At a virtual meeting that lasted for more than two hours on September 12, a high-powered jury led by Kotak Mahindra Bank founder and director Uday Kotak picked the Gurugram-based company as the Startup of the Year. The award recognises OfBusiness’ success in building a large-scale B2B venture focused on the country’s small and medium enterprises while generating stellar profits, it noted. The jury chose eight winners from a shortlist of thirty-eight contenders across eight categories.
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OfBusiness, founded by Asish Mohapatra, Ruchi Kalra, Vasant Sridhar, Bhuvan Gupta, and Nitin Jain in 2015, joins an elite club of eminent startups that have previously won the top prize. These include Zomato, Zerodha, Razorpay, Delhivery, Oyo Hotels & Homes, Swiggy, Freshworks, and Ola. Three of these – Zomato, Delhivery and Freshworks – are now listed firms, highlighting the depth of the businesses that have snagged the coveted award since its inception in 2015.
ETtech“I congratulate The Economic Times for having created this whole process nearly ten years ago. It reflects a developing and new India for (the) future,” Kotak said after concluding the deliberations.
Jishnu Bhattacharjee, managing director at Nexus Venture Partners, was chosen as the winner of the coveted Midas Touch award for best investor because of his early bet on Indian cross-border SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies. He was also lauded for his strong conviction in portfolio firms, where he was often the first investor. Among his top investments is an early bet, in 2015, on software testing startup Postman. The Bengaluru and San Francisco-based company is valued at about $5.6 billion.
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Strong revenue growth and profitability along with good corporate governance practices were key themes that gained the jury’s approval, as is evident from the type of winners chosen and the close contests that shaped the final outcomes.
Eyewear retailer Lenskart, which was a close competitor for the top prize, Startup of the Year, was commended for its execution capabilities as also for its drive to build an omnichannel business while recording profits.
“I want to thank each jury member for great insights and free-flowing discussion for us to (choose) winners out of very high-quality companies and entrepreneurs. I am happy with the outcomes that we have achieved today,” Kotak said.
The award for the Bootstrap Champ went to Gameberry Labs, a gaming startup that derives 99% of its revenue from overseas markets with popular games like Ludo Star. The jury highlighted its ability to record steady growth in revenue and profits while being a bootstrapped firm in a highly competitive sector.
The prize for Top Innovator went to Bengaluru-based String Bio, which manufactures biomass from gases — primarily methane — which can be used as agro-inputs and animal feed.
Mukesh Singh, Raj Pandey and Vikash Kumar — cofounders of ZopSmart that offers software solutions to omnichannel retailers across the globe — were chosen as the winners in the Comeback Kid category while Digantara Research & Technologies, which develops infrastructure for space operations and traffic management, was adjudged as the Best on Campus.
Rashi Narang, founder of Heads Up For Tails, a pet-care startup offering products and services for animals, was the winner in the Woman Ahead category and FIA Global – a fintech company that provides technology-enabled last-mile delivery of banking services to rural customers – bagged top honours in the Social Enterprise category.
The jury, comprising top entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate leaders from across the globe, chose winners after several rounds of discussions followed by secret ballots.
Several of the contests proved to be intense, requiring at least a couple of tiebreakers before the final winners were chosen.
The 11-member panel was drawn from locations across India, Silicon Valley, and Singapore.
Joining Kotak on the jury were Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart Group; Ranjan Pai, chairman of the Manipal Education and Medical Group; Shekhar Kirani, partner at Accel; Supam Maheshwari, cofounder & CEO of FirstCry; Deepinder Goyal, cofounder & CEO of Zomato; Renuka Ramnath, founder of Multiples Private Equity; Harshil Mathur, cofounder & CEO of Razorpay; Roshni Nadar Malhotra, chairperson of HCLTech; Satyan Gajwani, vice chairman, Times Internet; and Arjun Sethi, cofounder of Silicon Valley-based Tribe Capital.
“As we discussed the nominees for the ET Startup of the Year, one of the most relevant themes that emerged was the need for companies to focus on governance as they seek to embark on their growth journeys,” Krishnamurthy said. “This is a critical theme for us as we build India as a destination for investment and opportunity.”
The initial pool of candidates for the ninth edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards was created by a select group of around 200 founders, investors, and other stakeholders of the country’s startup ecosystem. ET’s editorial team worked with knowledge partner Tracxn, a research platform, to create the final shortlist.
The Economic Times Startup Awards 2023 is presented by IDFC First Bank in partnership with knowledge partner Tracxn.