Ronnie Screwvala Success Story : Journey from UTV to upGrad

Ronnie Screwvala – Biography

• Ronnie Screwvala full name Rohintan Soli Screwvala is an Indian Entrepreneur and film producer. He co-founded upGrad which is an online education in the higher education and specialization sector.
• Apart from this he Ronnie pioneered cable television, built a Media and Entertainment Conglomerate (UTV Software Communications) that partnered with News Corp, 20^th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company and Bloomberg.
• From 2013 onwards, he and his wife scaled their Non-Profit the Swades Foundation whose goal is to work with a million people in rural India.
• He also built a Sports company (U Sports) spanning Football/ E Sports and Kabaddi, re-entered the media content space to build a creative content company in Movies and Digital Content (RSVP), authored a Book titled Dream with Your Eyes Open and through his investment company Unilazer Ventures he has been a significant private equity investor in Indian start-ups with early stage investment and significant minority stakes.

Early Life and Education of Ronnie Screwvala

• Ronnie Screwvala was born and brought up in Mumbai, India. He belongs to the Parsi family. His father worked as an executive in the firm of British J L Morrison and Smith& Nephew.
• Ronnie completed his schooling and then started college at Cathedral John Coonon School and Sydenham College in Mumbai.
• During his schooling life, Screwvala showed a keen interest in theatres. He also started playing in some professional plays conducted in the Bombay Theatre as a hobby. Some of the notable roles had been played by Ronnie Screwvala in Death of a Salesman and Othello by Shakespeare.

Ronnie Screwvala Struggle Story: Cable Guy to Media Giant

• Ronnie Screwvala began as an entrepreneur, initially as a toothbrush manufacturing company. His first foray into entertainment industry was in the year 1981.
• In this year he pioneered cable TV in India and this was a significant move at a time when the country had only one terrestrial channel i.e. Doordarshan. In 1990, Screwvala founded UTV Software Communications which made him leading media Conglomerate.

Ronnie Screwvala – UTV Group

• In 1990 he co-founded UTV along with his wife ZarinaScrewvala and DevenKhoteand become first independent production house in Indian Entertainment industry. Initially UTV started producing advertisements and corporate films and soon started producing quiz shows and short films for Doordarshan. He is a self-made man and an iconic figure in the networking media industry.
• Soon UTV started producing shows for broader audiences, it is credited for first reality show in India named SaanpSeedi and first daily soap opera Shanti in Indian television. His channel UTV featured Japanese animated shows and other regional language shows.
• He has launched many other television channels such as UTV Bindass, UTV Action, UTV World Movies, UTV Movies, etc. In 2007, his company also undertook making of gaming software and content. He has co-produced movies like ‘I Think I Love My Wife’, ‘The Happening’ and ‘The Namesake’. These made huge success.

Ronnie Screwvala – Life as an Entrepreneur

• Ronnie Screwvala’s childhood was at Grant Road, next to Novelty Cinema, also he belonged to lower-middle-class—they weren’t wealthy, but they had what they needed. They lived in an apartment situated on the first floor of the five-storey Arsiwalla building, nearly a century old and in constant need of repair.
• It had one long corridor with three rooms that held his brother, parents, two aunts and grandparents. The apartment’s sleeping area was indistinguishable from its other rooms. He lived there until the age of sixteen, privileged enough to go to a school where most of his classmates came in cars while he waited forty-five minutes for the B.E.S.T. bus to arrive.
• Instead of undermining his confidence, his childhood instilled in him the philosophies and ways of thinking that stuck with him later when opportunities kicked into warp speed. Risk was a word he knew, but couldn’t define. He was keen to observe adults who traded goods on the street every day, shouting offers back-and-forth. Ideas washed over me like the July monsoons.
• That ecosystem spurred his first entrepreneurial experience. All the local kids from the building got together and hung a drop curtain, and, with handbills, invited audiences for the four play-cum-concerts they put on in the evenings, rotating the performances in our various living areas. He enjoyed bonding with his friends, and their parents were thrilled to have their kids doing something productive. Everybody in the building paid to watch us. And at the age of ten, he earned his first round of money.
• Those first shows led to other projects, each a little more complex than the last. His family’s small veranda overlooked the cinema—at that time one of the city’s top movie halls. Because no one had television then, red-carpet premieres were a huge spectacle.
• Bollywood advertised its films by gathering everyone for twice-a-month events and waiting for the stars to come out. Newspapers did the rest, splashing flashy front- page photos of the industry’s most glamourous personalities—Amitabh Bachchan, Jitendra, Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Helen, Nutan, Manoj Kumar, Waheeda Rehman and a host of others.
• The roads around their apartment were chock-a-block for every premiere, and their veranda was the ideal vantage point for anyone who wanted to see the glory of Bollywood. Realizing that there was a market for the balcony seats, he sold tickets to people who wanted to gawk and point at their favourite stars and snap pictures they’d proudly show their family and friends.
• He was tempted to make more money by offering snacks. His grandparents frowned upon food service, the first setback in his entrepreneurial career as a ten-year-old. Still, his parents humoured him and were pleased by his ambition—even if they drew the line at fifteen strange people on their veranda. These moments shaped his entrepreneurial spirit.

 Unilazer Ventures

• Unilazer Ventures is a Mumbai-based private equity and venture capital firm founded in the year 1991 and specialized in early- and late-stage investments. Unilazer Ventures is a uniquely positioned Investor with deep experience in the fast growing Indian Consumer, Services and High Impact Sectors.
• The Venture is interested in any business that is part of the India Consumption Story which can build Brand and Scale, as well as high Impact Sectors like Agriculture, Health Care, Micro Finance and Education. Unilazer is promoted by First Generation Entrepreneur – Ronnie Screwvala.

RSVP Movies

• RSVP is a production house that has set itself up to be a tight unit of driven professionals that seek to make entertaining and substantive movies and digital content. RSVP Movies is an Indian film production and distribution company established by Ronnie Screwvala in 2017.
• In 2017, Ronnie Screwvala entered the entertainment business with RSVP after his exit from UTV Motion Pictures and produced Love per Square Foot which was digitally released on Netflix in 2018. With a focus on content-driven cinema, RSVP Films has delivered hits like “Uri: The Surgical Strike,” “Sonchiriya,” and “Kedarnath.” Screwvala’s keen eye for talent and storytelling, coupled with his passion for cinema, has earned RSVP Films a reputation for delivering high-quality and socially relevant films that resonate with audiences.

U Sports

• After owning the Kabaddi franchise U-Mumba, in the first edition of the Pro Kabaddi League, Ronnie Screwvala owned U Sports, which is the sport division arm of Unilazer Ventures, has now forayed into another sports playground- football.
• The company owned by Screwvala has launched a football training and academic programme ‘U-Dream’, to help develop Indian football players who are promising enough to place India on the professional football circuit. With collaborative guidance of Bundesliga, U Sports has partnered with TSG 1889 Hoffenheim for the first edition of U-Dream football.
• The programme plans to encourage participation from talented football players of 13 or 14 years of age, in the first year where the focus is to transform young talent into a pro-team of Under-17 footballers. However, the search will widen to Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 categories from the year 2016 onwards.
• According to U Sports CEO Supratik Sen with over 20,000 football players across the globe earning more than $ 1 million a year, suggests that there are very few careers as exceptional as a professional footballers.

upGrad

• upGrad – started in 2015, is a pioneer in the online education revolution, focused on powering career success for a global workforce of over 1.3 billion.
• It is one of the few Integrated Life Long Learning Tech Companies in the world, spanning the college learner to the working professional from the age group of 18 to 55+ years and across undergrad courses, campus & job-linked programs, studying abroad, short form to executive programs to Degrees, Master’s and Doctoral, with a learner base of over 3 million across 100+ countries and over 300 university partners and robust enterprise business with a client base of 1000 companies worldwide.
• As the founder of upGrad, he has revolutionized online learning in India, empowering thousands of learners to upskill and thrive in the digital age.

The Swades Foundation

• The Swades Foundation aims to bring positive changes in the way of life in rural villages by implementing projects on education, water & sanitation, health & nutrition and economic development.
• It believes in partnering with the villages to make them independent and then encouraging the community to chart out its own path of development. Ronnie Screwvala and his wife Zarina Screwvala non-profit, Swades Foundation, has been providing grassroots interventions related to education, skilling, health care, water security and livelihoods to the people

Ronnie Screwvala Net Worth and Investments

• Ronnie Screwvala’s net worth stands at a staggering $1.55 billion, making him the richest man in the Indian film industry and a beacon of inspiration for entrepreneurs and dreamers alike. His legacy is one of ambition, resilience, and innovation, and his impact on Indian cinema and entrepreneurship will be felt for generations to come.

Ronnie Screwvala Family

• Screwvala is married to Zarina Mehta, is his second wife. Zarina has been a co-founder in the media company UTV they founded, and now is the co-Trustee of their Philanthropic foundation-The Swades Foundation. They live in Breach Candy, South Mumbai.
• His first wife, Manjula Nanavati and Screwvala have one daughter, Trishya Screwvala.

Ronnie Screwvala Personal and Professional Achievements

Ronnie Screwvala’s achievements include:

• Named on Esquire’s List of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century.
• Ranked 78 among the 100 most influential people in the world on the Time 100 (2009).
• Listed among 25 Asia’s Most Powerful by Fortune Magazine.
• Titled the Jack Warner of India by Newsweek.
• Featured at cover page of Forbes magazine (Oct 2020 edition).
• Nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Non-English Film for Rang De Basanti.
• Won Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at National Film Awards (2007) for Rang De Basanti.
• Won Best Film by Film fare Awards (2007, 2009, and 2013) and IIFA Awards (2007, 2009, and 2013) for various films.

 Ronnie Screwvala – Investments besides UTV

The latest to join the list of investments from Screwvala is the celebrity fan engagement portal TrueFan. The six-month-old start-up founded by Nimish Goel, Nevaid Aggarwal, and Devender Bindal has raised $4.3 million in seed funding by investors like Ronnie Screwvala, Mayfield India, and Saama Capital. Ronnie Screwvala has invested in 8 rounds. Their most recent investment was in Without (Angel Round) on Feb 20, 2024

• Some notable companies in their investment portfolio include Lenskart, TrueFan and Lido
• Their investments are primarily in Consumer, Retail and 6 more sectors
• Their investment portfolio includes companies in India and United Kingdom

Ronnie Screwvala – Shark Tank India

• Ronnie Screwvala joined the panel of sharks for Season 3 of Shark Tank India. Screwvala brings his wealth of experience and insights to the illustrious panel of Sharks.
• Ronnie Screwvala has completed the powerhouse panel of Shark Tank India Season 3, which includes Aman Gupta (Co-Founder and CMO of boAt), Amit Jain (CEO and Co-founder of CarDekho Group, InsuranceDekho.com), Anupam Mittal (Founder and CEO of Shaadi.com – People Group), Namita Thapar (Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals LTD), Vineeta Singh (Co-Founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics), Peyush Bansal (Co-founder and CEO of Lenskart.com).
• It also includes Ritesh Agarwal (Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms), Deepinder Goyal (Founder and CEO of Zomato), Azhar Iqubal (Co-Founder and CEO of Inshorts), Radhika Gupta (MD & CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund), and Varun Dua (Founder and CEO of ACKO).

Lessons from Ronnie Screwvala’s Journey

1. Embrace failure: “Failure is just a temporary pause, not the end.”
2. Stay curious: “Be curious, ask questions, and never stop learning.”
3. Adapt to change: “Change is the only constant. Adapt or perish.”
4. Focus on the long term: “Short-term gains should never compromise long-term vision.”
5. Build relationships: “Networking and relationship building are key to business success.”
6. Empower your team: “A strong, motivated team can move mountains.”
7. Be innovative: “Innovation is the lifeblood of business.”
8. Be persistent: “Persistence pays off, no matter how long it takes.”
9. Keep your ego in check: “Ego can be your worst enemy or your best ally.”
10. Stay humble: “Success is temporary, humility is forever.”

 Conclusion

Ronnie Screwvala’s bold stance is a reminder that success is not just about accumulating wealth but also about using that wealth to drive positive change and make a meaningful impact. As he continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible, Ronnie Screwvala’s legacy will remain a testament to the power of ambition, innovation, and relentless pursuit of excellence.