Retail icon Mukesh Bansal’s latest venture, Nurix.ai aims to redefine how brands interact with consumers in a digital-first world
Everyone knows the headlines — the founder of Myntra, the man behind Cure.fit, the serial entrepreneur who’s built multiple unicorns. But few know the real journey of Mukesh Bansal: one filled with daring risks, painful failures, relentless learning, and an unwavering belief in the power of technology to transform consumer experiences.
As he steps onto the stage at the Phygital Retail Convention 2025, we can expect a fascinating dive into how AI is set to redefine retail. Mukesh’s fireside chat will bring deep learnings, fresh revelations, and actionable insights—shaping the future conversations around how technology, innovation, and customer experience must converge for brands to thrive.
We eagerly await his thought leadership—and believe the best chapters of his story are still being written.
A Humble Start, a Grand Vision
Mukesh Bansal was born and raised in Haridwar, a small town in Uttarakhand. His father worked at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), and from a young age, Mukesh exhibited curiosity and ambition. After completing his schooling at Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, he cracked the fiercely competitive IIT entrance exam and graduated from IIT Kanpur in 1997 with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering.
But the dream wasn’t just a comfortable job. In 1997, he moved to the U.S. during the dot-com boom, working for early-stage startups in Silicon Valley — soaking in the hustle, risk-taking, and tech-first thinking that would later define his own ventures.
The Myntra Chapter: Betting on Fashion Before It Was Cool
Mukesh’s first brush with entrepreneurship was rocky. His early startup ideas didn’t quite take off. But he learned, pivoted, and in 2007, founded Myntra — initially a customized gifting platform.
When India’s internet ecosystem started maturing, he made a pivotal decision: pivot Myntra into fashion e-commerce. At a time when very few believed Indians would buy clothes online, Mukesh doubled down. His focus on strong brand partnerships, technology-driven personalization, and a premium consumer experience made Myntra a standout.
In 2014, Myntra was acquired by Flipkart for around $330 million — a landmark deal that changed India’s startup landscape forever.
But for Mukesh, this wasn’t the end. It was merely a springboard.
The Cure.fit Dream: Wellness as a Full-Stack Service
In 2016, Mukesh co-founded Cure.fit with Ankit Nagori.
Their audacious vision? Build a full-stack health and wellness platform — combining fitness centers, healthy meals, medical consultations, and mental wellness, all under one app.
It wasn’t just about running gyms; it was about building healthy habits at scale.
Today, Cult.fit (formerly Cure.fit) has grown into India’s largest health and fitness platform with:
- 700+ outlets including Cult centers, Gold’s Gym (India), and Fitness First
- Presence across multiple Indian cities
- A combination of physical stores, digital classes, and hybrid models.
Through strategic acquisitions, smart brand positioning, and technology integrations like AI-driven personal coaching, Cult.fit showed that the health business could be both aspirational and profitable.
Curefoods and Lyskraft: Diversifying the Playbook
Never one to stop at a single success, Mukesh ventured into Curefoods — a cloud-kitchen and digital-first food brand platform.
Under Curefoods, brands like Eat.fit and other regional favorites scaled rapidly, riding India’s growing appetite for online food delivery and healthy eating.
He also launched Lyskraft, a premium lifestyle and fashion brand, tapping into aspirational urban consumers who were seeking stylish, quality-first offerings outside of the traditional players.
Both ventures reflect a core Mukesh Bansal strategy: meet evolving consumer needs at the intersection of tech, brand, and experience.
Nurix.AI: The AI Future
Mukesh’s latest venture, Nurix.ai, signals his clearest bet yet:
AI isn’t just a buzzword — it’s the future of consumer engagement.
Nurix helps brands implement AI-driven agents to deliver personalized, always-on, high-quality customer experiences.
From smarter recommendations to proactive issue resolution, Nurix aims to redefine how brands interact with consumers in a digital-first world.
Given Mukesh’s history of spotting trends early, Nurix could very well be his next big contribution to India’s tech ecosystem.
Challenges, Failures, and Lessons Learned
Mukesh’s path wasn’t without missteps:
- Myntra’s early days were marked by pivots and struggles before finding product-market fit.
- Scaling Cult.fit during COVID-19 was brutal, as physical fitness centers shut down overnight.
- Mukesh steered the company through massive digitization efforts, shifting workouts online almost overnight.
- Fundraising challenges during down markets tested his resilience time and again.
But through every challenge, Mukesh showed an ability to adapt fast, lead calmly, and focus on fundamentals — cash flow, consumer trust, and building teams that could weather storms.
Investments and Ecosystem Contributions
Through Meraki Labs, his venture studio, Mukesh has backed winners like:
- Groww: Now India’s largest online brokerage platform
- Skyroot Aerospace: India’s first private company to launch a rocket into space
Clearly, Mukesh isn’t just building companies — he’s helping build India’s new economy.
The Road Ahead
As Mukesh steps onto the stage at the Phygital Retail Convention, one thing is clear:
He’s far from done.
The world will see more startups, more innovation, and more powerful ideas flowing from him.
For entrepreneurs, investors, and retailers alike, listening to Mukesh Bansal today is like getting a glimpse of the future.
Stay tuned. Because when Mukesh Bansal dreams, entire industries shift.
