The ET Startup Awards 2026 named Groww Startup of the Year, but the available 2026 coverage does not connect the ceremony to IDFC FIRST Bank chief executive V Vaidyanathan’s remarks on Tier-II and Tier-III startup hubs. Those comments were reported at the 2025 awards: he called for a wider pool of startup capital and said campuses and smaller cities could drive disruption.
What Vaidyanathan said about Tier-II and Tier-III cities
At the 2025 ET Startup Awards, IDFC FIRST Bank CEO and managing director V Vaidyanathan called for a broader startup capital pool and pointed to campuses and Tier-II and Tier-III cities as potential sources of disruption. The Economic Times quoted him as saying: “There is huge potential for more disruption, especially from campuses and tier-2 and -3 cities.” The Economic Times, Nov. 3, 2025
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He also recounted what a venture-capital firm had told him: it received roughly 1,000 startup pitches and financed about 40–50. That is an anecdote attributed to a conversation, not a measured national funding rate. It illustrates the competition for investment, but does not establish how many founders across India receive funding or whether smaller-city startups face higher rejection rates.
What the 2026 awards establish—and what they do not
The ET Startup Awards 2026 took place with IDFC FIRST Bank as presenting sponsor. ET’s 2026 winner coverage reports the following category results:
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| Category | 2026 winner |
|---|---|
| Startup of the Year | Groww |
| Midas Touch – Best Investor | Manu Chandra |
| Bootstrap Champ | Habuild |
| Social Enterprise | Varaha |
| Woman Ahead | Pallavi Mohadikar and Pallavi Shrivastava, jointly |
| Top Innovator | Theranautilus |
| Best on Campus | Armatrix |
| Comeback Kid | Mukund Jha / Emergent |
The awards’ categories span different founder profiles and stages: campus ventures, women-led businesses, bootstrapped companies, social enterprises, innovators, comeback stories and investors, alongside the overall Startup of the Year award. The official awards site describes Startup of the Year in terms of potential to become a blue-chip corporation, innovation, execution, growth and management quality. These categories show breadth of recognition, not a city-by-city strategy.
Neither the official awards material nor ET’s 2026 winner report establishes that the awards specifically focused on Tier-II or Tier-III cities. The Vaidyanathan quote belongs to the 2025 event context; it should not be presented as a statement made at the 2026 ceremony.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read the call for a wider startup capital pool
Vaidyanathan’s remarks identify a possibility and a financing concern, rather than proving a geographic shift. Campuses can be a source of founders and ideas; smaller cities may also produce companies with meaningful local or national markets. But the reported comments do not rank cities or compare their startup formation, funding, talent, customer access or infrastructure.
For founders and investors weighing location, the useful questions remain practical:
- Capital: Are suitable investors accessible, and can founders build relationships beyond their home city?
- Talent and campus links: Can a company recruit the skills it needs and connect with relevant colleges or research communities?
- Customers: Does being close to a target market improve sales, service or product understanding?
- Operating infrastructure: Are workspace, connectivity, suppliers and other essential services available at a cost and scale that fit the business?
These are comparison points for an individual business, not evidence that Tier-II cities have overtaken metros. The 2025 call is an argument for widening where founders and investors look; the 2026 awards results do not, by themselves, demonstrate that the shift has happened.
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