Two brothers from Bihar. Zero inheritance. One year. $1.5 billion.
Mukund and Madhav Jha—identical twins from Bihar—have just done what most entrepreneurs only dream of. Their AI startup, Emergent, has raised $130 million in a Series C round led by Creaegis, with participation from Khosla Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Lightspeed, and Y Combinator.
The round values the company at $1.5 billion—a five-fold jump in just six months.
Total funding raised: $230 million.
Annual recurring revenue: $120 million.
Paying customers: over 200,000.
Applications built on the platform: over 12 million.
And 70% of their users have never written a single line of code.
Let that sink in.
A company built by two Indian brothers, launched just over a year ago, is now worth more than most businesses will ever see in a lifetime.
And here is the part that should excite you: They built a platform that lets you do the same thing.
The WordPress Moment, 2.0
Fifteen years ago, WordPress changed everything.
Suddenly, anyone could build a website. You did not need to know HTML. You did not need to hire a developer. You could just pick a theme, drag and drop, and publish.
And what happened?
A whole new industry was born.
Thousands of freelancers became web designers. They built websites for small businesses for ₹50,000 each. They made money. They built careers. They created wealth.
Then came Shopify. Suddenly, anyone could set up an e-commerce store. No coding. No hosting headaches. No payment gateway integration nightmares.
And again, a whole new industry was born.
Freelancers started building online stores for brands. They charged setup fees, monthly retainers, and commissions. They built businesses on top of a platform.
Emergent is that moment—on steroids.
What Emergent Actually Does
Emergent is an AI-powered platform that lets anyone—and I mean anyone—build full-stack web and mobile applications by simply describing what they want in plain English.
No code. No developers. No months of waiting.
You describe your idea. The AI builds it. You deploy it. All in hours.
Think about what that means.
- A trucking company can build shipment-tracking software.
- A factory can create an ERP system.
- A property manager can build internal customer management tools.
- A restaurant can build an inventory management system. A CRM. A payment reminder tool. An attendance management system.
All without hiring a single developer.
Mukund Jha, the CEO, puts it perfectly: “You’re basically getting an engineering team in a box.”
The Opportunity: Build Custom Software for SMEs
Here is where it gets interesting.
There are roughly 400 million small businesses in the world today. They account for nearly half of global GDP and almost 70% of employment.
Yet this segment has largely remained underserved when it comes to software.
Most small businesses cannot afford custom software. They rely on spreadsheets, emails, and messaging apps to run their operations.
That is a massive gap. And Emergent just made it fillable.
Here is the playbook:
- Identify a problem that a small business faces—inventory management, payment reminders, attendance tracking, client onboarding, invoice reconciliation.
- Use Emergent to build a custom tool that solves that problem.
- Sell it to that business as a one-time tool or a subscription.
- Repeat.
Emergent even has a full directory of pre-built apps that you can easily modify for a client and sell to them as a business tool.
You do not need to be a developer. You do not need to raise capital. You do not need a team.
You just need to understand a problem—and have the guts to solve it.
The Freelancer Gold Rush
Just like WordPress created a generation of web designers, and Shopify created a generation of e-commerce specialists, Emergent is about to create a generation of custom software designers.
We will see a flood of freelancers entering this space. And the early adopters—the ones who move now—will make more money than the rest.
Because the first mover advantage in a new platform is always massive.
- The first 1,000 WordPress designers built careers.
- The first 1,000 Shopify experts built agencies.
- The first 1,000 Emergent builders will build fortunes.
The question is: will you be one of them?
But Here Is the Reality Check
Let me be brutally honest with you.
Building the software is one thing. Running a business on it is another.
Because once you build that custom CRM for a client, once you deploy that inventory management system, once you start charging a subscription—you become responsible for something far more important than code.
You become responsible for their financial operations.
And that is where most freelancers fail.
They build the tool. They collect the payment. They move on to the next client.
And they leave the business owner to figure out the rest.
- Who reconciles the transactions?
- Who tracks the cash flow?
- Who ensures GST compliance?
- Who handles the tax filings?
- Who builds the financial systems?
Nobody.
And that is why most small businesses—even with custom software—still struggle.
The 21DEGREES Difference: Where Software Meets Finance
This is where 21DEGREES Advisory Services Private Limited comes in.
We do not build software. We build the financial systems that make software actually work for a business.
Here is what we do that no freelancer or software builder can do:
1. We Bridge the Gap Between Technology and Finance
You can build the most beautiful CRM in the world. But if the business owner does not know how to reconcile payments, track GST, or manage cash flow—the software is useless.
We build the financial systems that make the software actually useful.
2. We Help Your Clients Stay Compliant
Remember the Supreme Court judgment? Your ITC depends on your vendor’s compliance.【Supreme Court, Bhandari Scrap Traders vs Union of India】
We ensure your clients never lose ITC because of a vendor’s default. We track vendor filings. We monitor liability payments. We collect CA certificates.
3. We Turn Software into a Business
A custom tool is nice. A custom tool backed by a financial system is a business.
We help your clients:
- Track cash flow in real time
- Optimize their cost structure
- Prepare for fundraising
- Stay compliant with GST, TDS, and Income Tax
- Build the financial backbone that allows them to scale
4. We Become Your Partner, Not Just Your Accountant
When you build software for a client, you are their technology partner.
We become their financial co-founder.
We embed ourselves in their business. We ask the hard questions. We build the systems. We protect their margins.
We ensure that the software you build actually helps them grow—not just adds to their chaos.
The Bottom Line: The Opportunity Is Here. The Question Is Whether You Will Seize It.
Two brothers from Bihar just built a $1.5 billion company in one year. They did not inherit it. They did not have connections. They did not wait for permission.
They just built something that solves a real problem.
And now, they have given you the tool to do the same thing.
- You can build custom software for small businesses.
- You can solve problems that have existed for decades.
- You can create a business that generates recurring revenue.
But if you stop at the software, you are only half-done.
Because software without financial systems is just a tool. Software with financial systems is a business.
That is where 21DEGREES Advisory Services Private Limited comes in.
We are the financial backbone that turns your custom software into a real business solution. We help your clients manage their cash flow, stay compliant, and scale sustainably.
We do not compete with you. We complete you.
Ready to build the next great software business? Start with Emergent. Build the tool. Then bring in 21DEGREES to build the financial systems that make it actually work.
Visit 21degrees.in or reach out today. Let us help you turn software into a business.
Did this resonate with you? Share this with a fellow freelancer who needs to know that the best time to start building was yesterday—and the second-best time is now.
P.S. – Still not sure? Let me leave you with this. 12 million apps have been built on Emergent. 200,000 paying customers. $120 million in annual recurring revenue. And the company is targeting $500 million in ARR over the next 12 to 15 months. The platform is growing. The opportunity is massive. The early adopters will make fortunes.
21DEGREES Advisory Services Private Limited can help you build the financial systems that turn your software into a sustainable business.
The question is not whether you can afford to start. The question is whether you can afford to wait.
