CII STARTUPRENEUR AWARDS

Recognizing the pivotal role of startups, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has been dedicated to fostering a robust startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem across the country. To further this mission, CII established the Startupreneur Awards, aiming to promote innovation and honor startups that have made substantial contributions through their innovative products, services, technologies, or business models.

This year, CII is excited to launch the 7th Edition of the CII Startupreneur Awards with a new framework, designed to recognize and celebrate exceptional startups driving change across various sectors.

Objectives

To recognize and celebrate innovative startups that drive technological advancement, address societal challenges, foster economic growth, strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem, promote diversity and inclusion, and support the vision of Startup India.

Benefits

Accelerate your startup's growth through national recognition, enhanced market credibility, greater visibility among customers, corporates and investors, and branding across CIES platforms.

Excellence in
Products / Technology
Innovation by Startup

Recognize the exceptional performance, quality, and innovation demonstrated by a startup in its technology, products, and/or the introduction of innovative solutions.

Best
Social Impact Startup

Recognize the outstanding innovation by women entrepreneurs in terms of products, technologies, or business processes that demonstrate a significant impact on their business, society, communities and the environment.

Best
Women led Innovation

Recognize the outstanding innovation by woman (en) entrepreneurs in terms of product, technologies, business process which demonstrate has significant impact on their business, society, communities; environment etc.

Best
Emerging Startup

Recognize an emerging startup (less than two years old) that has demonstrated exceptional innovation, strong growth potential, and a promising business model with the capability to create significant future impact.

Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering

Service

Any entity which qualifies to be a start-up, as per the definition of Government of India, is eligible to apply for Startupreneur Awards. These include:

Start-ups registered with DPIIT and must submit their certificate of incorporation or partnership deed.
Age of the start- ups should be less than 10 years.
The entity must have a product or a solution or a process solution that is present in the market.
Startup has been in business for at least two (2) years with turnover.
The entity must have all applicable trade specific registrations (example: CE, FSSAI, MSME, GST Registration, etc.)
There should not have been any default in the last three years by the entity or any of its promoters or any of
their group entities.

Timeline

Timeline is Subjected to Change

Application Fee for Startups
INR 5000 + taxes

Who is eligible to apply for the CII Startupreneur Awards 2026?

The awards are open to startups recognized by DPIIT that meet the eligibility criteria prescribed for the respective award category. Applicants should have a market-ready product, solution, or process, be compliant with applicable statutory requirements, and satisfy the eligibility conditions outlined on the Who Can Apply section.

Can a startup apply for more than one award category?

Yes. A startup can apply for a maximum of 2 categories.

What are the key evaluation criteria?

Applications are evaluated based on parameters such as innovation, business impact, scalability, market potential, and the category-specific criteria outlined in the application form.

What happens after I submit my application?

All applications will undergo an initial screening to verify eligibility and completeness, followed by evaluation by an independent jury. Shortlisted applicants, if any, will be contacted regarding the subsequent stages of the evaluation process.

When will the winners be announced?

The winners will be announced and felicitated during the CII Startupreneur Awards ceremony at the ICONN Summit 2026.

Ms Sivasundari Subramanian
Confederation of Indian Industry
sivasundari.subramanian@cii.in

Contact Person