There are more startups in India than anywhere in the world. Every street of every city is teeming with them — some strikingly unique, and some not so. In fact, India is not just ahead in numbers, it boasts of a very strong startup ecosystem as well. And yet, the startup industry suffered this year. Raising funds remained a challenge for most. After a year or two of incredulous valuations of Indian startups, investors are now more tight-fisted with their money, loosening their purse strings only if there’s clear possibility of multiplying money. So for startups, it’s time to perform or perish.
According to Venture Intelligence, as many as 30 startups shut shop in 2016. But far greater was the number of those that succeeded in disrupting the existing disruptors in their respective sectors by either unearthing an entirely new market or by spotting gaps in prevailing markets or business models. This new breed of startups are growing rapidly and giving new dimensions to the industry in the process. For instance, 35-year-old Anubhab Goel’s Mumbai-based home service provider Zimmber is giving Houesjoy.in and Urbanclap — existing players in the space— a run for their money by offering full stack services at a reasonable price.
Similarly, Nithin Kamath’s online brokerage firm Zerodha, has been successful in surging ahead of competition by offering discounts, a thing that’s unheard of in the field of broking. The company is India’s first online discount broker.
BW Businessworld’s Young Entrepreneur Awards (YEA) 2016 recognises and celebrates such fine and brave entrepreneurs who put everything at stake to carve a niche for themselves in the market. Through the award, BW strives to pay homage to the spirit of entrepreneurship and to inspire the dreamers and risk-takers in others as well. In this edition of YEA, the jury — comprising Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Siddharth Talwar and Bala Deshpande, among others — chose top ten entrepreneurs whose companies best displayed solidity and a strong ability to scale.
The esteemed jury chose from among 32 shortlisted candidates from two categories — companies aged under three years, and those between three and seven years. It was interesting to see that from a grand total of 150 nominations, nearly 70 per cent of the companies belonged to the first category.
The winners were also judged on their calibre to build and expand a truly profitable business. The nominations for the awards came from several sectors including e-commerce, technology, social impact, education and wellness and healthcare. Not only companies from startup hubs of India such as Bangalore, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai participated, but the jury received many nominations from tier-II and tier-III cities as well.
The winners of BW YEA were announced on 21 September 2016.
monica@businessworld.in;
@MonicaBehura
