Payoneer India Cross-Border Excellence Awards 2026 unveils jury panel

As Indian businesses expand beyond domestic markets and increasingly compete on the global stage, recognising excellence in cross-border growth has become more important than ever. The Payoneer India Cross-Border Excellence Awards 2026, in association with The Economic Times, has announced its jury panel. The eminent panel brings together some of the most respected voices from venture capital, export promotion, international trade and technology skilling to evaluate and celebrate the enterprises shaping India’s global ambitions.

The jury comprises Dr. Abhay Sinha, Director General of the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC); Dr. Abhilasha Gaur, CEO of SSC NASSCOM; Dr. Sridevi Arunachalam, Founding Chairman and President of the Indo UAE Economic Chamber of Commerce; and Sarita Raichura, Director at Blume Ventures.

The composition of the jury reflects the breadth of India’s cross-border ecosystem itself.


Dr. Abhay Sinha leads the apex body dedicated to promoting India’s services exports, bringing decades of experience in export promotion, trade policy and international market development; Dr. Abhilasha Gaur has been at the forefront of building India’s digital talent pipeline, offering deep insight into the sectors driving the country’s services export momentum; Dr. Sridevi Arunachalam’s work across bilateral trade and international economic partnerships provides a global lens on market access, trade opportunities and business expansion; and Sarita Raichura brings a venture capital perspective shaped by years of working closely with early-stage and high-growth startups, supporting founders across investment, ecosystem building and scale.

The objective is to ensure that businesses are evaluated not simply on headline growth figures, but on their ability to build sustainable, globally competitive and future-ready enterprises.

Building a benchmark for export excellence

With nominations now closed, the programme enters the shortlisting stage and jury evaluation ahead of the final awards ceremony in September.

At a time when India is rapidly strengthening its position in global services, digital commerce and technology exports, the awards seek to fill an important gap in the recognition landscape. While entrepreneurship and startup awards have proliferated over the years, relatively few platforms focus specifically on businesses that have successfully built and scaled international revenue streams, expanded into overseas markets and contributed to India's export economy.

The Payoneer India Cross-Border Excellence Awards has been conceived to spotlight precisely these businesses, from software as a service (SaaS) companies serving global clients and artificial intelligence (AI) startups exporting cutting-edge solutions, to e-commerce brands winning international consumers and service firms building global delivery capabilities from India.

In doing so, the awards aim to capture a broader story: how Indian enterprises are increasingly becoming global enterprises.

A rigorous selection process to map measurable impact

A defining feature of the programme is its emphasis on a structured and transparent evaluation framework.

Rather than relying solely on reputation or market visibility, nominees are assessed through a weighted framework designed to measure both business performance and long-term competitiveness.

The largest weightage, 40%, is assigned to growth and scale, examining export revenues, cross-border business performance and growth trajectories over time. Market reach and diversification accounts for 30%, recognising businesses that have expanded across multiple geographies rather than relying on a single international market.

The framework also evaluates innovation and differentiation (15%), rewarding businesses that have developed unique products, services or business models capable of competing globally. Employment and community impact (10%) considers the broader value created through job generation, ecosystem development and skilling initiatives, while digital infrastructure and payments (5%) examines the operational maturity required to manage international business at scale.

The result is a process designed to identify not just fast-growing companies, but businesses that have demonstrated resilience, adaptability and the ability to create lasting value across borders.

Following the jury review and shortlisting process, winners will be selected from among some of the country’s most dynamic cross-border businesses.

Recognising the full spectrum of India’s export economy

One of the programme’s distinguishing features is the breadth of sectors and business models it seeks to recognise.

The awards span service export categories, including IT and Development, AI/ML, Digital Marketing Services, SaaS and B2B Solutions, Managed Services and EdTech, sectors that have become key drivers of India’s reputation as a global services powerhouse.

The programme also acknowledges the growing influence of Indian consumer brands through categories such as Fashion and Apparel, Home and Kitchen, and Personal Care, Health and Wellness, recognising businesses that are successfully reaching customers across international marketplaces.

Independent categories such as Women in Export Excellence, D2C Cross-Border Brand, Global Employer, and Company Incorporation Partner expand the conversation beyond exporters alone to include the founders, organisations and enablers helping shape India’s global business ecosystem.

Regional categories further ensure that export success stories from across North, South, East and West India receive national visibility, reflecting the increasingly distributed nature of India's growth story.

A defining moment for India’s cross-border businesses

The awards arrive at a particularly significant moment for India’s economy.

Service exports touched $421.2 billion in FY26, while Indian startups, SaaS firms, digital agencies, e-commerce sellers and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands continue to expand their presence across international markets. At the same time, new trade agreements, improvements in digital infrastructure and the rise of cross-border commerce platforms are creating fresh opportunities for businesses of all sizes to think globally from day one.

This shift is reshaping the nature of Indian entrepreneurship itself.

Businesses that once focused primarily on domestic growth are increasingly serving customers across continents, building international teams, managing global payments and competing in some of the world's most sophisticated markets.

Against this backdrop, the Payoneer India Cross-Border Excellence Awards seeks to create a platform worthy of the scale of this transformation.

The programme will culminate in a grand awards ceremony in New Delhi on September 25, bringing together entrepreneurs, exporters, industry leaders and ecosystem stakeholders for an evening dedicated to celebrating cross-border excellence.

For winners, the recognition extends beyond a trophy. The awards offer visibility across The Economic Times and Payoneer platforms, industry-wide recognition and the opportunity to be showcased as among the businesses defining India’s next phase of global growth.

More importantly, the programme is designed to provide a national stage for a new generation of companies whose success will increasingly be measured not only by what they achieve within India, but by the value they create across the world.

As India advances towards its ambition of becoming a $2 trillion export economy by 2030, these awards seek to recognise the businesses helping turn that vision into reality: one market, one customer and one breakthrough at a time.