Featured in The Economic Times

The Covid-19 pandemic brought out the true mettle of startups as entrepreneurs faced emotional, mental and physical challenges, and came up with durable solutions. Caught in the deep end, they found a way to get up and get going. ET Startup Awards 2020 recognises the winners.

Startup Of The Year: Zerodha | Nithin Kamath

Zerodha is India’s largest retail brokerage with over 3 million users, beating heavy hitters ICICI Securities and HDFC Securities. The decade-old company has come this far by taking on legacy rivals due to its technology. Moreover, this was accomplished without the help of external capital. This gave it the jury’s vote for Startup of the Year.

“In 2016, when we won the ET Bootstrap Champ award here, I said we would be back soon to win SOTY. Now that we have, it seems surreal,” says Nithin Kamath, founder and chief executive officer of Zerodha.

Women Ahead: Wingreens Farms | Anju Srivastava

After a 25-year stint in advertising, Anju Srivastava started Wingreens by growing value-added crops and selling directly to consumers. As the business scaled up, she launched the fresh dip category by skilling the underprivileged women. Now a multi-category food business, Wingreens has touched Rs 100 crore in revenue from Rs 5 crore, over the past five years.

“Thankfully, Indian millennials are hungry for products and businesses with a soul. I’m also delighted to see so many women build great businesses,” says Anju Srivastava, CEO of Wingreens Farms.

Midas Touch: Sequoia Capital India | GV Ravishankar

GV Ravishankar, an NIT and IIM Ahmedabad graduate, has helped Sequoia Capital clock one of the biggest exits in Indian venture capital history with his pick—edtech company Byju’s. Having led more than two dozen investments for the fund in the last decade, GV is an instrumental part of its leadership team driving investments and fundraising for the Indian market.

“This recognition is for the entire team, who have made significant contributions—both direct and behind the scenes—to help our founders,” says GV Ravishankar, managing director at Sequoia Capital India.

Comeback Kid: Vedantu | Vamsi Krishna, Anand Prakash and Pulkit Jain

When a lead investor backed out of a funding round at the last moment in 2017, Vedantu was left with just enough cash to run the company for three months. This forced the founders to lay off staff and pivot the company. Today, Vedantu commands a valuation of $600 million, one of the most highly valued edtech startups in India.

“We’re obsessed about our students and strive to deliver the best learning outcomes for them. It’s still Day Zero for us, we have miles to go before we sleep,” says Vamsi Krishna, Cofounder and CEO at Vedantu.

Top Innovator: Agnikul Cosmos | Moin SPM and Srinath Ravichandran

Agnikul Cosmos, a startup incubated at IIT Madras is building using a 3D printed engine a small rocket, that is lighter, with less moving parts and more efficient compared to conventional engines. It can launch small satellites of up to 100 kg into low-earth orbits. The rocket can be easily configured and launched on a mobile platform. Agnikul is looking at its first launch by the end of next year.

“India is already a big champion in space technology and this award rightly recognises our small part in making it slightly better,” says Srinath Ravichandran, Cofounder and CEO at Agnikul Cosmos.

Best On Campus: Bellatrix Aerospace | Yashas Karanam and Rohan M Ganapathy

Bellatrix Aerospace, a startup incubated at Indian Institute of Sciences Bangalore, is the only Indian company to have built an ecofriendly electric propulsion system to power satellites in space. It is building a small rocket, named Chetak, that can carry 150 kg satellites to an orbit of 550 km. Bellatrix is also working with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to power the engines of one of its spacecrafts.

“Space is the next big thing. We also know things are changing around the world. Many big people are investing in space.” says Yashas Karanam, Cofounder and COO at Bellatrix Aerospace.

Social Enterprise: Samunnati | Anil Kumar

For the scale and complexity of the challenges that it is attempting to tackle in agricultural finance through its market-linkage model, Samunnati was the overwhelming favourite of the jury in the social enterprise category. The fintech player operates in the niche intersection of agritech and finance and has disbursed loans worth over Rs 4,200 crore to 4 million small farmers across 112 districts since 2014.

“We are humbled and privileged to be given this award. What excites us more is making a difference to the lives of farmers,” says Anil Kumar, founder and CEO at Samunnati.

Covid-led Healthcare: MyLab Discovery Solutions | Hasmukh Rawal and Shailendra Kawade

Mylab Discovery Solutions bagged the award for Covid-led Healthcare Innovation for being the first Indian company to get commercial approval to manufacture Covid-19 test kits. The team developed the kit in just two weeks and crunched one full year of production schedule into one week to meet the massive demand for test kits in India. It has since launched a rapid antigen testing kit and a portable lab-in-a-box solution.

“The ultimate driver for an innovator is impact—in the lives of others, giving hope to billions of people and by bringing the best solutions,” says Hasmukh Raval, promoter and MD at MyLab Discovery Solutions.

Bootstrap Champ: Gametion Technologies | Vikash Jaiswal and Soni Kumari

In 2016, Vikash Jaiswal and wife Soni Kumari, co-founders of Gametion, launched a digital version of Ludo, called Ludo King, but it took off in a big way during the lockdown, fetching over 100 million downloads on Google Play Store. Ludo King also became one of the top three free gaming apps during this period. The firm was able to achieve this despite not being venture-backed, earning it the title of Bootstrap Champ.

“We thank ET for honouring Gametion with this award. We hope Gametion continues to do as well as it has and we can make more games like Ludo King,” says Vikash Jaiswal, founder and CEO at Gametion Technologies.