ET Startup Awards 2026: Nominees for Startup of the Year
The ET Startup of the Year will be characterised by breakthrough innovation, top-class execution and fast-paced growth. The quality of the founding and management team will be an important component in decision making.
The 12th edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards is underway, with nominations rolling in for the prestigious Startup of the Year category. This accolade recognizes groundbreaking innovation, impeccable execution, and rapid growth. The decision will heavily weigh on the founding and management teams' prowess.
This year's nominees are Porter, Skyroot Aerospace, Rapido, Meesho, Groww, and Sarvam. Porter, a Bengaluru-based startup founded in 2014 by Uttam Digga and Pranav Goel, offers on-demand logistics services for small and medium enterprises. Key investors include Kedaara Capital, Wellington Management, and Tiger Global.
Skyroot Aerospace, India's first spacetech unicorn founded in 2018 by Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka, is based in Hyderabad. The company is developing rockets for on-demand access to orbit for small satellite operators. GIC, Temasek, BlackRock, and Arkam Ventures are among the notable investors.
Rapido, India's largest ride-hailing platform, was founded in 2015 by Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR in Bengaluru. The company expanded into a food delivery app, Ownly, in Bengaluru and plans to launch it in other cities soon. Prosus, Nexus Venture Partners, and WestBridge Capital are among its investors.
Meesho, an ecommerce marketplace specialized in low-priced products, was founded in 2015 by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal in Bengaluru. The company has also launched Meesho Mall for branded goods and is well established in non-metro markets. Meesho went public in December 2025 and is valued at over $9 billion.
Groww, India's largest investment platform, was founded in 2016 by Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, and Ishan Bansal in Bengaluru. The company offers direct mutual funds and stockbroking services, targeting new generation retail traders. Groww went public in November 2025 and has a market capitalization of over $12 billion.
Sarvam, an AI company founded in 2023 by Pratyush Kumar and Vivek Raghavan in Bengaluru, is the first Indian company to develop 105 billion parameter and 30 billion parameter large language models from scratch. The firm serves enterprises, government agencies, and developers building AI applications tailored for Indian users.
Written by urgent.news from Economic Times Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
