Sandeep Aggrawal founded ShopClues. It was the 35th entrant in the country's e-commerce landscape but became the 5th Unicorn in the consumer internet sector.
Sandeep Aggrawal-backed company Boundless Brands has raised 2.5 million dollars in a seed funding round. He is the only tech entrepreneur to have created two unicorn startups, which means privately held companies with a valuation of over 1 billion dollars (Rs 8200 crore by current exchange rates). However, he has had a roller coaster life. He lost his first company after he was arrested in the United States by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Then he was involved in a messy divorce with wife. He, however, didn't lose hope. He created another unicorn, and later, was exonerated in the financial crime case by a US court.
Sandeep Aggrawal founded ShopClues. It was the 35th entrant in the country's e-commerce landscape but became the 5th Unicorn in the consumer internet sector. He formed the company at his house in California in 2010. He moved to India to run it in August 2011.
Before starting his entrepreneurial journey, he worked for 14 years on Wall Street as a research analyst. He worked with companies like Citigroup, Oppenheimer and Collins Stewart. He was the top ranked research analyst.
He currently runs Droom, which sells old cars, bikes and scooters in India and other countries. The valuation of the company is 2 billion dollars or Rs 16400 crore.
He did his MBA from Washington University's St Louis Olin Business School. He did his masters in finance from Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya and graduated from Kurukshetra University.
His life, however, hasn't been smooth.
Shopclues was growing at a fast speed when his life changed forever. He was in the United States for vacation with his family when the FBI arrested him. He was charged with insider trading when worked at a company in the United States.
He was forced to stay in the US, away from the family, and fight the case. He remained in a jail with a stinky toilet. He remained in America for over a year, juggling between the FBI and his work at Shopclues. He managed everything remotely. However, his investors didn't like the arrangement. They blamed everything wrong with the company on his precarious situation. He stepped down as the CEO of the company and handed the reins of the firm he built to his friend. He faced jail time. He was allowed to return to India in August 2014 as his judgement got delayed. In 2020, charges against him were dismissed. However, he was already punished for the crime he never committed -- he lost his company. In 2019, Shopclues was purchased by a company for around 100 million dollars.
The same year, he formed Droom. He raised 16 million dollars within a year. Over the next three years, he raised 90 million dollars in several rounds.
His company was growing but his personal life took a hit with his divorce with his wife of 17 years.
He didn't let personal problems affect him.
His second company also became a unicorn and is one of the most successful in the auto-tech space.
He has married for the second time.
In an interview, he had said that he wouldn't have survived the ordeal if Droom wasn't there in his life. He said the company became his solace at a time when his family had split and he was facing jail time.
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 "Sandeep Aggrawal currently runs Droom, which sells old cars, bikes and scooters in India and other countries. (File)")
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