The government weighed in. “The consistency of our policies and the clarity of thought makes the ecosystem very comfortable about India,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union minister for IT, railways and information & broadcasting, during a fireside chat at the event in Bengaluru on Saturday. He sees India as “the next big semiconductor destination.”With the promise of light-touch regulation to allow innovation to flourish as artificial intelligence (AI) takes root, Vaishnaw said, “Our approach in the AI mission is to democratise technology. Technology has to be accessible to all startups, academia, students and researchers. It cannot be basically monopolised by a handful.”
Also Read: ET Startup Awards 2024 | Chips to AI… India’s moving up the digital value chain: Ashwini Vaishnaw
Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Infosys, said, “The last 10 years were just a warm-up; the real action starts now,” echoing the upbeat sentiment at the awards. In a panel discussion, Nilekani, who was jury chair for this year’s awards, reviewed the startup and tech story over the previous decade and explored what lies ahead.
Discover the stories of your interest
“The biggest takeaway from the event is that we have a lot to build; we are still very early in the ecosystem,” said Aadit Palicha, founder and chief executive of quick commerce firm Zepto, a nominee in the Startup of the Year category.
“This year’s ETSA had an upbeat tone, reflecting startups’ adaptability, with particular emphasis on potential IPOs (initial public offerings) and global growth opportunities,” said Prashant Prakash, partner at venture firm Accel.
Lalit Keshre, founder and chief executive of Groww, another nominee for Startup of the Year in 2023, said India had found its sweet spot. “The country will compound at 6% or 7% for the next many years and that will open up a huge opportunity for tech-first companies,” he said.
Lenskart received the coveted Startup of the Year award, joining a list of illustrious winners that include OfBusiness, Razorpay, Zomato, Zerodha, Delhivery, Swiggy, Freshworks, Oyo Hotels & Homes and Ola.
Also Read: ET Startup Awards 2024 | Warm-up decade is done, clock is now ticking for the real game
The Peyush Bansal-led company, valued at $5 billion, bagged the top honours for its ability to execute and build a fast-growing, large-scale, omnichannel consumer retail business while creating an entirely new category.
Lenskart is also evolving into the global market, especially in Southeast Asia.
The award for the Bootstrap Champ went to Boult, which sells earphones and smartwatches, while ClaimBuddy bagged the Best on Campus trophy.
Mukul Arora of Elevation Capital won the Midas Touch award.
The Top Innovator award went to BrainSightAI, which is building tools for neurosurgeons and psychiatrists to detect mental health symptoms faster and better.
Geetansh Bamania, founder of furniture and electronics rental startup Rentomojo, was picked by the high-profile jury as Comeback Kid.
Hardika Shah, founder and chief executive of non-banking financial company Kinara Capital, was winner among Woman Ahead , while Haqdarshak, which helps people access the government’s social security services, bagged the honours in the Social Enterprise category.
The jury, comprising top entrepreneurs, investors and corporate leaders, picked the winners last month after several rounds of discussions, followed by private ballots.
Transformers
Nilekani said India has not been able to create companies of the scale of Uber or Airbnb yet, but the next decade may see founders strive for that.
Lenskart’s Bansal pointed out that more and more new-age companies were turning profitable and that “huge amounts of profits are going to flow in, but how we use that money will be crucial.”
GV Ravishankar, managing director at Peak XV Partners and winner of the Midas Touch award in 2021, said real-scale companies were beginning to emerge that would hopefully have revenues in billions, not just millions. “While we all talk about valuations, I think real value gets created when companies like Deepinder’s (Zomato) go public and (we) build $20-billion companies… They are huge, and hopefully, in 10 years, we’ll see many more in that bucket… rooting for that,” he said.
Zomato, Startup of the Year in 2021, currently has a market capitalisation of $29 billion. Its quick commerce business, Blinkit, is aiding growth, even as food delivery remains the largest revenue contributor.
“Food delivery is 10% as tough as Blinkit. Blinkit is much harder to execute,” said Deepinder Goyal, founder and chief executive of Zomato, in a chat at the event. “Getting into Blinkit was that, if we don’t do this right now, 10 years from now, we’re done.”
Quick commerce is the hottest ticket in the consumer business right now, with Zomato’s rival Zepto having raised $1 billion in a matter of two months, while Swiggy Instamart and BigBasket are also doubling down, along with Flipkart, a recent entry with Minutes.
These changes are playing out at a time when the ecosystem has started to witness big-ticket deals in select late-stage companies that are also preparing for public listings.
FirstCry, Ola Electric and Awfis are among startups that have gone public in recent months, while many others are lining up to hit the bourses, including Swiggy, which is billed as possibly the largest startup IPO since Paytm in 2021.
While celebrating the best of the Indian new economy ecosystem, the awards are also about bringing the who’s who of the tech and startup world together, facilitating dialogue and conversations among various stakeholders.
“I just realised that I meet a lot of people only once a year, and that happens at this event,” said Vidit Aatrey, founder and chief executive of Meesho, one of the nominees for the Startup of the Year. “It’s great that it brings in people from Delhi (NCR), Mumbai and beyond.”
The Economic Times Startup Awards are presented by IDFC First Bank, with workspace partner IndiQube, knowledge partner Tracxn, hospitality partner The Leela Palace, Bengaluru, and beverage partner Paul John Distillery.