meet real entrepreneurial drive.

10 Most Popular Entrepreneurs from NITs Who Built Successful Businesses

Here’s a list of 10 successful entrepreneurs who hail from NITs in India.

Nandan Nilekani (NIT Surathkal)

Nandan Nilekani is best known as the co-founder of Infosys, one of India's most influential IT companies. He played an important part in developing the company from a start-up venture into a world leader in technology services. 

Beyond his corporate achievements, Nilekani led the Aadhaar project, making it one of the largest biometric identity programs in the world. He has become one of the most admired business leaders to emerge from the NIT framework.

Shashank ND (NIT Surathkal)

Practo was founded by Shashank ND in 2008 to connect people with their doctors. Its initial purpose was an application to manage patients’ health records. Over time, it became a complete healthcare solution that offers services ranging from appointment scheduling and consultation sessions to telemedicine, as well as software solutions such as Practo Ray for practice management.

The development of Practo represents one example of how technology can help overcome problems encountered in healthcare provision and accessibility. Shashank’s experience provides evidence that healthcare innovation is possible.

Ashish Sukhadeve (NIT Durgapur)

Ashish Sukhadeve is the Founder and CEO of Analytics Insight, a technology-focused media and research platform that covers artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, cloud computing, and other emerging technologies shaping the global business landscape. 

He founded Analytics Insight in 2017 with a clear goal: to give entrepreneurs, technologists, and business leaders reliable insights into the technologies redefining their industries. Under his leadership, the platform has grown from a single publication into a wider media network, offering research reports, industry rankings, and dedicated coverage across global markets, including India and the UAE. 

Abhinav Lal (NIT Surathkal)

Abhinav Lal co-founded Practo in 2008 while still studying at NIT Surathkal and became the company’s CTO, leading the technology that drove its rapid growth.

His endeavors focused on designing digital solutions to better manage healthcare for both patients and practitioners, including appointment scheduling, video consultations, and practice management software such as Practo Ray.

As Practo expanded from a practice management solution provider to a global healthcare company serving millions of people worldwide, Lal was instrumental in crafting its products and scalable technology platforms.

KR Sridhar (NIT Calicut)

KR Sridhar founded Bloom Energy in 2001 to develop solid oxide fuel-cell technology for clean, on-site power generation. Before becoming an entrepreneur, he led advanced energy projects for NASA, including work on producing oxygen for future Mars missions using fuel cells.

Bloom’s technology, known as the ‘Bloom Box’ or Energy Server, converts natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen into electricity without combustion, delivering 67% less emissions than coal plants and up to 100% cleaner power with renewable fuels. 

Madhusudhan Ekambaram (NIT Surathkal)

Madhusudhan Ekambaram started KreditBee to ensure fast access to borrowing among young and next-gen borrowers in India. The company is a technology-backed platform that simplifies credit through data, making it one of India’s leading fintech companies and serving several million people.

Deepak Shenoy (NIT Surathkal)

The founder of Capitalmind created the company to provide Indians with scientific portfolio management and data-driven investment research. As an accomplished finance professional with over 20 years of experience, Deepak Shenoy established Capitalmind to facilitate investing in India through a data-driven approach.

Moreover, the entrepreneur has authored Money Wise, which has become India’s most popular guide to creating wealth. Recently, he has also started Capitalmind Mutual Fund, which has managed over Rs. 2,000 crore in assets.

Smruti Ranjan Parida (NIT Surathkal)

Smruti Ranjan Parida co-founded NestAway to bring tech to India’s rental housing market. The startup focused on real problems tenants and landlords face, property management, paperwork, and tenant checks, and built tools to simplify them. NestAway grew fast and became one of the country’s leading rental marketplaces, showing how technology can make renting more efficient and transparent.

Rohit Manglik (NIT Surathkal)

Manglik has brought forward a few successful startups focused on students' educational needs. It’s like learning materials are the core, and they help learners get through their exams, at least that’s what Manglik aims for. Manglik provides study material and coaching, helping students prepare for exams through various digital channels. 

These efforts have mattered greatly in advancing India’s early edtech sector, primarily by leveraging digital platforms to deliver high-quality, generally reliable learning material.

Jagdeep Singh Gambhir (NIT Surathkal)

Gambhir has had solid success as a healthcare entrepreneur, particularly in improving access to healthcare services in underserved areas. He’s quite well known for trying to expand access in these regions. He also leans on sustainable business practices to improve access to healthcare services in such places by making the entire operation run more efficiently.

How These NIT Entrepreneurs Changed Their Industries

Entrepreneur	Sector	Problem Addressed	Legacy
Nandan Nilekani	IT Services	Global technology scalability	Built a technology powerhouse
Shashank ND	Healthcare	Doctor-patient accessibility	Mainstreamed digital healthcare
Ashish Sukhadeve	Technology Media	Industry intelligence gap	Created a global tech publication
Abhinav Lal	Healthcare Technology	Healthcare digitization	Strengthened digital health infrastructure
KR Sridhar	Energy	Sustainable power generation	Advanced clean-energy adoption
Madhusudhan Ekambaram	FinTech	Limited credit accessibility	Expanded digital lending
Deepak Shenoy	Finance	Complex investment management	Democratized investing
Smruti Ranjan Parida	Real Estate	Rental market inefficiencies	Brought transparency to housing
Rohit Manglik	Education	Access to quality preparation resources	Enabled digital learning
Jagdeep Singh Gambhir	Healthcare	Rural healthcare accessibility	Improved service delivery

Conclusion

The achievements of these entrepreneurs clearly indicate how relevant NIT alumni have become in India’s business environment. It’s evident from their track record that, even though they work in different domains, they still share the same thread: they keep an eye on opportunities. In other words, they can turn that into scalable ventures by spotting opportunities early and shaping them for growth.