There are scores of self-made millionaires and billionaires in India who started their businesses from scratch and overcame financial hurdles and other obstacles to build successful companies. One such inspiring tale is the story of Vikas Nahar the founder and CEO of Happilo a small-town guy whose ideas were rejected as many as 20 times but he persevered and ultimately built a company which is today valued at nearly Rs 500 crore. Who is Vikas Nahar? Born in 1984 in a farming family in tiny village in Mandya district of Karnataka Vikas D Nahar imbibed the nuances of business from an early age as his father used to grow cocoa and black pepper while his brother worked for Satvik Specialty Foods which exposed him to the food industry. After his schooling Vikas Nahar earned a bachelors degree in Computer Science from Bangalore University in 2005 and soon started his professional career working as a Senior Import Manager at the Jain Group. While Vikas earned a reasonable salary and understood the nuances of international trade his heart yearned for more. Soon he quit his job and completed his MBA in Marketing from Symbiosis International University Pune in 2008 and later became the Managing Director at Satvik where his brother also worked. However despite a steady and well-paying corporate job Vikas Nahar always felt like something was missing as he wanted to something more significant in his life and build something of his own. 20 rejections and Rs 10000 later... Vikas began working on new business ideas but faced rejections from investors as many as 20 times. But the young man took it as a learning curve and kept marching towards his goal. Learning from failure is the key to success Nahar said in an interview. Unable to find any investors Vikas Nahar decided to invest his own money but barely had any. In 2016 Vikas ultimately took the plunge and established Happilo-- a dry fruits company-- with an initial investment of just Rs 10000 and later Rs 20 lakh of his wifes savings. However even with that money the companys finances were very tight because dry fruits are an expensive commodity. Later Happilo raised Rs 80 lakh through the government-sponsored Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme and since then Nahar and company have not looked back. The rise of Happilo Over the years Nahars hard work perseverance and innovative thinking helped Happilo reach new heights as the company steadily expanded its product portfolio without compromising on quality. Today Happilo sells more than 40 different types of packaged dry fruits and manufactures over 100 different chocolates and 60 spices. Happilo has a strong presence on popular e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon as well as offline retail stores across the country. The company received a major boost in 2021 and 2022 when A91 Partners invested $12 million while Motilal Oswal invested $25 million taking the current market valuation of Happilo to over Rs 500 crore. Beyond his business success Vikas Nahar is also a multitalented individual and can proficiently speak five different languages-- English Hindi Kannada Marwari and Spanish. In 2023 Vikash Nahar was a digital guest shark in “Shark Tank India Season 2” and invested in startups like “The Health Factory” and “Nara Aba”. He was also featured in the “40 Under 40” list of Forbes and Times.