TOI asked top-notch investors, founders & influencers in the startup world to pick their startup, entrepreneur and investor of the year. They also polled for the best new startup, a company founded in 2015. Here are the winners:

1.Startup for the year: Ola and Oyo Rooms

Both Ola and Oyo Rooms took the top spot in their respective categories in a year when they grew exceptionally in size and scale. Having scooped up millions of dollars in capital, the two startups will have to execute with precision from here on to steer execute with precision from here on to steer themselves through their next stage of growth in markets as deep as transportation and hotels.

2.TOI's pick for startup for the year: Grofers

The hyperlocal delivery startup led by Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar was unknown at the beginning of the year. From being a business-to-business platform, Grofers pivoted to becoming a consumer facing venture and then the funding floodgates opened.

Its valuation zoomed from $33 million in February to more than $300 million in its latest $120 million fund-raise led by Softbank. Grofers' test will come in 2016 when it'll have to build a robust merchantled supply chain and fufill demand at a much larger scale.

3.Investor of the year: Nikesh Arora, president, Softbank

SoftBank's Nikesh Arora emerged as a clear winner in a year when the Japanese internet & telecoms giant doubled down on the Indian market with fresh investments in Oyo and Grofers.

Having entered the consumer internet space last year with bets on Snapdeal, Ola and Housing, Softbank became a sought after, fat cat mid-to late stage investor along with DST Global and Tiger Global.

4.TOI's pick for investor of the year: Lee Fixil, Tiger Global

Fixel has been the most fervent believer in the Indian consumer internet story for a few years now. For the first time since his early bets in Flipkart and Ola, Fixel made a string of series A investments at high valuations, heating up the startup market locally.

Fixel's unique investment theory stems from Tiger's hedge fund roots and his deep pockets, which make the firm a preferred investor for most Indian founders who are on a route to fast-paced growth which requires gobs of capital.

5.Entrepreneur of the year: Bhavish Aggarwal

Bhavish Aggarwal's year has been remarkable from having raised $900 million in funds to reaching 100 cities and diversifying into food and grocery delivery. This year catapulted his Ola into the unicorn club, comprising billion-dollar privately held startups, and saw him consolidate his leadership position with the TaxiForSure acquisition. His go-for-broke nature has won him plaudits as he fights it out with arch rival Uber.

6.TOI's pick for entrepreneur of the year: Ritesh Agarwal

Ritesh Agarwal, founder of Oyo Rooms, has a set of skeptics who have doubted his ability to steer a company which may have outgrown him. But this year, Agarwal has been able to hire and build an experienced senior team which will hold the key going forward for Oyo.

Everyone has been talking about how the 22-year-old may have come of age as a founder who can lead from the front.

7.Best new startup: Roadrunnr

Roadrunnr emerged as disrupting the logistics space with an asset-light model wherein they don't use warehouses like other logistics players.The hyperlocal delivery startup works with merchants, restaurants and e-commerce firms to deliver their orders to customers. Its backers include Nexus, Sequoia and Apolleto, Yuri Milner's personal investment vehicle.

Source : The Times Of India - tech