Started business from a small flat, now bought a house worth crores of rupees

For aspiring entrepreneurs who believe that success can only be achieved through external funding, Rikant Pitti’s story is inspiring. His story shows how anyone can build a multi-crore company with perseverance, commitment and a successful concept. His company, EaseMyTrip, posted a net profit of Rs 146.8 crore in FY23 and has a market capitalisation of Rs 7494 crore as of May 2024. The fact that Pitti started his company without the help of external capital makes his story even more significant. He started with a simple concept which grew into the travel company EaseMyTrip, which is currently valued at over Rs 7000 crore.

The concept for Pitti’s company originated when he was still an engineering student. A frequent traveler, his father was a businessman who would fly fifteen or twenty flights every month. But in an effort to save money, Pitti bought tickets for his father because travel agencies would charge more than the price listed online. When airlines noticed he was making too many reservations, they immediately contacted him and asked him to book tickets for friends and family as well.

The three brothers who founded the company in 2008 were Nishant, Rikant, and Prashant Pitti. They focused on business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) transactions. Duke Travels is a travel agency they founded after realizing that this could be a viable business opportunity.

He started EaseMyTrip from a one-bedroom flat in East Delhi with an investment of just Rs 15 lakh and the help of his brother. By the end of the year, the company’s “no convenience fee” and “zero hidden charges” policies helped it sell over 20,000 airline tickets every day. EaseMyTrip reached sales of Rs 1,500 crore by 2015.

Eventually, the hard work and perseverance of Rikant Pitti and his two brothers paid off. Rikant paid Rs 99.34 crore for a commercial property in Gurgaon’s Sector 32 in January.