Sanjeev Bikhchandani founded Info Edge in 1995 and launched Naukri.com, building India's first publicly listed internet company while becoming one of the country's most successful startup investors.
Sanjeev Bikhchandani built Info Edge and Naukri.com into India’s first internet success story while becoming one of the country’s most influential startup investors.
Written by TFN Research Desk | covering startups, technology, venture capital, and business strategy.
Table of Contents
- Who is Sanjeev Bikhchandani?
- Early Life and Education
- Career Before Info Edge
- How Info Edge Started
- Funding History
- Revenue Growth and Recent Challenges
- Public Recognition
- Info Edge vs Competitors
- Investor Perspective
- Founder Timeline
- Key Takeaways
- FAQs
- Sources
Who is Sanjeev Bikhchandani?
Sanjeev Bikhchandani founded Info Edge in 1995 and launched Naukri.com in 1997, building India’s first major online job portal into the country’s first publicly listed internet company. A St. Stephen’s College and IIM Ahmedabad graduate, he received the Padma Shri in 2020 and remains Executive Vice Chairman, having also become one of India’s most successful startup investors through early bets on Zomato and Policybazaar.
Early Life and Education
Bikhchandani was born on 29 or 30 June 1963 in New Delhi. He completed schooling at St. Columba’s School, Delhi, in 1981, earned a BA in Economics from St. Stephen’s College in 1984, and received his postgraduate diploma in management from IIM Ahmedabad in 1989. He has said colour blindness ruled out careers like medicine early on, steering him toward business.
Career Before Info Edge
Bikhchandani worked in advertising at Lintas for three years, then spent eighteen months in marketing at HMM Ltd (now GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare), promoting Horlicks. It was there, watching colleagues devour the classified job pages at the back of Business India, that he had his founding insight. He quit in 1990 and spent what he calls his “drifting years,” running small ventures in pharmaceutical trademark searches and salary surveys, going without a salary for nearly six years while his wife, an IIM Ahmedabad classmate, supported the household.
How Info Edge Started
Bikhchandani founded Info Edge in 1995, and in 1997 launched Naukri.com from a servant’s quarter above his father’s garage with seed capital of roughly Rs 2,000. The insight was simple: aggregate the scattered job listings companies published in print into one searchable online database. Early growth was slow and driven by direct mail, until Hitesh Oberoi joined in 2000 and helped scale sales operations. Info Edge later added 99acres.com in real estate, Jeevansathi.com in matrimony, and Shiksha.com in education, each applying the same classifieds-aggregation model to a new, fragmented Indian market.
Funding History
| Round | Year | Amount | Lead Investor(s) |
| Bootstrapped | 1995-2000 | ~Rs 2,000 seed capital | Founder’s own funds |
| Pre-IPO VC | Early 2000s | Undisclosed | ICICI Ventures and other early backers |
| IPO | Nov 2006 | Undisclosed | Public markets (NSE, BSE listing) |
Info Edge became the first Indian internet company to list on domestic stock exchanges in 2006. It has since funded growth largely through operating cash flow and public markets rather than repeated private funding rounds, while running its own venture arm to back other startups.
Revenue Growth and Recent Challenges
| Fiscal Year | Revenue | Net Profit |
| FY24 | Rs 2,536 crore | Rs 594 crore |
| FY25 | Rs 2,849.5 crore | Rs 1,310 crore |
| FY26 | Rs 3,285 crore | Rs 1,763 crore |
Why this happened: Naukri.com’s recruitment business continues to generate roughly three-quarters of revenue, with steady double-digit billings growth from both metro and Tier-2/3 markets. Profit has grown faster than revenue mainly because of rising other income, largely gains on Info Edge’s substantial startup investment portfolio, including its early Zomato stake, rather than core operating margin expansion alone.
Public Recognition
Bikhchandani received the Padma Shri in 2020, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2008, and IIM Ahmedabad’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2011. Outlook Magazine named him one of India’s fifty greatest CEOs ever in 2017. He also co-founded Ashoka University in 2014 as a founding trustee.
Info Edge vs Competitors
| Brand | Founded | Latest Revenue | Positioning |
| Info Edge (Naukri) | 1995 | Rs 3,285 crore (FY26) | Diversified classifieds: jobs, real estate, matrimony, education |
| LinkedIn (India) | 2003 globally | Not publicly disclosed | Professional networking with job listings, global backing |
| Shine.com | 2008 | Not publicly disclosed | HT Media-owned job portal, smaller Indian competitor |
Naukri.com remains India’s dominant home-grown job portal by scale and profitability, a position built over three decades against both global platforms and smaller domestic rivals.
Investor Perspective
Bikhchandani’s marketing background gave him a genuine customer insight, not a technical one, that became Naukri’s founding idea. His strengths include a diversified, cash-generative core business and an unusually successful venture portfolio that has created value well beyond Info Edge’s own operations. The main risk is that recruitment billings, still the dominant revenue driver, are sensitive to hiring cycles and could soften if India’s job market cools. If the newer verticals, real estate, matrimony, and education, continue compounding alongside disciplined startup investing, Info Edge’s diversified model gives it more resilience than most single-product internet peers.
Founder Timeline
- 1989 — Graduates IIM Ahmedabad; joins HMM Ltd
- 1990 — Quits job, begins “drifting years” of small ventures
- 1995 — Founds Info Edge
- 1997 — Launches Naukri.com
- 2000 — Hitesh Oberoi joins, scales sales operations
- 2006 — Info Edge lists on NSE and BSE
- 2014 — Co-founds Ashoka University
- 2020 — Receives Padma Shri
- 2025 — FY25 profit crosses Rs 1,300 crore
- 2026 — FY26 profit rises 34.5% to Rs 1,763 crore
Key Takeaways
- Bikhchandani’s founding insight came from observing consumer behaviour in a marketing job, not from a technical background.
- Six years without salary before Naukri’s launch shows the patience needed before an idea found its market.
- Applying the same classifieds-aggregation model across jobs, real estate, matrimony, and education diversified revenue well beyond a single product.
- Listing in 2006, well before most Indian internet peers, gave Info Edge a funding path independent of private venture cycles.
- Early startup investments, especially in Zomato, now contribute meaningfully to overall profit alongside the core business.
FAQs
Who founded Info Edge?
Sanjeev Bikhchandani, in 1995, followed by Naukri.com’s launch in 1997.
Is Info Edge profitable?
Yes, FY26 net profit rose 34.5% to Rs 1,763 crore on Rs 3,285 crore in revenue.
When did Info Edge go public?
November 2006, becoming India’s first listed internet company.
What startups has Info Edge invested in?
Zomato, Policybazaar, Shopkirana, Ustraa, Gramophone, and more than 100 others over the years.
What is Sanjeev Bikhchandani’s net worth?
Estimated at over $4 billion as of late 2024, according to Forbes.
Sources
- Sanjeev Bikhchandani – Wikipedia
- Info Edge: Sanjeev Bikhchandani – From pioneer to messiah of India’s internet startups — Forbes India
- Sanjeev Bikhchandani & Info Edge: The Architect of India’s Digital Classifieds — Founder Thesis
- Info Edge crosses Rs 2,500 Cr revenue and Rs 500 Cr profit threshold in FY24 — Entrackr
- Info Edge posts Rs 750 Cr revenue in Q4 FY25; profit jumps 7.7X — Entrackr
- Info Edge profit up 11.48% to ₹756 crore in Q4 — Business Standard
© The Founder Nation | All rights reserved | Written by TFN Research Desk
