More than a decade after India\u2019s startup ecosystem took its first steps, its entrepreneurial journey is entering a new phase, with a growing crop of founders tackling complex problems in deeptech and hardtech, and homegrown companies tapping the public markets as well as pursuing global ambitions.<\/p>\n
The 12th edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA) captured this transition, reflecting an ecosystem that has moved beyond the race for scale to pursue technological depth, durable businesses and international markets.<\/p>\n
That breadth was evident in this year\u2019s Startup of the Year nominees, which included AI startup Sarvam, ecommerce marketplace Meesho<\/a>, satellite launch vehicle maker Skyroot, wealthtech platform Groww<\/a>, urban mobility service Rapido and logistics company Porter.<\/p>\n An 11-member jury<\/a>, chaired by Wipro<\/a> executive chairman Rishad Premji, named Groww the winner<\/a>, recognising its ability to sustain rapid growth while turning profitable at scale.<\/p>\n Speaking to a gathering of more than 300 of the most influential names in India\u2019s startup and technology industry, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, the guest of honour at the awards, pointed to the gap between the scale of the country\u2019s startup ecosystem and its untapped potential.<\/p>\n Even with about 250,000 registered startups, he said, the journey was only beginning, particularly in deeptech, where the number of significant startups remains small. \u201cWe have only just begun,\u201d said the minister. \u201cIn fact, in the deeptech space, there are only a few thousand startups of significance. We have a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Also Read: ETSA champions show the great Indian dream is all home-brewed and visa-free<\/a><\/p>\n His remarks reflect a broader shift in an ecosystem, where the aspiration is increasingly to build companies that can compete internationally, rather than simply serve India\u2019s growing consumer base.<\/p>\n The early years of the startup boom were dominated by ecommerce, consumer internet and digital services, but founders are taking on problems in sectors that demand deeper technological capabilities, longer investment horizons and greater spending on research and development.<\/p>\n Many prominent voices from the industry concurred.<\/p>\n Kalyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive of Flipkart group, termed India\u2019s startup ecosystem one of the most dynamic stories of this time. \u201cIt keeps growing in ambition, in scale and in the problems it takes on,\u201d he said. \u201cFounders, investors, operators and customers are all building on each other’s progress. ETSA does an important job in celebrating that journey and the entrepreneurs driving it.\u201d<\/p>\n PhonePe cofounder and chief executive Sameer Nigam said India\u2019s startup landscape had widened dramatically over the past decade, with innovation spreading well beyond its early strongholds.<\/p>\n \u201cWe started with companies largely focused on consumer technology and ecommerce,\u201d he said. \u201cToday, we are seeing startups working in deeptech, agritech, robotics and foundational technologies. The ET Startup Awards reflect that innovation taking place across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Razorpay cofounder and CEO Harshil Mathur, whose company was Startup of the Year at ETSA 2022<\/a>, said the strength of this year\u2019s field showed how far Indian entrepreneurship<\/a> had come. \u201cEach of them was outstanding, and choosing a winner must have been extremely difficult. It shows how far the ecosystem has come. Ultimately, the ecosystem wins when more companies do well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Manu Chandra, founder and managing partner at venture capital firm Sauce, won the Midas Touch award<\/a> for distinguished early-stage consumer investing. Online yoga platform Habuild was named Bootstrap Champ<\/a>, while climatetech startup Varaha won the Social Enterprise award<\/a>.<\/p>\n For the first time, the Woman Ahead category had joint winners<\/a>, with the jury picking Palmonas cofounder and CEO Pallavi Mohadikar and Progcap cofounder and chief executive Pallavi Shrivastava. Deeptech startup Theranautilus won the Top Innovator award<\/a>, Armatrix was named Best on Campus startup<\/a>, and Mukund Jha, cofounder of vibe-coding startup Emergent, was the Comeback Kid<\/a>.<\/p>\n The next chapter<\/p>\n Discussions in Bengaluru on Friday also made it clear that global ambition will define the ecosystem\u2019s next phase. \u201cLet\u2019s get out of the cosy comfort of the large Indian opportunity or Indian market. Let us think of going global, because those who will not go global will be left behind,\u201d Goyal said.<\/p>\n India\u2019s lower cost structure is an advantage, but it cannot make up for inferior technology, Dheemanth Nagaraj, cofounder and CEO of AI semiconductor startup Agrani Labs, said during a panel discussion on building the hard stuff<\/a>.<\/p>\n Moderated by Accel founding partner Prashanth Prakash, the panel also included Kshitij Khandelwal, cofounder and CTO of spacetech startup Pixxel, and Laina Emmanuel, cofounder and chief executive of BrainSight AI.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, the technology we use is state of the art. There\u2019s no other way to penetrate the market,\u201d Nagaraj said, arguing that a cheaper but substandard product would not work.<\/p>\n For the ecosystem\u2019s next phase of growth, however, access to capital and viable exit routes will be critical. In a fireside chat, Groww cofounder and CEO Lalit Keshre said capital was available for companies that needed it, but valuations remained a key consideration for private market investors.<\/p>\n