The Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Startupreneur Awards aims to promote innovation and honor startups that make substantial contribu...
Published by Madhukar Swayambhu, Inventor, Water Hero, TED Speaker, Columnist, Researcher, Trainer
The Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Startupreneur Awards aims to promote innovation and honor startups that make substantial contributions through innovative products, services, technologies, or business models. The 2026 edition (the 7th edition of the awards) is designed to recognize startups that drive technological advancement, address societal challenges, foster economic growth, and support the vision of Startup India. The 2026 CII Startupreneur Awards were divided into four main categories, focusing on different stages and impacts of a startup:
• Excellence in Products / Technology Innovation by Startup
• Best Social Impact Startup
• Best Women-led Innovation, and
• Best Emerging Startup
As explained by Mr. Arun Balachandran, (Convener, CII TN MSME Panel), in presence of dignitaries like Mr. Tobiaas Hanssen, (Director, DI Denmark), Mr Ravichandran Purushothaman (Chairman, CII Southern Region), Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan (Chairman, CII Centre of Excellence for Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Startups) and Mr S Karthikeyan (Executive Director, CII CIES) on the stage, this year’s awards received 400+ applications, which were reviewed to filter out 200 best startups to be presented before the jury. Jury in turn securitized and fact-checked to further narrow down the competition to 40 Startups, which were called in Chennai during the awards to make a physical presentation, in order to hand-pick the finest amongst them in each category. Finally, 13 of them got awards.
At, Vaidic Srijan, we are proud to be a recipient of the CII’s Startupreneur Awards 2026 under the Best Social Impact category, being recognised and honoured for exceptional innovation that demonstrated a significant positive impact on society and the environment. Dr. Madhukar Swayambhu, Research Head & Cofounder, Vaidic Srijan LLP was there to make the presentation to the honourable jury members and eventually receive the awards during the awards function.
• Excellence in Products / Technology Innovation by Startup
• Best Social Impact Startup
• Best Women-led Innovation, and
• Best Emerging Startup
As explained by Mr. Arun Balachandran, (Convener, CII TN MSME Panel), in presence of dignitaries like Mr. Tobiaas Hanssen, (Director, DI Denmark), Mr Ravichandran Purushothaman (Chairman, CII Southern Region), Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan (Chairman, CII Centre of Excellence for Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Startups) and Mr S Karthikeyan (Executive Director, CII CIES) on the stage, this year’s awards received 400+ applications, which were reviewed to filter out 200 best startups to be presented before the jury. Jury in turn securitized and fact-checked to further narrow down the competition to 40 Startups, which were called in Chennai during the awards to make a physical presentation, in order to hand-pick the finest amongst them in each category. Finally, 13 of them got awards.
At, Vaidic Srijan, we are proud to be a recipient of the CII’s Startupreneur Awards 2026 under the Best Social Impact category, being recognised and honoured for exceptional innovation that demonstrated a significant positive impact on society and the environment. Dr. Madhukar Swayambhu, Research Head & Cofounder, Vaidic Srijan LLP was there to make the presentation to the honourable jury members and eventually receive the awards during the awards function.