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Started a 2000 CR company at 26, sold it and built another 3500 CR company. 1. After working for five years with Siemens, Mitsui and Tata's Nelco, Rakesh Malhotra was over corporate life. During this time, he observed something. In 1983, frequent power cuts were a daily reality in India, and families could not afford Rs 50,000 inverters. The existing ones oversued and crashed. He wanted to do something. 🤔 2.He wanted to design a more affordable and reliable uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and started researching. He soon left his job and began the SAR group with a 600 sq ft facility in South Delhi with Rs 40,000 and four technicians. In 1988, the brand Luminous Power Technologies was born. 🚀 3.Though he was only 26, his vision was clear - to manufacture a low-power but high-performance inverter and UPS. He sourced parts locally and attached a designer cover and trolleys for use at home. After fixing design defects, he introduced his first UPS unit after 15 months. ✅ 4. His first order came from Modi Xerox, for 28 units at 4.2 lakh. Even for Rs 15,000, Luminious had clocked 8 lakh revenue in its first year and grew to eight employees. He expanded to adjacent business areas, including telecom power solutions and KPO services. After 18 years of hard work, Luminous clocked 100 CR in annual sales by 2006. 📈 5. By 2007, it had raised 83 CRs from CLSA. As it became India's No. 1, it formed a joint venture with Schneider Electric and sold 74% for 1400 CR to them at 1900 CR. It became the 7th largest player globally. But Rakesh was not done. By 2012, he embarked on SAR Group's "2.0" mission to focus on water, energy, and clean technology. 🖥️ 6. In 2014, he started another brand to produce lead-acid/ Li - ion automotive batteries, inverter batteries, off-grid and hybrid solar inverters, solar panels, and associated IoT/monitoring solutions to go after the same extended market of Luminous. The brand Livguard was born. 🚀 7. Livguard went after domestic energy storage for homes and small businesses, EV charging infrastructure, and rural and urban solar deployment. From day 0, it focused on research and made six operational R&D centres. By 2019, it had reached 1400 CR in revenue and had raised 220 CR from Chrys Capital and Ncubate Capital. 💰 8. With its diversified technological capabilities, its focus on solar education, and even featuring actor Akshay Kumar in advertisements, Livguard grew 50% yearly. It had grown into exports to over 15 countries and became a global name. 🌐 9. Today, Livguard clocks a revenue of 3520 CR with a massive 25 GWh battery capacity. At the same time, Luminous India has served over 100 million customers with 300 products. 💪 ➡️Who would have thought that a 26-year-old boy with Rs 40,000 would sell his 2000 CR company to Schneider and build another 3500 CR company? 🙏