Two Indian Americans, investor Vivek Ramaswamy and Instacart founder Apoorva Mehta, were named among Forbes’ “Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40” list, now in its second year. Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has been ranked 24th on ‘America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 2016’ list with a networth of $600 million, and Instacart co-founder Apoorva Mehta, stands at the 31st spot with a $360-million networth.
Ramaswamy, 31, a Harvard University and Yale School of Management alumnus, continues to make waves in the biotech business with his deals and drug development plans, Forbes said. He was behind the biggest biotechnology IPO of 2016, Myovant Sciences, which raised $218-million listing its shares on Nasdaq in October, it said.
Last year, Ramaswamy pulled off the biggest IPO in the US biotech history by listing shares of Axovant, a company that is trying to develop a new Alzheimer’s drug. He runs Roivant Sciences, a biotech holding company with an innovative financial strategy to develop drugs, often by purchasing drugs that have been forgotten or abandoned by the pharmaceutical industry.
He made his roughly $600 million net worth on his own accord and through investments, and continues to make waves in the biotech business with his deals and drug development plans, Forbes said. He was behind the biggest biotechnology initial public offering of 2016, Myovant Sciences, which raised $218 million listing its shares on Nasdaq in October, it added. Ramaswamy formed the company in April and struck a deal with Takeda Pharmaceuticals for a prostate cancer drug and a female infertility drug.
Forbes called Mehta one of Silicon Valley’s youngest immigrant success stories. Born in India, Mehta and his family moved to Canada in 2000, where he studied engineering at the University of Waterloo before working at Blackberry, Qualcomm, and then Amazon. In 2012, he co-founded Instacart, a grocery-delivery service that partners with grocery chains. The company is valued at an estimated $2 billion, and most recently raised funding from Whole Foods Market in March, it said.
The 30-year-old Mehta would not have been included on the list in the inaugural year of 2015. A year ago, the cutoff to make the list was $400, but that dropped drastically with a number of entrepreneurs aging out. The cutoff in 2016 came in at $270 million, allowing the Instacart founder to place No. 31 on the list with his net worth of $360 million.
Mehta is one of Silicon Valley’s youngest immigrant success stories, Forbes said. Born in India, Mehta and his family moved to Canada in 2000, where he studied engineering at the University of Waterloo before working at Blackberry, Qualcomm and then Amazon.
