Archives: People

Falguni Nayar is the founder and CEO of Nykaa, a multi-brand omnichannel beauty, fashion and lifestyle focused retail business established in 2012.

Providing a comprehensive e-commerce experience, Nykaa offers over 4.3 million product SKUs from over 4,000 brands. Under Falguni’s helm, Nykaa has emerged as India’s leading beauty retailer, playing a critical role in developing the Indian beauty market and further being recognized on Time’s 100 Most Influential Companies list.

Having graduated from IIM Ahmedabad, before founding Nykaa, Falguni spent nearly two decades as one of India’s leading investment bankers with the Kotak Mahindra group. During that time, Falguni guided several founders through roadshows globally towards stock market debuts. Last year, she expertly led Nykaa to a stellar debut on the stock exchanges.

Falguni’s accolades include EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2022, Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women and Bloomberg Global Annual 50. Falguni is also on the board of several companies, including Dabur and Kotak Securities.

Anil Rai Gupta is the Chairman and Managing Director of Havells India Private Limited. Under the mentorship of his father Late Shri Qimat Rai Gupta, he has led Havells transformation into the largest consumer electrical company. He was instrumental in deepening Havells reach into homes and leveraging technology, innovation and distribution network to deliver industry leading growth.

He is on the Board of Trustees of Wake Forest University, his alma mater and is also Founder and Trustee of Ashoka University. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by his alma mater Wake Forest University in 2017 and the All India Management Association’s Emerging Business Leader (2017). He was also named as “Entrepreneur for the year 2019” by the Forbes India Leadership Award and Business Today’s Best CEO in Consumer Durabale Category consecutively for 2019 & 2020. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce and an MBA from Wake Forest University, North Carolina.