A stellar lineup of speakers comprising winners and nominees, past and present, will discuss the evolution of India’s dynamic startup ecosystem at the 11th edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA), scheduled for October 31 in Bengaluru.
Piyush Goyal, Union minister for commerce and industry, will be the guest of honour at the ceremony, which will bring together the who’s who of India’s startup and technology world. He is expected to highlight the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the Startup India mission.
Amid a flurry of new-age IPOs, one of the most anticipated speakers is Peyush Bansal, founder and CEO of Lenskart, winner of the 2024 Startup of the Year award. The eyewear retailer is preparing to go public through a Rs 7,300 crore IPO, expected to value the company at around Rs 70,000 crore ($8 billion). Bansal will discuss the transition from being a privately-held company to a public market enterprise as he readies to ring the bell at the Indian bourses.
Over the past decade, ETSA has chronicled the highs and lows of India’s entrepreneurial journey, celebrating resilience, innovation and scale. This year’s edition continues that legacy with Urban Company founder and CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal, winner of the 2025 Startup of the Year award, joining a panel alongside Aravind Sanka, cofounder and CEO of the buzzy urban mobility startup Rapido, and Nandita Sinha, CEO of Myntra, the first Flipkart Group company to turn profitable. The panel will reflect on the past decade of India’s startup growth and explore what lies ahead for the next generation of founders as the ecosystem matures amid rapid technological advances in AI.
The rising trend of IPOs by startups, the accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and rapidly evolving consumer habits. For the 2025 edition of ETSA, in addition to Urban Company, the high-powered jury chose winners in eight categories after deliberating for over three hours on August 28.
The jury was chaired by Amitabh Kant, India’s former G20 Sherpa. Joining him on the jury were Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel; Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group; Sahil Barua, cofounder, Delhivery; Ruchi Kalra, cofounder, OfBusiness and Oxyzo; Ghazal Alagh, cofounder, Mamaearth; Tarun Mehta, cofounder, Ather Energy; Harshil Mathur, cofounder, Razorpay; Faraz Khalid, CEO, Noon; and Satyan Gajwani, chairman, Times Internet.
Ashish Agrawal, managing director at Peak XV Partners, was chosen as the winner of the Midas Touch award for best investor, while Bootstrap Champ went to Minfy Technologies.
The prize for Top Innovator went to Qure.ai, which is transforming medical diagnostics with AI to make healthcare more affordable and accessible, while software-as-a-service company Capillary Technologies was chosen as the winner in the Comeback Kid category.
Fueltech startup Nawgati was adjudged the Best on Campus, and Prukalpa Sankar, founder of Atlan, was the winner in the Woman Ahead category.
Chakr Innovation, which is tackling one of India’s most pressing urban problems–air pollution–won in the Social Enterprise category.
Piyush Goyal, Union minister for commerce and industry, will be the guest of honour at the ceremony, which will bring together the who’s who of India’s startup and technology world. He is expected to highlight the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the Startup India mission.
Amid a flurry of new-age IPOs, one of the most anticipated speakers is Peyush Bansal, founder and CEO of Lenskart, winner of the 2024 Startup of the Year award. The eyewear retailer is preparing to go public through a Rs 7,300 crore IPO, expected to value the company at around Rs 70,000 crore ($8 billion). Bansal will discuss the transition from being a privately-held company to a public market enterprise as he readies to ring the bell at the Indian bourses.
Over the past decade, ETSA has chronicled the highs and lows of India’s entrepreneurial journey, celebrating resilience, innovation and scale. This year’s edition continues that legacy with Urban Company founder and CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal, winner of the 2025 Startup of the Year award, joining a panel alongside Aravind Sanka, cofounder and CEO of the buzzy urban mobility startup Rapido, and Nandita Sinha, CEO of Myntra, the first Flipkart Group company to turn profitable. The panel will reflect on the past decade of India’s startup growth and explore what lies ahead for the next generation of founders as the ecosystem matures amid rapid technological advances in AI.
The rising trend of IPOs by startups, the accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and rapidly evolving consumer habits. For the 2025 edition of ETSA, in addition to Urban Company, the high-powered jury chose winners in eight categories after deliberating for over three hours on August 28.
The jury was chaired by Amitabh Kant, India’s former G20 Sherpa. Joining him on the jury were Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel; Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group; Sahil Barua, cofounder, Delhivery; Ruchi Kalra, cofounder, OfBusiness and Oxyzo; Ghazal Alagh, cofounder, Mamaearth; Tarun Mehta, cofounder, Ather Energy; Harshil Mathur, cofounder, Razorpay; Faraz Khalid, CEO, Noon; and Satyan Gajwani, chairman, Times Internet.
Ashish Agrawal, managing director at Peak XV Partners, was chosen as the winner of the Midas Touch award for best investor, while Bootstrap Champ went to Minfy Technologies.
The prize for Top Innovator went to Qure.ai, which is transforming medical diagnostics with AI to make healthcare more affordable and accessible, while software-as-a-service company Capillary Technologies was chosen as the winner in the Comeback Kid category.
Fueltech startup Nawgati was adjudged the Best on Campus, and Prukalpa Sankar, founder of Atlan, was the winner in the Woman Ahead category.
Chakr Innovation, which is tackling one of India’s most pressing urban problems–air pollution–won in the Social Enterprise category.
