Dinesh Chandra Agrawal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Dinesh Chandra Agrawal

• Dinesh Chandra Agarwal is an Indian businessman. He is the founder and CEO of Indiamart Intermesh, one of India’s pioneering internet companies, with a market cap exceeding Rs 17,200 crore, started with an initial capital of Rs 40,000.

• According to Dinesh Chandra Agarwal, he was inspired by his grandfather, who was a freedom fighter. He began his career at CMC, which is now part of Tata Group’s TCS.

• Dinesh Chandra has worked with companies like Hindustan Management and Technical Services Private Limited, HCL America, Inc., HCL Limited, HCL Hewlett-Packard Limited, Centre for Development of Telematics (C-Dot), and CMC Limited. He has championed innovative ideas to support Indian SMEs globally and has been vocal on issues such as GST, taxation, infrastructure, power, and technology. He then worked for some top IT companies like Bank of America, Novell NetWare, UB Networks, etc.

• A significant turning point came in his life when in 1995, the Indian government’s VSNL (Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited) brought public internet access to India. In the same year, Agarwal returned from the US after leaving his job in the US and started an online business focusing on B2B services. During his stint at HCL, he witnessed the potential of the internet and software. He planned to sell Indian software services to US customers.

• In 1996, Dinesh Chandra co-founded IndiaMART.Com with his cousin Brijesh Agarwal. Reportedly, his company was one of India’s first internet companies.

  

• In 2000, he founded Indiamart Intermesh Limited in New Delhi, India.

  

• Despite challenges like the dotcom bust and the 9/11 attack, Dinesh Chandra began building a profitable business, leading to a successful IPO.

• Dinesh is an active investor with a significant portfolio of start-ups. He has been a member of the Governing Council of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) since 2015, and since 2017, he has been actively involved with the Indus Entrepreneur (TiE) and serves on the Advisory Committee of Amity International Business School and executive Council of APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University.

• Dinesh Chandra shared India’s e-commerce success story at the Trade and Development of eCommerce week during the United Nations Conference in Geneva in 2018.

• Agarwal, in 2023, was ranked as Noida’s richest individual and has a net worth of Rs 4,200 crore according to the 360 ONE Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2023.

  

• Dinesh Chandra has offered significant guidance and support to the Olympic Gold Quest (Foundation for Promotion of Sports and Games) by allocating an annual amount to promote the spirit of sportsmanship. He actively supports women’s empowerment. Over the years, he has been working towards women’s welfare by contributing to the “Mera Sahara, the Joint Women’s Programme.”

  

• He has invested in more than 45 companies across various sectors, including health tech and cloud telephony.

• In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, travelling to distant locations, and experiencing different cultures. Some of his favourite books include “Freakonomics” by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, and “Art of War” by Sun Tzu.