Sakthi Masala and Brand Avatar conducted the ninth edition of the Homepreneur Awards 2026 to honour women entrepreneurs from Tamil Nadu and the global Tamil diaspora community for their accomplishments in various areas of business, social welfare, education, healthcare, arts, food, beauty and many more. The awards held on August 9 at the Lady Andal Auditorium in Chennai, highlighted women who have translated their skills and ideas into successful businesses and impactful initiatives.
The awards were presented by Thiru. The Minister for School Education, Tamil Development, Information & Publicity, Government of Tamilnadu, Mr. Rajmohan Arumugam, along with other dignitaries, including P.C. Duraisamy, Founder, Sakthi Masala and Dr. Santhi Duraisamy, Director, Sakthi Masala and CEO, Brand Avatar, Hemachandran were present.
Key Highlights
- Homepreneur Awards 2026 conducted to honour women entrepreneurs
- Nine women entrepreneurs recognised across diverse sectors and categories
- Student Edition encouraged young women to explore entrepreneurship opportunities
Nine women entrepreneurs were recognised in the 2026 edition, in various categories. The winners in the Digital Media & Entertainment category is G. Swetha Jessy from Chennai and NRI category is Vidhyaa Chandramohan from Abu Dhabi. S. Umamageswari from Chennai won in the category of Healthcare, Sports & Fitness and G. Sayadevi from Chennai got the award for Social Welfare category.
T. Kavimahilini Thangaraj from Palani/Dindigul emerged as the winner in Education & Literature while Healer R. Sankari from Chennai was acknowledged in Beauty & Wellness. P. Soundriya Lakshmi from Erode was awarded for Home Retail & Home Professionals and Chitra Lingeswaran from Chennai was awarded for Arts & Culture. Gayathri Sivakumar (Madurai) scored the highest in the Food & Beverages category.
The awards also included the Inspirational Women Awards, recognising women for their contributions in various fields. The winners in the categories of Business and Education were Dr. Nandini Rangaswamy and Dr. Sowmiya Anbumani in the Politics category. Tmt. Kavitha Ramu, IAS was honored with Public Service & Arts honors. Urvashi and Dushara Vijayan received awards for Entertainment & Media.
The Homepreneur Awards 2026 – Student Edition, organised by Startup Singam and powered by Zen Store, aimed to inspire young women to have a go at entrepreneurship and create their business concepts. The program has an added benefit of introducing a young element to the awards, encouraging students to think about entrepreneurship from an early age.
In its eight previous editions, the Homepreneur Awards have helped to support over 19,000 homepreneurs, identify over 450 women entrepreneurs and enable over 2,500 participants to take part in the jury interview process.
The business viability, social impact and entrepreneurial potential were used to shortlist applications submitted for the 2026 edition by the Centre for Research, Entrepreneurship & Social Technology (CREST) at IIT Madras. The 25-member expert jury then judged the finalists in nine categories and picked the winners.
In his address, Hemachandran, CEO of Brand Avatar, noted that the importance of the awards in identifying and showcasing women entrepreneurs and in enriching the entrepreneurial culture, especially among the Tamil community internationally.
Brand Avatar congratulated Sakthi Masala, Milky Mist, Indian Overseas Bank, Bizmarg, Shero Home Foods, Graciss Femininity and Lakshmi Krishna Naturals for their support for the ninth edition of the Homepreneur Awards.
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