Spinny founder Niraj Singh once sold his car, mortgaged house en route to building Rs 14,470 Cr Business. Know its amazing story

Niraj also borrowed money from friends and family and finally, in 2019, his persistence paid off when Spinny raised $11 million at a valuation of $26 million.

Behind every successful entrepreneur is a unique story of hard work, perseverance and toil. In today’s dose of inspiring stories, we present to you the amazing journey of Niraj Singh, a man who almost went bankrupt after his first two ventures failed to take off and went on to build a company that is currently worth a whopping Rs 14,470 crore.

Who is Niraj Singh?

Born in Daltonganj in Jharkhand, Niraj Singh was recognized as an academic genius since early childhood and always emerged as the school topper during his school years. After completing his education, Niraj Singh successfully passed the IIT exam in his very first attempt and joined IIT Roorkee to study Engineering.

Unsatisfied with the course he took, Niraj again passed the IIT entrance test and this time he was selected in IIT Delhi to study electrical engineering. After graduating, Niraj started his first start-up, Locus Education, in early 2014. However, the start-up failed to take off and soon shut down, as did his second venture at the end of 2014.

‘Dry’

Not one to be deterred by failure, Niraj used the experience gained from his previous ventures and in 2016 launched Spinny – a market for refurbished and used cars. His detractors mocked his venture, thinking it would fail, just like his two previous startups.

But Niraj did not feel discouraged even as the company continued to show slow growth and achieved Rs 4.6 crore in revenue in its second year. The industrious entrepreneur mortgaged his house and even sold his car and other assets to raise financing for his venture when he was unable to find financial backing from investors.

Niraj also borrowed money from friends and family and finally, in 2019, his persistence paid off when Spinny raised $11 million at a valuation of $26 million. The growth curve continued to climb at a breakneck pace and a few months later, the startup managed to raise a whopping $38 million at a valuation of $138 million.

Spinny raised another $280 million in the year 2021 and the company’s valuation rose to a massive $1.75 billion (Rs 14,470 crore).

The company earned Rs 180 Crore in revenue in FY 2022 which rose to a massive Rs 3,000 Crore in FY 2023.