The Economic Times Startup Awards have been instituted to celebrate the finest and bravest who risked everything to launch a new enterprise. It is a recognition of the sweat and tears that went into shaping what will drive the nation's economic engines tomorrow. In a way therefore, the awards salute the entrepreneurs and also seek to inspire the dreamers and daredevils in all of us. Zinnov Consulting and iSpirt are knowledge partners.
Applications are invited from both startups and investors for 8 categories of awards (7 for startups and 1 for investors). To be eligible to apply, startups must fulfill all the following conditions:
- Applicant/Entrepreneur must be an Indian national, resident in India, and above 18 years of age on 22 June 2015.
- Startup should be registered in India no earlier than 01 Jan 2009. Startups registered before 01 Jan 2009 are not eligible. In the case of one award category – Comeback Kid – the previous, failed enterprise of the entrepreneur should have been registered no earlier than 01 Jan 2005.
- Startup should have raised a minimum of Rs 10 lakhs as external capital or have minimum revenue of Rs 10 lakhs in 2013-14. This condition is waived off only for one award category – Bootstrap Champ.
- The startup should have a minimum of 5 employees on full-time payroll at the time of application.
Once applicants fulfil the above criteria, they may apply to one or more of the following 8 award categories.
STARTUP OF THE YEAR
The startup that has displayed the greatest growth over the last year and has the potential to become a blue-chip corporation. The quality of the founding and management team will be an important component in decision-making.
BEST ON CAMPUS
This award will recognize a startup founded by a student while studying. Of course, the startup should now be building a commercial enterprise and therefore, there must be some level of validation of its business model by investors and/or customers. College projects don't qualify.
TOP INNOVATOR
This award will recognize innovations that have the potential to launch a business or give it a big boost. It should be an original idea that is core to the business or an idea that provides the differentiation to set it apart from competition.
BOOTSTRAP CHAMP
The startup that has shown great growth without external funding of any sort (excluding family and friends) and has the potential to scale up into a large enterprise.
WOMEN AHEAD
A startup launched and led by a woman that demonstrates superior performance in its competitive space. The female founder/co-founder should be involved in the operations of the company.
COMEBACK KID
This is the award that recognizes that failure is the essential first step to success. It seeks to dilute the stigma associated with failure in our country. It will be bestowed upon that extraordinary entrepreneur who grew stronger from his or her failure and bounced back with a successful subsequent business.
MIDAS TOUCH (BEST INVESTOR)
This one's reserved for those who seek the finest diamond in the deepest pits, and then take the pains to clean and polish it for brilliance. It would reward an investor who displayed the best investment acumen over the last year, defined as an exit, early investment of a notable startup, realization of an earlier investment. The winner will be adjudged on amount invested, portfolio diversity and additional support.
This award seeks to recognize the best startup that offers a product or service as a solution to society's most pressing problems.
last date: Monday, 22 June 2015.
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