The Year Of Moonshots, AI And IPOs: Meet The Newsmakers Of 2025
by Lokesh Choudhary · Inc42SUMMARY
- Inc42’s annual newsmakers list is back, putting the spotlight on the people that made waves in 2025, but this time we have only focussed on startup founders
- The 2025 newsmakers list features the likes of Aadit Palicha to Deepinder Goyal and from Aravind Srinivas to the likes of the founders of Groww, Urban Company, Minimalist and others that had a standout year
- Most will continue to rake in the headlines even in the following year, but for now, here’s who made the cut in 2025
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Inc42’s annual Newsmakers list is back, putting the spotlight on the founders and operators who grabbed the headlines in 2025. Usually, we focus on stakeholders across the ecosystem from policymakers to investors, but this time around our choices are startups founders — with just the one exception as you will see.
The usual names — Deepinder Goyal, Aadit Palicha, Vijay Shekhar Sharma among them — obviously made the cut, not just because of their profile, but also because this was a year where they had a significant role in setting the narrative or disrupting it.
And of course with Indian startups making a beeline for the stock exchanges, we also have a fair share of founders who took their companies public. The likes of Groww, PhysicsWallah, Pine Labs and others all feature.
And 2025 was also a year of calculated risk. From AI to a new push towards healthtech 2.0 and longevity to the ban on real money gaming. This also tested founders and created new opportunities for giants. This was a major factor in some of our choices as you will see.
Without any further delay, these are Inc42’s Newsmakers of 2025.
Note: The below list is not meant to be a ranking. The personalities have been selected on Inc42’s editorial discretion and listed in alphabetical order