'Created jobs for youth and gig workers': Deepinder Goyal wins EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025

Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal was named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 at a ceremony in Mumbai on Wednesday. An 11-member jury cited his impact on India's consumption patterns through his consumer-tech businesses. Goyal will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo in June 2025.

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"Through his steadfast focus on innovation, operational excellence and long-term thinking, Deepinder has not only created exceptional shareholder value but has also created thousands of jobs for youth and gig workers and empowered an ecosystem of entrepreneurs across the country," EY said in a statement. 

When Goyal was named among the finalists earlier, EY had said he built a brand - Zomato - that became a household name in India’s food delivery market. An alumnus of IIT Delhi, he began by collecting and scanning menus from around 1,200 restaurants across Delhi NCR, which were made available through the digital restaurant directory Foodiebay, later rebranded as Zomato in 2010.

Though the company entered food delivery later than some competitors, EY noted that Goyal steered Zomato's expansion in a highly competitive market. The company reported a 59% market share in FY25, making it India's largest food delivery platform.

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Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal felicitated Deepinder Goyal, Uday Kotak and the other category winners. Addressing the gathering, Goyal said India's entrepreneurial energy had become central to the country’s growth trajectory. "In the last 11 years, entrepreneurship has become Bharat’s greatest strength.’ We are witnessing the rise of a confident, aspirational India with 65% of our population under 35 years of age, 25 crore citizens lifted out of poverty, and 2.3 million STEM graduates entering the workforce every year, creating an unmatched demographic and innovation advantage," the minister said.

He cited macroeconomic indicators, saying, "Our macroeconomic fundamentals remain robust real GDP growth of 8.2% in Q2 FY26, inflation on a downward trajectory, foreign exchange reserves touching $725 billion, and banking sector NPAs at historic lows. India attracted $80 billion in FDI in FY25 alone, reflecting global confidence in our reforms and policy stability."

On structural reforms, he said, "Through next-generation reforms from consolidating 29 labour laws into 4 simplified labour codes to improving Ease of Doing Business, and implementing forward-looking tax and compliance reforms we are reducing friction and enhancing competitiveness."

Referring to trade agreements, the minister said that India's high-quality Free Trade Agreements, concluded during Modi Government, now provide preferential market access to 38 nations, to about two-third of global trade. Notably, trade with Australia and the UAE has doubled since the FTAs came into force. "Moreover, these FTAs fully protect sensitive sectors like Agriculture, MSMEs, Dairy, Fisheries, Labour intensive sectors like textiles, etc."

He also spoke about long-term initiatives such as PM Gati Shakti, INR 1 lakh crore for Research, Development and Innovation, the Deep Tech Fund of Funds, and India's leadership in digital public infrastructure like UPI, which is now facilitating over a million global transactions. 

With these initiatives, he said, the government was laying the foundation of a future-ready economy. "As Prime Minister has said, ‘This is India’s moment’. The world recognises India as a key engine of global growth. I urge our entrepreneurs especially MSMEs to leverage our FTAs, invest in innovation, scale globally, and become the architects of Viksit Bharat @2047."

Category winners included Abhishek Lodha of Lodha Group in Energy, Real Estate and Infrastructure; Ajay Bhardwaj of Anthem Biosciences in Life Sciences and Healthcare; Gopal Vittal of Bharti Airtel in the Entrepreneurial CEO category; Jasbir Singh of Amber Enterprises in Manufacturing; Karan Bhagat of 360 One WAM in Services; Pranav Goel and Uttam Digga of Porter in the Start-up category; Sunil Vachani of Dixon Technologies in Business Transformation; and Vir S Advani of Blue Star in Consumer Products & Retail.

The EOY 2025 winners reported a collective revenue of nearly Rs 4 lakh crore, a combined market capitalisation of over Rs 22 lakh crore and employment for almost 2.8 lakh people. 

Uday Kotak, chairman of Gift City and a former banker, received the Special Jury Award for what the organisers described as his contributions to the Indian banking and finance sector and his influence on entrepreneurs.

Rajiv Memani, chairman and CEO of EY India, said the winners reflected broader changes underway in the economy. "Accelerated reforms, deeper global integration and AI revolution are together reshaping India’s economy, unlocking unprecedented opportunities for entrepreneurs. Our 2025 winners represent the very best of Indian entrepreneurship. Their stories remind us that a new India is emerging - inspired by bold ideas, world-class execution and constant innovation. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the winners for the exceptional impact they have created."