Nykaa founder becomes India’s wealthiest self-made female billionaire

Falguni Nayar’s beauty startup has jolted her to the ranks of the world’s richest.

Nayar, who owns about half of Nykaa, is now worth about $6.5 billion as shares of the firm surged as much as 89 per cent when they started trading Wednesday. She’s become India’s wealthiest self-made female billionaire, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures, Nykaa’s parent entity, is India’s first woman-led unicorn to hit the stock exchange. It priced its initial public offering at the top end of a marketed range, raising 53.5 billion rupees ($722 million). The stock was up 78 per cent as of 10:36 am in Mumbai.