The Problem Solver: How Ritesh Arora & Nakul Aggarwal Built BrowserStack — One Browser at a Time

Introduction to BrowserStack

In a world where websites and apps need to work perfectly on thousands of devices, testing has become one of the largest hassles of software development. That's precisely the challenge BrowserStack, formed in 2011, came in to fix. Now it operates more than 2 million tests a day across 19 data centers around the globe, and it is one of the world's leading cloud-based testing platforms.

The odyssey started when co-founders Ritesh Arora and Nakul Aggarwal were constructing a website for their consulting firm. The actual headache? Testing it on various browsers and operating systems. They soon discovered this was a pain point for everyone—and set out to solve it.

Ritesh Arora and Nakul Aggarwal, co-founders, BrowserStack

The Challenges of BrowserStack

Back in 2011, the Indian tech ecosystem was still waking up to the promise of Software-as-a-Service. Deep in Mumbai, two friends — Ritesh Arora and Nakul Aggarwal — were tackling a problem that every developer knows too well: making sure a website or app works perfectly, no matter which browser or device a customer might use.

They didn’t plan to build a unicorn. They just wanted to build their own consulting firm’s website. But testing it on countless browsers, operating systems, and devices was an absolute nightmare — a frustrating, expensive chore that cost them time, sleep, and sanity. That’s when the idea struck: what if they could take this hassle away, not just for themselves but for every developer in the world?

Strategic Growth

What started as a side project soon snowballed into a mission. Armed with limited funds but boundless determination, they built the earliest version of BrowserStack — a cloud-based platform that let developers test on real devices and browsers without buying or managing expensive testing labs.

In the early days, convincing investors and customers wasn’t easy. Cloud-based testing was still a novel idea. But word of mouth did its magic. As developers experienced the joy of skipping lab setups and testing instantly across thousands of configurations, BrowserStack’s user base grew at breakneck speed.

Financial Snapshot

Fast forward to today, and BrowserStack has become a quiet giant behind the scenes of the internet. Over 2 million tests run every day, powered by more than 3,500 real devices and browsers hosted across 19 global data centers. Giants like Tesla, NVIDIA, Shell, and Wells Fargo rely on it to make sure their apps run flawlessly, whether on Chrome in Canada or Safari in Sydney.

Yet Ritesh and Nakul never stopped pushing boundaries. They acquired innovative startups like Bird Eats Bug for visual bug tracking and Requestly to help developers test network behavior easily. They rolled out low-code test management tools and cutting-edge accessibility features, ensuring every digital experience can be tested for every user.

Institutional Support and Future Prospects

Despite being headquartered in Mumbai, BrowserStack is truly global — serving over 50,000 businesses in more than 135 countries. It’s profitable, recognized four years in a row in the Forbes Cloud 100, and a proud Centaur — a rare achievement among SaaS startups.

Recently, the founders pledged ₹100 crore to their alma mater, IIT Bombay, to build better residential infrastructure, giving back to the community that shaped them.

Their story is more than just a tale of technology. It’s a testament to how solving one annoying problem — with grit, empathy, and relentless innovation — can change how millions of people build the digital world.

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