Meet the BARBIES powering India’s unicorn boom
- Anmol MainiAnshul Bhide
- TNNUpdated: Jan 24, 2026, 17:54 IST IST
In the Indian startup ecosystem, one constantly hears about how IITs and BITS produce some incredible founders. But there is a large cohort of founders that doesn’t get as much airtime despite quietly outperforming any single IIT when it comes to unicorn creation. Meet the BARBIE founders — those who did their Bachelors Abroad and Returned to Build in the Indian Ecosystem. The term, coined by Sajith Pai, a Partner at Blume Ventures, has gained traction as a shorthand for this distinct founder archetype.
From Lenskart co-founder Peyush Bansal to Zepto’s Aadit Palicha, these founders have moved back to India to build audacious, ambitious and enduring businesses in the country. The numbers speak for themselves — of the roughly 300 BARBIE founders we identified, 3.7% have gone on to build unicorns, a rate higher than IIT Delhi (2.7%) and IIT Bombay (2%). BARBIE founders have started 11.5% of all active unicorns in the country.
From Lenskart co-founder Peyush Bansal to Zepto’s Aadit Palicha, these founders have moved back to India to build audacious, ambitious and enduring businesses in the country. The numbers speak for themselves — of the roughly 300 BARBIE founders we identified, 3.7% have gone on to build unicorns, a rate higher than IIT Delhi (2.7%) and IIT Bombay (2%). BARBIE founders have started 11.5% of all active unicorns in the country.
