Meemobaidullah at 08:56, 31 March 2026

2026-03-31T08:56:22Z

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{{Short description|Indian business executive}}
{{for|the Indian politician|Dinesh Agrawal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dinesh Agarwal
| image =
| image_size = 250px
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|02|19|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| birth_name = Dinesh Agarwal
| occupation = Founder and CEO of [[IndiaMART]]
| spouse = Chetna Agarwal<ref name="t">{{cite web | url=http://www.technologers.com/the-founder-of-indiamart-dinesh-agarwal/ | title=The Founder of IndiaMart- Dinesh Agarwal | date=19 February 2014 | access-date=12 December 2015}}</ref>
| children =
| alma_mater = [[Harcourt Butler Technological Institute]]
}}

'''Dinesh Agarwal''' (born 19 February 1969) is an Indian entrepreneur, founder and CEO of [[IndiaMART]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-07/news/29520564_1_private-equity-intel-capital-indiamart | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510161704/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-07/news/29520564_1_private-equity-intel-capital-indiamart | url-status=dead | archive-date=10 May 2011 | title=Warburg Pincus in talks with IndiaMart for Rs 150 crore investment | work=[[The Times of India|Economic Times]] | date=7 May 2011 | access-date=12 December 2015}}</ref> India's largest online [[Business-to-business|B2B]] marketplace.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/indiamart-targets-rs-30k-cr-biz-in-fy16/article7452416.ece|title=IndiaMART targets Rs 30k cr biz in FY16|author=Our Bureau|work=[[The Hindu Business Line]]}}</ref>

==Early life and education==

Dinesh studied at Maharaja Agrasen Vidyalaya Inter College, Lucknow, and completed a B.Tech engineering degree with a specialization in computer science from [[Harcourt Butler Technological Institute]], [[Kanpur]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/biz-entrepreneurship/six-inspirational-stories-of-entrepreneurs-who-made-it-big/dinesh-agarwals-indiamart/slideshow/40480022.cms| title= Six inspirational stories of entrepreneurs who made it big| work= Economic Times| date=20 August 2014 | access-date=3 October 2019}}</ref>

==Early career==

Dinesh first started working at CMC (now part of TCS) where he worked on the first Railway reservation system<ref>{{cite news | url=https://content.timesjobs.com/my-first-job-dinesh-agarwal-founder-ceo-indiamart/articleshow/60003625.cms| title=My First Job: Dinesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, IndiaMART| publisher=Times Jobs.com | date=10 August 2010 | access-date=12 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814021440/https://content.timesjobs.com/my-first-job-dinesh-agarwal-founder-ceo-indiamart/articleshow/60003625.cms|archive-date=2017-08-14}}</ref> and later joined [[Sam Pitroda]] and his team at the Center for Development of Telematics to develop an indigenous digital telephone exchange for India.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/companies/dot-com-bust-was-the-best-thing-that-happened-to-us/articleshow/70322708.cms| title=Dot-com bust was the best thing that happened to us | work=[[Times of India]] | date=22 July 2019 | access-date=10 August 2019 | author=Digbijay Mishra}}</ref>

In 1992, Dinesh moved to [[HCL Technologies|HCL]] in the US, to set up offices on the East Coast. There he saw the birth of the internet in America, realized the potential of the internet and the impact it could have on Indian masses.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.chaturideas.com/ic/Story_of_Dinesh_Agarwal_the_man_behind_Indias_second_largest_B2B_marketplace| title= Story of Dinesh Agarwal, the man behind India's second largest B2B marketplace| publisher= Chatur Ideas| date=10 May 2015 | access-date=21 August 2019 | author=Senior Writer}}</ref>

===1995 and after===

In August 1995, he resigned from HCl, returned to [[India]] with his wife and child, and started looking for internet related opportunities to become an internet entrepreneur.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/IndiaMart-com-gets-funds-from-Intel-Capital/articleshow/3979827.cms| title= IndiaMart.com gets funds from Intel Capital| work=The Times of India| date=15 January 2009 | access-date=23 October 2019 | author=TNN}}</ref>

Agarwal decided to make a website that would be an online marketplace for exporters and importers.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.chaturideas.com/ic/Story_of_Dinesh_Agarwal_the_man_behind_Indias_second_largest_B2B_marketplace| title= Story of Dinesh Agarwal, the man behind India's second largest B2B marketplace| publisher= Chatur Ideas| date=15 August 2015 | access-date=25 October 2019 | author=Senior Writer}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/indiamart-targets-rs-30k-cr-biz-in-fy16/article7452416.ece#| title= IndiaMART targets Rs 30k cr biz in FY16| publisher= The Hindu Business Line| date=22 July 2015 | access-date=27 October 2019 | author=Network Bureau}}</ref> India had around 15,000 internet users at that time.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} When he did not receive government permission to get the directories of exporters and sellers online, he decided to have a free listing form and sent it to all the sellers in the directories. "My whole family, including my mother and wife, would help with the mailers.”IndiaMART's first tagline was: 'The global gateway to Indian marketplace'.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/IndiaMart-com-gets-funds-from-Intel-Capital/articleshow/3979827.cms| title= IndiaMart.com gets funds from Intel Capital| work= Times of India| date=15 January 2009 | access-date=23 October 2019 | author=TNN}}</ref>

In 2007–2008 when recession hit the US, Agarwal and his cousin Brijesh decided to pivot the focus from export oriented business to India-focused B2B market and raised $10 million from [[Intel]] Capital.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/indiamarts-ipo-poised-to-reap-rich-returns-for-investors/69866543| title= IndiaMart's IPO poised to reap rich returns for investors| work= Economic Times| date=21 June 2019 | access-date=24 October 2019 | author=Biswarup Gooptu}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/IndiaMart-com-gets-funds-from-Intel-Capital/articleshow/3979827.cms| title= IndiaMart.com gets funds from Intel Capital| work=The Times of India| date=15 January 2009 | access-date=23 October 2019 | author=TNN}}</ref>

Other domain ventures by Agarwal include www.indiangiftsportal.com and www.abcpayments.com. He later became an investor, providing funding to Tolexo,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.livemint.com/Industry/F10FzLVFT1XeDj4XquexCO/Indiamart-to-launch-online-marketplace-Tolexocom.html| title= Indiamart to launch online marketplace Tolexo.com| publisher= Live Mint| date=26 May 2014 | access-date=29 October 2019 | author=Shrutika Verma}}</ref> and Innerchef, a Gurgaon-based ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook meals delivery startup.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Now-InMobi-founder-Naveen-Tewari-backs-Innerchef/articleshow/49815534.cms| title= Now, InMobi founder Naveen Tewari backs Innerchef| publisher= Live Mint| date=18 November 2015 | access-date=2 November 2019 | author=Digbijay Mishra}}</ref>

==An Angel Investor==
Dinesh has invested in a number of start-ups, including Curofy, Wishberry, SilverPush, InnerChef, and AppVirality. Little Eye Labs was acquired by Facebook. Reported investments associated with him include InnerChef Private Limited, Complete Capital Private Ltd, Quicko Technosoft, and Arivihan Technologies Private Limited.

==Awards and recognition==
* Entrepreneur of the Year (2023) - [[Dun & Bradstreet]] Business Excellence Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IndiaMART InterMESH Ltd Annual Report 2022-23 |url=https://stockdiscovery.s3.amazonaws.com/insight/india/34167/Annual%20Report/AR-23.pdf |access-date=2025-12-24}}</ref>
* Digital Person of the Year (2020) - India Digital Awards, organised by IAMAI.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IAMAI India Digital Awards 2020 Winners |url=https://iamaiawards.in/IDA2023/Winners_20.php|access-date=2025-12-24}}</ref>
* EY Entrepreneur of the Year (2020) - Service Category, EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dinesh Agarwal - EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 |url=https://www.ey.com/en_in/entrepreneur-of-the-year/winners-2020/dinesh-agarwa|access-date=2025-12-24}}{{Dead link|date=March 2026|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.dineshagarwal.com/}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agarwal, Dinesh}}
[[Category:Indian business executives]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:1969 births]]
[[Category:Harcourt Butler Technical University alumni]]

Dinesh Agarwal - Revision history

Meemobaidullah at 08:56, 31 March 2026