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Explore other editions The Economic Times Startup Awards 2025 special Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox?I agree to receive newsletters and marketing communications via e-mail Thank you for subscribing to UnwrappedWe'll soon meet in your inbox. Happy Saturday! The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA) 2025 ceremony brought together startup leaders and policymakers in Bengaluru on Friday evening for a friendly and insightful dialogue.Eminent personalities from India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem discussed several hot-button issues at the summit, which featured a conversation with our guest of honour Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, a fireside chat with Lenskart’s chief executive Peyush Bansal, and a panel discussion featuring Urban Company’s Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Myntra’s Nandita Sinha and Rapido’s Aravind Sanka.In this special newsletter, we bring you a roundup of all that happened at India’s most prestigious awards for entrepreneurship.ET Startup Awards 2025 Union commerce and industry minister Piyush GoyalET Startup Awards 2025: The less the regulation, the more successful the industry: Union minister Piyush Goyal | Piyush Goyal, the union commerce and industry minister, said that startups grow faster with fewer regulatory barriers, citing the software industry as an example where limited government intervention led to growth.Goyal said India must find new ways to strengthen her startup ecosystem, suggesting that capital from insurance companies or provident funds could be used to support emerging ventures and drive new success stories. Peyush Bansal, CEO, LenskartET Startup Awards 2025: Criticism isn’t always negative, says Peyush Bansal on Lenskart's IPO valuation comments | Criticism isn’t always a bad thing, Lenskart chief executive Peyush Bansal said, reacting to comments on IPO overvaluation in a fireside chat with ETtech editor Samidha Sharma. The company is targeting a valuation of Rs 70,000 crore as it moves towards listing in November 10.“It is important to listen to another’s point of view, but at the same time have your own,” Bansal said.IPO a pit stop in a longer journey, have to create value for stakeholders: Lenskart CEO Peyush Bansal | Bansal said listing the omnichannel eyewear company is ticking one of the boxes in a long to-do list, as the IPO was fully subscribed on its first day.“I am really grateful and humbled by the faith Indian investors, mutual funds, FIIs, retail investors, and our own employees have shown in the company,” he said, adding that the company will continue to create value for its stakeholders. Abhiraj Singh Bhal, CEO, Urban CompanyET Startup Awards 2025: Execution will define a company’s valuation, says Urban Company CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal | Urban Company CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal said that a company’s valuation will be defined by its execution, speaking on the market worth of new-age technology firms. “What I tell my team and the solace I draw as a publicly-listed founder is that there is the wisdom of the crowds that are voting with their money. In the coming decade, our valuation will be what we are truly worth," he said. Aravind Sanka, CEO, RapidoET Startup Awards 2025: We don’t see a duopoly in food delivery — Rapido's Aravind Sanka | Rapido cofounder Aravind Sanka denied the existence of a duopoly in the food delivery business as his company prepares to throw its hat in the ring with Ownly. “We have Rapido users and captains (riders), and we are exploring how we can leverage both to deliver more value to our customers in the food delivery segment,” he said. (L-R) Aravind Sanka, founder, Rapido, Nandita Sinha, CEO, Myntra and Abhiraj Singh Bhal, CEO, Urban CompanyET Startup Awards 2025: Founders say profitability a function of frugality, product mix | During a panel discussion, Bhal said a company needs to have frugality in its DNA to be profitability. Sanka said its simple — grow revenue and reduce costs by launching more products.And the winners are... Winners (Clockwise from top left): Startup of the Year - Urban Company, Social Enterprise - Chakr Innovation, Woman Ahead - Prukalpa Sankar, Midas Touch - Ashish Agrawal Winners (Clockwise from top left): Bootstrap Champ- Minfy Technologies, Top Innovator - Qure.ai, Best on Campus - Nawgati and Comeback Kid - Capillary TechnologiesTop Stories This Week Lalit Keshre, CEO, GrowwAccountability to public base for building a big company: Groww’s Keshre | As stock trading platform Groww gears up for its public debut in November, cofounder and CEO Lalit Keshre says the listing is a natural step towards accountability for a company managing billions in customer wealth. H-1B anxiety builds up amid US shutdown: Overseas technology professionals in the US, including thousands from India, are grappling with intensifying uncertainty due to stalled visa applications and frozen hiring plans as the country enters the fifth week of government shutdown.L&T eyes electronics manufacturing foray: Engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has held preliminary discussions with the Tamil Nadu government for about 200 acres of land near Chennai for an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) unit, people aware of the matter told ET.General Atlantic invests another $600 million in IPO-bound PhonePe: GA’s decision to double down on the Walmart-backed company will make this its largest bet on a single company in the country, said people in the know, higher than its $870 million investment in Reliance Jio Platforms in 2020. Indian IT sees pockets of recovery in US, EU as BFSI revs up: India’s IT services exporters showed pockets of recovery in the second quarter in North America and Europe, with renewed momentum for the industry’s largest vertical – the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.Startups and Tech Peyush Bansal, CEO, LenskartLenskart founders to net Rs 1,200 crore from IPO: The Gurugram-based company’s investors are also expected to generate paper gains in the range of 5–17 times as it goes public later this month at a valuation of Rs 70,000 crore, showed the company’s prospectus. Prepaid cards carving out their own niche in the new age of UPI: According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India, the number of PPI cards rose 10.7% to 483 million as on June 30, 2025, from 436 million six months back. Swiggy mulls up to $1.5 billion fundraise: While discussions with potential investors are still at an early stage, the size of the proposed Swiggy QIP, currently at $1 billion, could go up to as high as $1.5 billion, said another person aware of the fundraising. Amazon may fire 800–1,000 India staff under global job cuts: The tech major’s job cuts in India would span across finance, marketing, human resources and tech department, with roles reporting to Amazon’s global teams likely on the line.Also Read: Amazon layoffs: Tech giant to axe 14,000 staff Explore other editions Want this newsletter delivered to your inbox?I agree to receive newsletters and marketing communications via e-mailThank you for subscribing to UnwrappedWe'll soon meet in your inbox.
