Meet Indian woman, started business with Rs 500, now runs company worth Rs…, sons are billionaires, her name is…, sons are…

The Kamath brothers– Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath– have earned a name for themselves in India’s entrepreneurial space, building a successful business which made them billionaires at a young age. Interestingly, Nithin and Nikhil seem to have inherited the entrepreneur gene from their mother, Revathi Kamath, a successful businesswoman who started her flower business with just Rs 500.

Who is Revathi Kamath?

Revathi Kamath is the mother of Zerodha co-founders Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath, but beyond the business accolades of her sons, she has carved a unique niche for herself as an entrepreneur, environmentalist and an artiste. Before her sons’ success, Revathi had already built a successful event management company, Calyx, which began as a humble flower business she started with just Rs 500.

Today, CALYX Landscaping & Organic Farming is a major event company that serves high-end clients across the country.

Beyond her business success, Revathi Kamath is an ardent environmentalist and uses her business earnings to fund green initiatives which she she believes in. “I’m not chasing profits. Half of what I make goes into environmental work,” she says.

A true environmentalist

In a heartfelt speech at Sinhasi Social Impact Initiative seminar on Wetlands Preservation, Revathi Kamath stressed the need for reviving vanishing green spaces in India.

Kamath noted that while government policies do matter, its the people who can really make a difference by doing their part in saving the environment. “Our wetlands are vanishing, and people barely notice. It’s time we all got involved,” she said.

She also credited her sons for their generosity, kindness, responsibility, and giving back to the society– values she instilled in them during their formative years. “They’ve always had giving hearts. I raised them to believe that making a difference matters more than making a profit,” she said.

Kamath revealed that her older son, Nithin Kamath, encourages her to fund her charitable work with her own resources, while her younger child, Nikhil Kamath, supports her philanthropic ventures by quietly sending her funds, without ever asking for anything in return.

Beyond business and environment, Revathi Kamath finds solace in music, and is a proficient veena player in her own right.

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