ET Startup Awards 2026: Nominees for Startup of the Year

We are back with the 12th edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards. As we approach the main event, here are the nominees for the most coveted of the eight categories: 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.

Here are the nominees:


Company: Porter

Founded in: 2014

Founders: Uttam Digga and Pranav Goel

Based in: Bengaluru

Key investors: Kedaara Capital, Wellington Management, Tiger Global

What it does: Porter provides on-demand logistics services to small and medium enterprises for shorter distances, working with larger trucks along with smaller carriage vehicles for last mile delivery. It also operates as a marketplace connecting individual customers and small businesses to fleet operators.

Company: Skyroot Aerospace

Founded in: 2018

Founders: Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka

Based in: Hyderabad

Key investors: GIC, Temasek, BlackRock, Arkam Ventures

What it does: India’s first spacetech unicorn, Skyroot Aerospace is building rockets to provide dedicated, on-demand access to orbit for small satellite operators. Its Vikram-1 vehicle is India’s first privately developed rocket to successfully reach LEO inJuly 2026. The company is also developing the larger Vikram-2 for heavier satellites and working on a reusable rocket.

Company: Rapido

Founded in: 2015

Founders: Aravind Sanka, Pavan Guntupalli, and Rishikesh SR

Based in: Bengaluru

Key investors: Prosus, Nexus Venture Partners, WestBridge Capital

What it does: India’s largest ride-hailing platform, Rapido offers two-, three-, and four-wheeler taxis across 400 cities. It recently launched the food delivery app Ownly in Bengaluru, targeting value-conscious customers, and plans to expand the service to other cities soon.

Company: Meesho

Founded in: 2015

Founders: Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal

Based in: Bengaluru

Key investors: Publicly listed

What it does: Meesho is an ecommerce marketplace that specialises in selling low-priced products. The firm sells apparel, accessories, home and kitchen goods, and electronics. Known for selling unbranded products, it has also started Meesho Mall for branded goods, and is well entrenched in non-metro markets. It listed in December 2025 and is currently valued at more than $9 billion.

Company: Groww

Founded in: 2016

Founders: Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, and Ishan Bansal

Based in: Bengaluru

Key investors: Publicly listed

What it does: India’s largest investment platform, Groww offers direct mutual funds and stockbroking services. It is focused on the new generation of retail traders and has now set its sights on becoming India’s largest wealth platform. It went public in November 2025 and presently has a market capitalisation of over $12 billion.

Company: Sarvam

Founded in: 2023

Founders: Pratyush Kumar and Vivek Raghavan

Based in: Bengaluru

Key investors: HCLTech, Khosla Ventures, Peak XV Partners, Bessemer

What it does: Sarvam is an AI company that develops foundational models. It is the first Indian company to build 105 billion parameter and 30 billion parameter large language models from scratch. It serves enterprises, government agencies, and developers building AI applications tailored for Indian users.