Nykaa CEO Falguni Nayar named EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2021

She will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award on June 9.

Falguni Nayar, the chief executive officer and founder of beauty supply company Nykaa, has been named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2021, said a press statement from the global consulting firm on Tuesday.

Nayar was given the award at a function where Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Labour and Employment and Environment, Forest & Climate Change was the chief guest. A M Naik, group chairman of Larsen & Toubro, was felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nayar will represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award on June 9. Nayar, who was an investment banker before becoming an entrepreneur, disrupted a brick-and-mortar industry by taking a digital route to sell beauty products in 2012. Nykaa is among profitable start-ups in the country, said the EY statement.

“India is marching towards an inclusive and sustainable economy which firmly believes in enabling and enhancing the efficiency and efficacy of our entrepreneurs. It is great to see that this year, EOY Awards has 21 Finalists with combined revenues of INR 1.87 trillion, who collectively employ more than 2,60,000 people; this is a testimony of the nation's entrepreneurial talent,” said Yadav, the minister.

Awards were also announced for nine other categories with the winners representing both mature industries and young entrepreneurs from startups, including unicorns.

The winners were selected by an nine-member independent Jury Panel led by KV Kamath, former chairman of ICICI Bank. Other Jury Members include Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Biocon, Vibha Padalkar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, HDFC Life, Neeraj Bharadwaj, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group, Amit Dixit, Head Asia Private Equity, Blackstone, Rajnish Kumar, Former Chairman, State Bank of India, Harsh C. Mariwala, Chairman, Marico, Sanjiv Mehta, CEO and Managing Director, Hindustan Unilever, and Gopal Srinivasan, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director, TVS Capital Funds