Real story
At 49, Falguni Nayar Left Investment Banking and Founded Nykaa
According to the press, Falguni Nayar left a senior investment banking job in India in 2012 to found an online beauty company. Here is what has been documented about her path, with nothing added for effect.
No recipe here: just facts, with the sources at the bottom of the page. This story is here to show what a change of direction can look like, not to tell you which one to choose.
A post at the top of the ladder
According to EY, Falguni Nayar was then managing director of the investment banking and institutional equities divisions at Kotak Mahindra Capital.
According to The Week (March 2022) and the profile published by the Dabur group, she had also set up Kotak’s international operations in London and New York. According to Fortune and TechCrunch, she was a former banker when she founded Nykaa.
2012: she leaves that post
According to Business Today and The Week, she left Kotak in 2012 to found Nykaa, an online platform selling beauty products. According to EY and Fortune, she was 49 at the time. According to EY and the Dabur profile, the platform launched that same year.
According to Fortune and Business Today (2023), she has said she wanted to start her own business before turning 50.
Nine years later, the stock market
According to EY and TechCrunch, Nykaa was listed on the Indian stock market in November 2021, nine years after it was founded.
Worth keeping in mind
Every path is unique. Falguni Nayar was leaving an established banking career (according to The Week), in a specific market, at a specific moment. Context and luck matter, and nothing is guaranteed: this story is neither a method nor a promise that you will get the same result. It also says nothing about the many people who attempt a change like this without it working out: we almost never hear about them.
Sources
- Falguni Nayar (Entrepreneur Of The Year India 2021), EY India, 2021, accessed 8 October 2026. https://ey.com/en_in/entrepreneur-of-the-year/winners-2021/falguni-nayar
- Falguni Nayar: Banker’s Instinct, Business Today, 19 December 2021, accessed 8 October 2026. https://businesstoday.in/amp/specials/most-powerful-women-in-business/story/falguni-nayar-bankers-instinct-316103-2021-12-19
- Falguni Nayar’s makeover magic, The Week, 6 March 2022, accessed 8 October 2026. https://www.theweek.in/theweek/specials/2022/03/06/falguni-nayars-makeover-magic.html
- “I was not afraid to be different”: How founding a company at 49 helped Nykaa CEO Falguni Nayar become a multi-billionaire, Fortune, 1 February 2022, accessed 8 October 2026. https://www.fortune.com/2022/02/01/i-was-not-afraid-to-be-different-how-founding-a-company-at-49-helped-nykaa-ceo-falguni-nayar-become-a-multi-billionaire
- MPW 2023: Why Falguni Nayar turned entrepreneur with Nykaa at 49, Business Today, 11 December 2023, accessed 8 October 2026. https://www.businesstoday.in/amp/magazine/business-today-leaders/story/mpw-2023-why-falguni-nayar-turned-entrepreneur-with-nykaa-at-49-408931-2023-12-11
- Indian fashion e-commerce Nykaa makes stellar market debut, TechCrunch, 9 November 2021, accessed 8 October 2026. https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/09/indian-fashion-e-commerce-nykaa-makes-stellar-market-debut/
- Ms. Falguni Nayar (Board of Directors), Dabur India, date not shown, accessed 8 October 2026. https://www.dabur.com/our-leadership/board-of-directors/ms-falguni-nayar
A story based on the public sources cited above. The people and companies mentioned have no connection with AlignPath and do not endorse it. Every path is unique: no result is guaranteed.