Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon, was recently named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 and will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo from 4–6 June 2020. Over 500 business personalities attended the gala to celebrate the 21st edition of the EOY Awards in New Delhi on 19th February.
Synonymous with the Indian biotech industry, Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has been at the forefront of innovation and has enabled affordable, life-saving medicines through her strong investments in research. She is also among the earliest Indian signatories to the Giving Pledge, a global commitment to dedicate majority of her wealth to philanthropy.
Awards were also announced for nine other categories, with the winners representing both mature industries and unicorns, who are riding the wave of change and transforming India’s business landscape. The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) Awards is the only global business award program in the world, which is celebrated across 60 countries. Now in its 21st year in India, it recognizes exceptional entrepreneurs who, with their disruptive ideas and passion for growth, are creating successful global enterprises.
Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, and Shri Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs were the Chief Guest and Guest of Honor respectively at the Awards Banquet.
Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, said, “Entrepreneurship has always been the strength of India. I congratulate all the finalists and winners of the EY Entrepreneur Of the Year awards. The ingenuity and passion of entrepreneurs will have a big role in accelerating our economy to US$5 trillion growth target. Our Government is committed to creating more opportunities for entrepreneurs, so we can all together work towards making India a world leader in every key economic and social indicator.”
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Winners
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 : Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon
Lifetime Achievement : Adi Godrej
Chairman, Godrej Group
Category Winners
- Start-up: Falguni Nayar
Founder and CEO, Nykaa E-Retail
- Transformational Impact Person of the Year: Tuhin Parikh
Senior Managing Director – Real estate, Blackstone India
- Manufacturing: Arun Bharat Ram
Chairman, SRF
- Services: Sridhar Vembu
Founder and CEO, Zoho Corporation
- Financial Services: Yashish Dahiya
CEO and Co-Founder, PolicyBazaar
- Consumer Products & Retail: Kuldip Singh Dhingra, Chairman, and Gurbachan Singh Dhingra, Vice-Chairman, Berger Paints
- Life Sciences & Healthcare: (Hony) Brig Dr. Arvind Lal, Chairman and Managing Director and Dr. Om Manchanda, CEO, Dr. Lal PathLabs
- Entrepreneurial CEO: K. B. S. Anand
Managing Director and CEO, Asian Paints
- Energy, Real Estate & Infrastructure: Ravi Raheja and Neel Raheja
Group Presidents, K Raheja Corp
Rajiv Memani, Chairman, EY India, says, “The winners of this year come from both long-established and new-age businesses, but what is common to them is how they have transformed their companies or reimagined the entire sector by taking bold bets, and using technology and innovation to delight their customers. These inspiring entrepreneurs have pursued a strong purpose and focused on creating long-term value for all stakeholders.”
Falguni Nayar, Founder and CEO of Nykaa E-Retail was conferred the Start-up category award. She has brought several Indian and global beauty brands to the doorstep of millions of Indians with her omni-channel strategy and a customer-centric model, enabled by digital technology. She has not only successfully grown revenues with a 150% CAGR in three years but has also remained equally focused on being profitable.
Arun Bharat Ram, Chairman, SRF was conferred the Manufacturing category award for transforming a century-old enterprise into a global-scale manufacturing major with world-class products and processes and focus on corporate governance and sustainability. The Service Category winner, Sridhar Vembu of Zoho Corporation is a technology evangelist, who has emerged as a serious competitor to the largest global software companies. His low-cost Software as a Service (SAAS) model for small and medium businesses is creating opportunities for young Indian IT professionals from low-income households to create software products for the world.
Yashish Dahiya, CEO and Co-Founder, PolicyBazaar was conferred with the Financial Services category award for revolutionizing the sector with his disruptive thinking and bold vision, while rapidly building scale. With 100 million visitors on his platform and 500,000 transactions a month, he is among the country’s top unicorns with a recent valuation of US$1.65 billion. The winners of Consumer Products & Retail, Kuldip Singh Dhingra, Chairman, and Gurbachan Singh Dhingra, Vice-Chairman, Berger Paints, have not only built a successful enterprise through innovation but have also delighted investors through strong financial performance with a 177% increase in their market capitalization in 5 years to over 56,000 crores today.
The winners of the Lifesciences and Healthcare category, (Hony) Brig Dr. Arvind Lal, Chairman and Managing Director and Dr. Om Manchanda, CEO, Dr. Lal PathLabs are pioneering leaders, who have created a unique franchising and logistics model and professionalized the diganostics industry with processes and quality. Today, they are a national market leader with tremendous brand equity among their 176 lakh customers. Ravi Raheja and Neel Raheja, Group Presidents, K Raheja Corp, winners of the Energy, Real Estate & Infrastructure, reimagined their family business of premier residential properties in western India to become a future-ready, pan-India conglomerate also comprising premier commercial, hotels and retail assets, generating tremendous value for customers and investors.
K.B.S. Anand, Managing Director and CEO, Asian Paints, was honored as the Entrepreneurial CEO. With his unique customer insights, he has built some of the finest brands, launched innovative products and services and used data and digital for better customer connect. Under his leadership, the company’s market capitalization has grown by over 80% in five years to over Rs 180,000 crore today.
Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej group was felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Adi Godrej has transformed the 120-year old Godrej brand of consumer products and home utilities into a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate that today employs more than 28,000 people and serves a consumer base of 1.1 billion customers. With high integrity and ethical values, Mr Godrej has been a torch-bearer for high standards of corporate governance and is also associated with numerous philanthropic contributions in healthcare, education, and the environment. He was also the winner of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in 2012.
Says Farokh Balsara, Partner and EOY India Program Leader, “We, at EY, applaud the entrepreneurial spirit and exceptional achievements of all the winners. Many of them are pioneers in their sectors, who are impacting millions of lives with their passion for growth and resolute focus on customer centricity. They truly are the builders of a better India.”
Ashish Gumashta, CEO, Julius Baer, India, says, “Julius Baer upholds the spirit of entrepreneurship as one of its core pillars and we are delighted to partner in the EOY 2019 awards. It is truly inspirational to witness the power of ideas and innovation in creating lasting societal impact through the adoption of new technologies that have changed the way India operates. We congratulate the winners and finalists for their fantastic contribution to nation building.”
The 17 Finalists of EOY Awards 2019, including several unicorns, have a combined revenue of over INR 100, 000 crores and employ more than 115,000 people.
