India Energy Week 2025: UrjanovaC triumphs, Breathe ESG and AgriVijay among Avinya’25 runners-up

Published on Authored by C to I News Desk

UrjanovaC Pvt Ltd was announced as the winner of Avinya’25, an energy startup competition that aims to promote Indian startups in the energy sector. The company beat competitions from 172 other participants to emerge as the best. The result was declared at the “Energize India: Catalyzing Growth Through Startup Innovation” conclave by Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday, January 28.

UrjanovaC beat competition from 172 other participants to win Avinya’25. Photo courtesy: Screengrab from X
UrjanovaC beat competition from 172 other participants to win Avinya’25. Photo courtesy: Screengrab from X
Vikram Vishal, Co-Founder and Director, UrjanovaC. Photo courtesy: LinkedIn
Vikram Vishal, Co-Founder and Director, UrjanovaC. Photo courtesy: Vikram Vishal LinkedIn Page

The event took place at the ONGC headquarters in New Delhi. The result of another startup challenge — Vasudha – was also declared by the minister.

The conclave, hosted just a fortnight before the third edition of the India Energy Week — to take place at Yashobhoomi in the national capital from February 11 to 14 — brought together energy sector veterans, investors, and innovators.

While UrjanovaC Pvt Ltd won Avinya’25, Breathe ESG Private Limited, AgriVijay, Apeiro Energy and UGreen Technology were adjudged runners-up.

For Vasudha, the global startup challenge in upstream oil and gas sector, the winner was Latin Energy Partners Inc., Paraguay and the runner up was Ultrasound Process Consulting LLC, USA

These winning startups emerged from an intensely competitive field – Avinya’25 received 173 applications from across India, while Vasudha attracted global participation in crucial areas including seismic data interpretation, AI applications, and carbon capture technologies.

The winners of the Hackathon were also announced with IIT (ISM) – Dhanbad emerging as the winner and IIT-Guwahati as the runner up.

Addressing the occasion, Puri highlighted the pivotal role of PSUs under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in fostering innovation through an INR 547.35 crore (USD 63.21 million) startup fund. Supporting 303 startups with INR 286.36 crore (USD 33.07), these efforts propel India’s vibrant ecosystem of over 110 unicorns, creating transformative growth and jobs.

Speaking on the diversification of energy supply sources, the minister noted that India had already embarked on this path.

“Earlier, we used to import from 27 countries; now we are sourcing from 39, with discussions underway with a few more,” he said. He emphasized that diversification provides strategic advantages by ensuring a broader geographical spread.

“Our imports are guided by fundamental, self-evident principles: we will source energy from wherever it is available at the right price,” he added.

Regarding the target of achieving 20 percent ethanol blending, Puri highlighted that India has already reached at 19 percent blending. Expressing confidence in surpassing the target ahead of schedule, he revealed that discussions have begun on developing a roadmap beyond 20 percent blending.

The day-long “Energize India” conclave featured thought-provoking panel discussions on identifying opportunities in the energy sector, leveraging emerging technologies, and accessing capital for energy startups. Industry leaders shared insights on how startups can contribute to India’s energy transition while maintaining the delicate balance between security, accessibility, affordability, and sustainability.

Speaking at a panel discussion, Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said, “Fossil fuel is not going anywhere in India for the next 25 years. We have several terrabytes of seismic data on our open waters earmarked for exploration. I urge our bright sparks to think about developing solutions to mine through the data and contribute to hydrocarbon exploration efforts.”

S.C.L. Das, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, stated during the panel discussion, “We are trying to develop a system whereby we assess the maturity level of different startups so that the Ministry can cater to their needs in terms of regulatory compliance or access to capital, in collaboration with other central ministries, state governments and local governments.”

The winning startups will receive prominent exposure at India Energy Week 2025, where they will showcase their innovations to over 70,000 energy professionals from 120 countries. The winners will join fourteen public sector undertaking (PSU) startups in a special startup pavilion at IEW 2025, demonstrating the breadth of innovation in India’s energy sector.

What is Avinya?

Avinya is an energy startup competition that aims to promote Indian startups in the energy sector. The initiative aims to draw focus on innovation, socio-economic impact, sustainability, diversity, and contribution to the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Avinya’25 was launched with the objective to encourage entrepreneurs, research enthusiasts, academicians, and students to innovate solutions and foster groundbreaking ideas & technologies that can shape the energy sector of the future.

Avinya’25 focusd on last edition’s themes across oil and gas value chain, low-carbon fuels, and low-carbon technologies, along with the continued focus on functional topics such as operations, HSE, digital, technology, trading, energy efficiency, capability building, and Industry 4.0.

Avinya’25 incorporated new topics such as artificial intelligence, machine learning applications, advanced battery technologies, and sustainable financing solutions.

What is Vasudha?

Vasudha is a global startup challenge at India Energy Week 2025, seeking groundbreaking innovations in the upstream Oil and Gas sector. Organised by the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI), the competition invited visionary startups worldwide to present solutions in the following five areas: Seismic interpretation, AI-driven production & reservoir management, ESG compliance, CCUS technologies, and Geothermal exploration.