Electric scooter company Ather Energy, healthtech venture CitiusTech, edtech company Physicswallah, foodtech company Biryani By Kilo and online stock broker Zerodha are among more than a dozen companies that were felicitated as part of VCCircle’s Disruptor’s Awards, on Wednesday.
The awards, in its inaugural year, is part of the multi-city program 'The Pitch' envisioned as a platform that helps startup founders pitch their business idea to the best suited investors across the country.
'The Pitch' was run across three cities- Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai- between September and November, bringing together over 50 investors and hundreds of startups in curated pitching sessions linking entrepreneurs with investors according to the stage of the venture.
The finale was organised in Delhi on 6 December that also marked the awards ceremony.
The winners were picked via an external jury panel comprising Keki Mistry, adviser at Poonawalla Fincorp and former CEO & vice chairman of HDFC Ltd; Padmanabh Sinha, executive director at NIIF; Kaushik Shaparia, CEO of emerging Asia at Deutsche Bank; Lakshmi Narayanan, chairman of Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute and managing partner at Patel Family Office; besides Rajat Bhargava, CEO of Speciality Sector at RPG.
In total, the jury members picked 12 winners.
These include: Zerodha as Best High Value Startup (comprising unicorns); MedGenome as Best Late-Stage Startup (akin to a soonicorn); Vivriti Capital as Best Fintech Startup; Physicswallah as Best Edtech Startup and Biryani By Kilo as Best Foodtech Startup.
CitiusTech was picked under the Best healthtech venture category; Ather Energy emerged as the winner for Best Travel & Mobility Startup and Airmeet was picked under Best Media & Entertainment Startup.
The jury members also handpicked OxyZo as Best Series A Startup. OxyZo, a fintech venture started by OfBusiness co-founders, had last year picked record Series A cheque and straight away entered the unicorn club of ventures with valuation of $1 billion or more.
The awards also recognised three early-stage startups based on their year of incorporation. In this set, MediSage, which is a network of medical practitioners, emerged as the Best Early Stage Startup (2019 Incorporated).
Proxygy was picked as Best Early Stage Startup (2020 Incorporated) and Fundamento was chosen as Best Early Stage Startup (2021 Incorporated).
Besides these dozen odd companies, the awards also had a chapter for public polling under People Choice Awards. Quick commerce startup Zepto; e-mobility venture Blu-Smart; TrueMeds and Doubtnut, which was acquired by Allen Career Institute this week, were the winners.