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Ministry had received over 2,177 applications across 49 sub-sectors for the awards

Startups were evaluated on six parameters, including innovation and social impact

Earlier today, PM Modi declares January 16 as National Startup Day

The Government of India today announced the winners of the National Startup Awards 2021. 46 startups were felicitated for their contribution in their respective sectors. An incubator and an accelerator were also conferred the honour during the ceremony.

The ceremony was attended by the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal. Speaking at the event, Goyal said, “The Startup Mission is a symbol of Self-Reliant & Self-Confident India. Be it a fisherman’s son from Chennai or a boatman’s daughter from Kashmir, they all want to bring prosperity to their families and to their people, and therefore are thinking bigger and bolder.”.

National Startup Awards 2021 seek to recognise startups that contribute to economic dynamism by spurring innovation and injecting competition. It is focussed on startups that are building innovative products/solutions, scalable enterprises, with high potential of employment generation or wealth creation, demonstrating measurable social impact. 

This is the second edition of the National Startup Awards. Applications were invited across 15 sectors and 49 sub-sectors. The sectors ranged from agriculture to animal husbandry and from enterprise technology to fintech.  

The ministry received 2,177 applications from startups across 49 sub-sectors. Applications were also received from 53 incubators and 6 accelerators for the ecosystem enablers categories. Of these, 863 were women-led startups and 253  were startups working in rural areas of the country, 

The Ministry said that six parameters were used to decide the winners – innovation, scalability, economic impact, social impact, environmental impact, and inclusiveness and diversity.

Bengaluru-based Naffa Innovations Private Limited was declared the winner in the fintech category’s financial inclusion sub-sector. The startup, also called ToneTag, was founded in 2013 enables mobile payments using sound and near-field communication (NFC), without the internet.

Another winner in the fintech category’s insurance sub-sector was Umbo Idtech Private Limited. The startup was founded in 2018 and has built a full-stack platform that enables omnichannel insurance distribution for its clients. 

Sagar Defence was declared the winner in the Robotics sub-sector. The startup, founded in 2015 by Mridul Babbar and Nikunj Parashar, builds autonomous navigation systems, unmanned marine and aerial vehicles. 

Jaipur-headquartered Frontier Markets was honoured in the ‘Women Led Startup’ category. The startup, founded in 2011 by Ajaita Singh, is a social commerce platform focused on rural India.

Access Livelihoods Foundation won in the incubator category and India Accelerator won in the accelerator category.

Speaking at the event, DPIIT Secretary Anurag Jain said, “The department will handhold the Startup Award finalists across seven tracks which are. Investor Connect, Mentorship, Government Connect, Capacity Development, Corporate Connect, Brand Showcase and Unicorn Engagement.”

List Of National Startup Awards 2021 Winners

Earlier today, PM Narendra Modi declared January 16 as National Startup Day. Putting the spotlight on startups, PM Modi called them the backbone of new India.

This comes amidst the Centre’s renewed approach towards the startup ecosystem. The government said that it has instituted 49 regulatory reforms in the last 5 years to enhance the ease of doing business and ease of raising capital. 

Despite a battered economy, Indian startups performed exceptionally well. 1,583 Indian startups landed over $42 Bn last year. Add to that, 11 startups were listed and 42 startups became newly minted Unicorns in 2021. Not just this, 108 Deals Worth $100 Mn and above were recorded in 2021 with the fintech sector receiving maximum funding deals In 2021.

The National Startup Awards appears to be a good avenue to felicitate startups and tell the nation about how they contribute to the Indian economy. The step is laudable and will hopefully create a generation of entrepreneurs for social change.