Facebook celebrated the vibrant Indian startup ecosystem through its first ever “India Startup Day”.
The global technology giant announced the winners across five categories She Leads Tech, Building for the World, Building for Tomorrow, Building for the next Billion, and Community Builder.
The winners were selected from over 500 applicants from across the country by a panel consisting of Mohandas Pai, Chairman at Aarin Capital and Manipal Global Education, Naganand Doraswamy, Founder and MD at Ideaspring Capital, Radhika Aggarwal, Co-Founder of ShopClues, Rajan Navani, VC and MD of Jetline Group of Companies, Padmaja Ruparel, Co-Founder of Indian Angel Network, and Satyajeet Singh, Head of Strategic Product Partnerships at Facebook, Indian and South Asia.
Here is the list of winners across five categories:
- She Leads Tech: Mumbai-based Greenway Grameen was founded by Neha Juneja and Ankit Mathur. A startup that designs and distributes life-improving products amongst low-income markets. Some of its products solving the critical needs of its users include water purifiers, smart stoves, and little sun solar.
- Building for Tomorrow: Bengaluru-based VR/AR startup Scapic was founded by Sai Krishna VK and Ajay PV in 2016. It provides a platform that lets people create, share, and explore immersive experience, using the AR and VR technologies.
- Building for the Next Billion: Gurugram-based fintech startup Aye Finance was founded by Sanjay Sharma and Vikram Jetley in 2014. It provides a platform for small businesses to secure loans at affordable rates, that are locked out of financial institutions.
- Building for the World: New Delhi-based Nanoclean Global was founded by IIT Delhi faculty Prateek Sharma, along with IIT Delhi alumni Tushar Vyas and Jatin Kewlani in 2016. It produces affordable bio-safe nanofibers with its proprietary polymer technology. Its flagship product Nasofilter is a revolutionary nasal filter, that protects you from the harmful effects of tiny suspended particles.
- Community Builder: Bengaluru-based SaaS startup Hasura was founded by Rajoshi Gosh and Tanmai Gopal in 2017. It provides a platform for developers to build, develop, and scale their apps, using its APIs.
Speaking at the event, Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, said, “If you look at a vast number of startups across India – within the tech sector, cutting-edge technology is being used to enable India to leapfrog technology. A lot of work is also going on in social innovation. Amazing work is being done in education, health and agriculture and that’s where real innovation is needed. It is amazing that such innovation will spur radical transformation in areas where India needs it the most.”