Startups that won India's attention in 2025: Dream11 tops, Zepto,OYO follow

Dream11 tops Wizikey's Newsmakers 2025 list as India's most visible startup; Zepto and OYO complete the top three

In a year where India’s startups battled funding winter fatigue, sharpened business models and chased profitability, Dream11 has emerged as India’s most visible startup of 2025, topping Wizikey’s annual Newsmakers – Top Startups in India list. The fantasy-gaming giant took the No. 1 spot backed by sheer media dominance — a NewsScore of 77.03, drawn from 32,500+ news items, 21,000+ headlines, and a staggering 19.88 billion cumulative reach.

 

The report, produced by global AI-driven media intelligence platform Wizikey, ranks the Hottest 500 startups using its proprietary visibility metric, NewsScore, after analysing 300 million+ media data points, 1,700 brands, and news from 400,000 digital publications between January and November 2025.

 

 

Gaming, Quick Commerce and Hospitality Shape India’s Media Mindshare

 

Dream11, long a heavyweight in India’s gaming ecosystem, continued to command consumer and regulatory attention, from IPL partnerships to the evolving conversation around online gaming norms.

 

Zepto, ranked No. 2 (NewsScore 73.71), reinforced quick-commerce as India’s most relentless battleground. The 10-minute delivery startup generated 21,600 news items, 4,400+ headlines, and one of the highest media reaches at 26.3 billion, underscoring the category’s mass relevance and investor confidence.

 

OYO, which holds No. 3 (NewsScore 69.87), sustained its visibility through expansion moves, debt restructuring updates, and the ongoing recovery of India’s hospitality sector. The company drove 11,800+ news mentions, 4,400+ headlines, and a 23.2 billion cumulative reach.

 

Top 10 Startups in India 2025 (Wizikey NewsScore)

 

1. Dream11

2. Zepto

3. OYO

4. Zerodha

5. Rapido

6. Meesho

7. Razorpay

8. Lava International

9. boAt Lifestyle

10. ACKO

 

 “The Newsmakers 2025 list reinforces a simple truth: in a noisy market, the brands that win are those that treat communications as a system, not an afterthought. Dream11, Zepto and OYO are very different businesses, but they share the same pattern – consistent storytelling, clear context and the ability to show up in the news cycle with intent," said Aakriti Bhargava, Co-founder, Wizikey.

 

The Newsmakers 2025 – Top Startups in India report also reveals structural shifts in India’s startup landscape. The leadership of Dream11 and Zepto indicates that high-frequency, daily- use categories such as fantasy gaming and instant groceries now command a disproportionate share of consumer-tech mindshare. The presence of Zerodha, Razorpay and ACKO in the top ten underscores how retail investing, digital payments and new-age insurance remain central to India’s financialisation journey, with news evolving from funding stories to deeper conversations around regulation, governance and infrastructure. 

 

Meanwhile, Lava International and boat Lifestyle signal how “Made in India” devices and aspirational, value-driven consumer brands have firmly entered the visibility big league, shaping narratives on affordability, design and local manufacturing rather than staying at the margins of the startup story. Across these categories, a common pattern emerges: companies that combine strong execution with clear, data-backed narrative design show up more consistently in the news and build more durable visibility.

 

“We’ve moved past the era where founders waited for visibility. Today’s resilient companies treat visibility as a muscle — built through product launches, partnerships, funding moves and culture stories. The Wizikey NewsScore quantifies this muscle," said Bhargava.

 

Dream11’s pole position, Zepto’s surge, and OYO’s sustained presence highlight a startup ecosystem where:

 

• daily-use digital services
• convenience-driven consumer behaviour
• and scalable, defensible business models