ET Startup Awards 2026: Nominees for Comeback Kid
This award celebrates failure and recognises those who have survived to tell the tale. It will be given to entrepreneurs who rebuilt or launched a more successful business.
The Economic Times Startup Awards are back in their 12th edition, and nominations for the Comeback Kid category are being announced. This award honors entrepreneurs who have overcome failure and built a more successful business. The nominees hail from various cities in India and span multiple industries.
SolarSquare, based in Mumbai, is a full-stack residential rooftop solar company. Founders Shreya Mishra, Neeraj Jain, and Nikhil Nahar have been working since 2015. They partner with key investors like B Capital, Lightspeed, and Elevation Capital to sell and install solar systems, assist with financing and subsidies, and provide monitoring, after-sales service, and performance guarantees across 20 Indian cities.
Shadowfax, headquartered in Bengaluru, is a third-party logistics company focused on express parcel, reverse logistics, and hyperlocal delivery services. Founded by Abhishek Bansal, Vaibhav Khandelwal, Praharsh Chandra, and Gaurav Jaithlia in 2015, Shadowfax caters to ecommerce marketplaces and direct-to-consumer brands. Publicly listed investors are backing this venture.
Scapia, also based in Bengaluru, is a travel fintech platform with a co-branded credit card. Founded by Anil Goteti in 2022, this company combines card spending, travel bookings, rewards, UPI transactions, and airport privileges. Key investors include General Catalyst, Peak XV Partners, Z47, and Elevation Capital.
Emergent, headquartered in Bengaluru and San Francisco, is an AI app-building platform designed for non-technical users and small businesses. Created by Mukund Jha in 2024, Emergent enables customers to create web and mobile applications through prompts. Its software handles coding, hosting, deployment, testing, and debugging, with revenue generated through subscriptions.
Pratilipi, based in Bengaluru, is an Indian-language storytelling platform founded by Ranjeet Pratap Singh, Sankaranarayanan Devarajan, and Sahradayi Modi in 2015. This company offers free and premium literature, audio, comics, podcasts, and books. It earns through licensing stories for television, streaming, films, and short-form video, while sharing revenue with writers.
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- ET Startup Awards: Nominees for Comeback Kid economictimes.indiatimes.com
