- A M Naik, Chairman, Larsen & Toubro, to be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award
- The 21 Finalists, including 6 unicorns have a combined revenue of over INR 1,87,000 crores and employ more than 2,60,000 people
- An eminent nine-member Jury, led by K V Kamath, selected the Finalists and Winners.
- The Jury commends the unstoppable Finalists for their entrepreneurial spirit, value creation, strategic direction, technology adoption, innovation, and impact on the community
New Delhi 28 March 2022: EY, the leading global professional services organization, today announced selection of 21 of the most exceptional entrepreneurs as Finalists for the 23rd Entrepreneur of the Year™ - India (EOY) 2021 Awards. The unstoppable Finalists have been selected from among over 240 outstanding nominations and will be felicitated at a celebratory awards ceremony in Mumbai on 12 April 2022. The winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from India will represent the country at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) on 10 June 2022.
The awards ceremony will be telecast live from Mumbai starting 7:00 p.m. on 12 April 2022, where winners will be announced across several categories.
Together, the 21 Finalists have combined revenues of INR 1,87,000 crores and are providing employment to more than 2,60,000 people. Underscoring their resilience, the Finalists also reported significantly strong financial performance in times when global and domestic economic growth rates have been volatile.
The Finalists were selected by an eminent nine-member independent Jury Panel led by KV Kamath, Former Chairman, ICICI Bank. Other Jury Members include Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Biocon, Vibha Padalkar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, HDFC Life, Neeraj Bharadwaj Managing Director, The Carlyle Group, Amit Dixit, Head Asia Private Equity, Blackstone, Rajnish Kumar Former Chairman, State Bank of India, Harsh C. Mariwala, Chairman, Marico, Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Unilever, and Gopal Srinivasan, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director, TVS Capital Funds.
The Jury considered a host of criterion including the nominee’s entrepreneurial spirit, ability to navigate through Covid-19, recent financial performance, strategic direction, product or service innovation, leadership including personal integrity and risk-taking abilities, corporate governance, and social and environmental impact.
The 21 Finalists for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ 2021 India Awards are:
- Abhay Soi, Chairman and Managing Director, Max Healthcare
- Amit Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Girnar Software (CarDekho)
- Falguni Nayar, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, FSN E-commerce (Nykaa)
- Girish Mathrubootham, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Freshworks
- Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, Co-founders, Razorpay
- Manish Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Indegene
- Nitin Rakesh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mphasis
- Dr. Satyanarayana Chava, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Laurus Labs
- Sahil Barua, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Delhivery
- Sanjeev Barnwal and Vidit Aatrey, Co-founder & CTO and Co-founder & CEO, Fashnear Technology Pvt Ltd (Meesho)
- Shiv Kishan Agarwal and Manohar Lal Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, Haldiram Group
- Sriram Natarajan and Dr. Chandrasekhar Nair, Founders, Molbio Diagnostics
- Sunil Vachani, Founder and Executive Chairman, Dixon Technologies
- Vijay Kumar Arora, Chairman and Managing Director, LT Foods
- Vivek Vikram Singh, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer, Sona Comstar
- Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, Founders, Delightful Gourmet (Licious)
A M Naik, Chairman, Larsen & Toubro will be felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Naik is widely recognized for his entrepreneurship and a passionate commitment to advancing the interests of all stakeholders. A concern for social uplift complements Mr. Naik's keen business interests. Mr. Naik was instrumental in setting up the Larsen & Toubro Public Charitable Trust, which is engaged in a wide spectrum of community development initiatives, including, skill training at several locations around the country. In November 2018, the Government of India appointed Mr. Naik Chairman of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) – the apex-level body that charts the course for skills training of India’s youth.
Rajiv Memani, Chairman, EY India, said, “Our EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 Finalists have reframed their businesses to capture the upside of the economic rebound. Many of them have invested boldly to drive business transformation and have built highly competitive businesses on foundations of customer-centricity, innovation and adoption of new-age technologies. This year, our Finalists include several start-ups and fast-growing companies that are redefining their industries and writing new rules for success. It is also heartening to see that many of our 2021 finalists draw their inspiration in uplifting the less privileged and creating a lasting impact on the wider society. I congratulate each one of these exceptional entrepreneurs as they determinedly move forward on their ambitions and commitment to creating long-term value”.
Farokh Balsara, Partner and EOY India Program Leader, said, “Heartiest congratulations to our 2021 Finalists who have what it takes to unlock new opportunities during these unprecedented times. What sets them apart is their entrepreneurial mindset: they see change before it happens, they identify opportunities and have the confidence to move towards them, they are constantly focused on growing, developing and improving.”
The past winners of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year India Awards include, Harsh C. Mariwala (Marico), Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Biocon), Siddhartha Lal, (Eicher Motors), Sanjiv Bajaj (Bajaj Finserv), Vivek Chaand Sehgal (Samvardhana Motherson), Vinita and Nilesh Gupta (Lupin), Uday Kotak (Kotak Mahindra Bank), Adi Godrej (Godrej Group), Rahul Bhatia (Interglobe Enterprises), Dilip Shanghvi (Sun Pharmaceuticals), Anand Mahindra (Mahindra Group), Anil Agarwal (Vedanta Resources), Kumar Mangalam Birla (Aditya Birla Group), Sunil Bharti Mittal (Bharti Airtel), Ratan Tata (Tata Group), N.R Narayana Murthy (Infosys), Brijmohan Lall Munjal (Hero Group) and Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries).
Read more about the 23rd EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ at https://www.ey.com/en_in/entrepreneur-of-the-year/
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Notes to editors
About EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ Award
EY Entrepreneur of the Year is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities in 60 countries.
About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, strategy and transactions and consulting services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.
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