MUMBAI: The world of start-ups is bursting at the seams and India is becoming the start-up capital of the world. NDTV’s series Unicorn — Chasing the start-up dream has been leading the charge in discovering the next big idea from India’s belly which can be the next billion-dollar valued start-up.

Carrying forward this anticipation NDTV presents the first ever Unicorn Start-up Awards in association with Vestige and Indigo Nation to honour those who have astonished the market with simple ideas and some great execution. The awards will witness some of the biggest mentors and venture capitalists from the start up space in attendance, including Deep Kalra, Founder and CEO, MakeMyTrip, and Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder, Shopclues & Droom.

The awards will recognise the most credible dream-chasers who are going to change the way India does business with a stellar jury panel including R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, Suchi Mukherjee, Founder and CEO, Limeroad, and Raman Roy, a seasoned investor, to name a few.

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Start-ups like Grofers, Oyo Rooms, Ola, FlipKart and Shopclues will compete for coveted titles. NDTV has tied up with NASSCOM 10,000 Startups, as knowledge partner for the awards, and with Tracxn, a start-up intelligence and market research platform, as research partner.

The exciting evening will be hosted by the glamorous Mandira Bedi, tech guru Rajiv Makhni and Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV.

Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV is all geared up for the first innings of these awards. “We have entered a new business era of start-ups, and it could transform India. NDTV too has expanded its wings in the e-commerce arena and we are growing rapidly. The Unicorn Start-Up Awards is our attempt to honour the unique ideas which have made a mark. From here on, we expect the awards to get bigger and better, and to be the benchmark for entrepreneur recognition.”

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Rajiv Makhni, MD Technology, who is the brainchild behind these awards said, “From nascent ideas cooked up in a warehouse to booming ventures that are eating up market share and attracting consumers at breakneck speed, NDTV Unicorn Start-Up Awards will lift the iron curtain off them all. This is the highest form of recognition for those that have blazed a trail of their own. This is the start-ups’ moment to shine and occupy centre-stage on a prestigious platform like NDTV.”

The awards will be presented and the webcast will be live on ground on July 29th at the Taj Palace, New Delhi, 7 pm onwards.

• Bootstrapped start-up of the year – this category will award start-ups that are bootstrapped all the way and have made notable progress without external funding or support and own nothing outside of their start-up.
• New Kid on the Block– this category will award the start-up that has an exceptional idea and is now attempting to scale up into a business. It should be an original idea with the potential to disrupt the market.
• Dream-chaser of the year– this category will award the start-up that has a concrete plan and is now scaling up through funding.
• Woman Entrepreneur of the year– this category will recognise a start-up helmed by a woman entrepreneur which has disrupted the market.
• Health start-up of the year– this category includes health start-ups across wellness and fitness and more that have made an impact.
• Unicorn of the Year– this category will be awarded to the billion-dollar start-up, or Unicorns that has shown highest year-on-year growth in the financial year gone by.
• Start-up of the future– this category will award the start-up that has the ability to be the next big thing and has a fantastic idea at its core and is looking at establishing itself in a developing market.
•  Global Start-up of the Year– this category will award an international start-up that has revolutionised its segment and has shown remarkable growth in the last financial year.
•  Start-up mentor of the year–  this category will recognise an investor, a big shark, an incubator, which has funded start-ups. This individual or venture capital firm will be awarded for great investment acumen and success rate.
•  Good Samaritan of the year– this category will award start-ups that are making a social impact through their idea.
•  People’s Start-up of the Year: this will be the only category thrown open to public voting through a microsite and will not be part of the jury’s decision-making process. This convenience start-up will be awarded for pleasing consumers through great service, marketing, and brand retention.
•  Start-up Person of the Year– this category will award and recognise Indian personalities who have played an important role in shaping India’s start-up sector. He or she could be a government representative, a leading investor, a Unicorn founder.
•  Brand Ambassador of the Year– this category will award the person who has upheld his/her responsibilities as a start- up brand ambassador and is a true start up evangelist!

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