In an inspiring tale that echoes the grit of global giants like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Misbah Ashraf, a college dropout from Bihar, has charted one of India’s most meteoric entrepreneurial journeys. In just four years, his brainchild, the fintech firm Jar, has achieved a colossal valuation of approximately ₹2,500 crore, transforming him into a celebrated figure on the global finance and venture capital stage.
Born into a middle-class family in the Bihar Sharif region of Nalanda district, Ashraf faced financial adversity early in life. His ambition to rise above these challenges was crystallised by a powerful piece of advice from his father, a teacher: “Those who walk slowly get knocked down.” This lesson became Ashraf’s guiding principle—a mandate to “move fast”—and propelled his courageous decision to abandon conventional education for the chaotic world of startups.
The First Swing (2013): Dropping out of college in his first year, Ashraf co-founded Cibola, a social payment venture, with friends from IIT-Delhi. The idea was ahead of its time, and the venture was shuttered after a little over a year, primarily due to market immaturity and regulatory hurdles.
The Second Venture (2017): Unfazed, Misbah launched Marsplay, a community-led commerce platform for fashion and beauty. This platform achieved aggressive growth, quickly scaling to over a million users and raising multiple funding rounds. However, the COVID-19 pandemic presented unexpected difficulties, leading to a financial crisis and the eventual acquisition of Marsplay by Foxy in February 2021.
Armed with invaluable lessons from his previous ventures—chiefly, the importance of timing and simplicity—Ashraf co-founded Jar in May 2021. The consumer financial product was brilliantly simple: it helps users build a habit of saving and investing by automatically rounding up small online purchases and investing the spare change into digital gold, an asset class deeply trusted by Indian households.
Jar attracted an astonishing 18 million users. The company secured $58 million in capital from major investors, including Tiger Global. The success resulted in a valuation of approximately ₹2,500 crore (or $300 million).
Ashraf’s tenacious spirit and rapid success earned him a coveted spot on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list for 2023 in Finance and Venture Capital. His journey is a powerful reminder that passion, rhythm, and determination are the true prerequisites for building multi-billion-dollar businesses, regardless of one’s background or degree.
