The bond between siblings is undeniably special. By virtue of having shared history, they are the ones who know us inside out. What makes one happy, what are one’s pet peeves, what are one’s strengths & weaknesses, what pushes one’s buttons, our siblings are privy to all of this information and much more. As a result it only makes sense that siblings can build successful partnerships; after all they have been teaming up since childhood. Albeit, the relationship is no bed of roses. There are bound to be clashes, disagreements etc, however siblings always know how to patch things up.
The business world is an excellent testament to the wonders of sibling partnerships. From successful lifestyle brands, tech companies, F&B businesses to creative agencies, the Indian business landscape has seen several siblings partnerships succeed.
On the occasion of Raksha Bandhan we present to you seven sibling duos who built successful ventures in the Indian business landscape.
Sridhar Vembu & Radha Vembu, Zoho Corp
Who today isn’t familiar with the name Sridhar Vembu? The Padma Shri awardee is a renowned Indian billionaire business magnate and the founder & CEO of Zoho Corporation (originally known as AdventInc). His company Zoho Corporation is an Indian multinational tech organization that makes web-based business tools and is best known for the online office suite offering Zoho Office Suite.
However not many know that another towering presence in the Zoho Corp family is Radha Vembu, Sridhar’s sister. She is a graduate in industrial management from IIT Madras and has been a part of Zoho Corp since 2007. She spearheads Zoho Mail and hasn’t changed her designation of Zoho Mail’s product manager since the time she joined the team. However her presence has helped Zoho Mail grow by leaps and bounds. Radha however likes being an ‘invisible’ force propelling the company forward.
Together, the Vembu siblings own a majority stake in the company which puts them in the bracket of one of India’s richest individuals.
Almas Nanda and Amin Virji, Inc.5
The early years of one’s life are the most instrumental for one’s growth and learning. This is why a wholesome family environment is essential for each one of us. Almas Nanda and Amin Virji’s strong family values and business acumen reflects in their current success today as the founders of renowned footwear brand Inc5.
A brain child of Almas, she wanted to build a brand that would provide women consumers with comfortable footwear options that could also look stylish. She founded the iconic brand at the young age of 24 back in 1998.
Almas worked with her brother Amin who is the Managing Director of Inc.5 to build a brand that that has today become a market leader in the footwear industry. Amin played a significant role in growing Almas' vision into a successful reality.
Today Inc.5 has transcended into being a modern footwear brand with a strong presence both online and offline.
Rhea Karturia & Yeshoda Karturia, Hoovu Fresh
Growing up sisters often share their belongings with one another. But how often do sisters grow up to share a common dream to build a successful company in the Indian marketplace? My guess is not very often. However, Rhea Karuturi and Yeshoda Karuturi’s entrepreneurial story stands out.
The sister duo grew up surrounded by flowers as their family was in the floriculture business. “The year I was born was when our father set up his rose farms. We have literally grown up around flowers, farms and farmers,” says Yeshoda. Given their father’s business, Yeshoda and Rhea got to witness how the global flower industry functions at close proximity and identified a gap in the Indian market.
The sister duo founded Hoovu Fresh, a flower delivery startup that delivers fresh traditional flowers to consumers across the country by shortening the supply chain and leveraging technology in packaging and innovation.
Hoovu Fresh has previously raised funds and was a part of the TechStars accelerator as well. The company currently maintains a positive cash flow.
Sujata and Taniya Biswas, SuTa
Inspiration can come from anywhere. For Sujata and Taniya Biswas, it came from having conversations with weavers and artisans of West Bengal. So inspired were the sisters that they quit their well-paying jobs to establish the design house SuTa which also happens to be the sisters’ namesake. At the crux of the brand is their combined love for ornate sarees and textiles. Suta makes simple and humble designs using their very own and known fabrics.
The Biswas sisters’ brand narrates a tale of love, for textiles and for one another.
Nikita & Arjun Hari, WUDI
2016 was a momentous year for the Hari siblings. By combining their passion and skill set, Nikita Hari and Arjun Hari got together to launchWUDI, an artificial intelligence driven data analytics product that can seamlessly interface to derive behavioural insights, business intelligence & much more.
Hari is an engineer and an IIM Kozhikode graduate. Nikita is also and enginner, and is known to be an Engineering innovator and influencer with more than 14 years of integrated global career experience spanning industry and academia.
Through WUDI, the sibling duo hopes to aid young students to discover their career potential free of judgment and skepticism.
Anjali and Nik Kundra, Partender
Nikhil Kundra aka Nik was once ditched by a date who cited the reason as ‘stuck at work doing inventory’. He bought the excuse and went on to research into the topic. He found that the process was extremely time consuming and cumbersome. To counter this he designed an app, Partender. The innovative application enables restaurants, bars and hotels to take bar inventory in a jiffy. In his quest to develop the idea came on board Anjali Kundra, his elder sister.
Together the Kundras (now joined by younger sister Monica) developed the idea that is today being used by clients such as Hilton, Marriott and Mellow Mushroom.
In an interview to a global tech portal Nikhil mentioned that while working together as a team, the siblings do fight. But much like how it was when they were younger, they do always know how to make up too.
Kainaz Messman Harchandrai and Tina Messman Wykes
What’s better than cake? A cake that came from Theobroma. The namesake literally translates to ‘food of the God’. Founded in 2004 by sisters turned business partners and bakers extraordinaire Kainaz Messman Harchandrai and Tina Messman Wykes, the pastry store has today become an icon of sorts. 18 years down the line, Theobroma is today a Pan-India multi-million-dollar cake enterprisewith presence across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR and Hyderabad.
In an interview with an Indian fashion and lifestyle magazine, Tina broke down how it was working with family, “Working with family is very difficult, and even after all these years it hasn’t become any easier. We can be dysfunctional sometimes, and shout and scream but I think it is healthy, as it does not allow problems to fester and grow. We certainly have our differences, but we speak our minds and then quickly move on”.
Now that is a sure-shot recipe for success.
