Quick answer: Chandigarh has produced some of India’s most successful startup founders. Five of the city’s most famous entrepreneurs are Abhiraj Malhotra (SchoolPad), Samar Singla (Jugnoo), Kunaal Satija (EduRev), Sameer Sharma (Trideal) and Kunal Nandwani (uTrade Solutions) — spanning edtech, mobility, fintech and local commerce.
Chandigarh may be best known for its planned architecture and relaxed pace, but it has also quietly nurtured a generation of bold founders. Here are five entrepreneurs who built notable startups from the City Beautiful.
1. SchoolPad — Abhiraj Malhotra
Founded in Chandigarh in 2013, SchoolPad is a K-12 school management (ERP) platform created by Abhiraj Malhotra to help schools simplify administration, communication and parent collaboration. After piloting the software in two schools, Malhotra formally incorporated the company in June 2013, growing it into a trusted school-management product used by institutions across India.
2. Jugnoo — Samar Singla
Launched in 2014, Jugnoo grew into India’s largest on-demand auto-rickshaw aggregator, connecting riders with autos in just a few taps. Founder Samar Singla, an IIT Delhi graduate, had earlier started the tech-services company Click Labs. Jugnoo went on to expand into hyperlocal delivery and remains one of Chandigarh’s best-known tech success stories.
3. EduRev — Kunaal Satija
EduRev, founded by Kunaal Satija in 2011, is an edtech platform offering learning resources — video lectures, notes and practice tests — for students from Class 1 to 12 and dozens of competitive exams. Backed by Y Combinator (W20), EduRev has built a large community of learners across India.
4. Trideal — Sameer Sharma
Trideal, founded in 2012 by Sameer Sharma, was Tricity’s popular local-deals platform, letting users discover offers by category and location across the city. It was acquired by Little Internet (later part of Paytm) in 2015 — a notable Chandigarh startup exit. Sharma later founded the hyperlocal commerce platform uEngage.
5. uTrade Solutions — Kunal Nandwani
uTrade Solutions, founded in 2011 by Kunal Nandwani and his co-founders, is a Chandigarh fintech building multi-asset and algorithmic trading platforms for global capital markets. Nandwani spent over six years in capital markets in London (Lehman Brothers, Nomura and BNP Paribas) before returning home to launch uTrade, and is also active in the Chandigarh Angels Network.
