ET Startup Awards: Nominees for Social Enterprise

In the 12th edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards, nominees are being recognized in the Social Enterprise category. This category aims to honor startups that exemplify the 'double bottomline' model, which integrates financial success with public benefit.

The nominees include Padcare Labs, founded in 2018 by Ajinkya Dhariya in Pune. This company collects sanitary pads from offices, homes, and schools, and recycles them into plastic plant pots and paper pulp, preventing waste from ending up in landfills or being handled by untrained waste workers.

Cornext, established in 2015 by Madhav Kshatriya and Mohammed Feroz Ahmed in Hyderabad, manufactures affordable silage baler machines and supplies baled silage to dairy farmers. Silage, a type of fodder made from crops like maize and sorghum, is stored for up to 18 months and provides fodder during dry seasons, addressing India's chronic fodder shortage.

Karo Sambhav, founded in 2019 by Pranshu Singhal in Gurugram, is backed by Rainmatter. This startup builds nationwide networks for collecting and recycling electronic waste, plastics, batteries, and glass, helping brands meet their Extended Producer Responsibility obligations.

Varaha, a 2022 startup founded by Madhur Jain, Ankita Garg, and Vishal Kuchanur in Gurugram, works with smallholder farmers cultivating 1-2 hectare plots. They promote sustainable farming practices and generate verified carbon credits that are sold to global companies aiming to offset emissions.

CureBay, founded in 2020 by Priyadarshi Mohapatra, Shobhan Mahapatra, and Sanjay Swain in Bhubaneswar, has created a hybrid healthcare network across rural and tribal India. This network combines tech-enabled eClinics with a large on-ground workforce to deliver doctor consultations, diagnostics, and medicines to villages in Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.