Samay Raina, Prajakta Kohli & over 60 other influencers got awarded at InfluencEX Awards

A stand-up comic appears alongside a skincare educator; a daily vlogger shares the spotlight with a sustainability voice. This year’s InfluenceX awards by exhibit social 2026 brought together creators from every corner of the digital world. Here’s The Reelstars’ quick, category-by-category guide to who won and what they created.

Big honours and internet personalities

InfluencEX Creator of the Year — Female — Prajakta Koli

MostlySane star Prajakta has grown from relatable comedy sketches into acting, writing and an increasingly varied creative career. Read more: Prajakta Koli’s journey from creator to screen star

InfluencEX Creator of the Year — Male — Samay Raina

Samay’s stand-up, streams and irreverent online humour have repeatedly made him part of India’s internet conversation. Read more: Samay Raina’s comeback and internet impact

Trendsetter of the Year — Samay Raina

Samay’s blend of comedy, livestream culture and unpredictable online moments has made him a recurring trend-setter.

Entrepreneur of the Year — Male — Bhuvan Bam

From BB Ki Vines to acting and business ventures, Bhuvan has built a creator career that reaches well beyond comedy sketches. Read more: Bhuvan Bam’s journey from creator to entrepreneur

Podcast Channel of the Year — Raj Shamani

Through Figuring Out, Raj has built a platform for long-form interviews on business, careers and the people behind big ideas. Read more: How creator-led podcasts are finding big audiences

Entertainer of the Year — Male — Mahesh Keshwala

Mahesh, popularly known as Thugesh, blends reaction videos, comedic commentary and internet culture with his signature cheeky humour and high-energy delivery.

Entertainer of the Year — Female — Kanvita Galeri

Kanvita’s light-hearted, personality-first entertainment is designed for easy, feel-good viewing.

YouTuber Creator of the Year — Male — Abhishek Malhan

Abhishek, popularly known as Fukra Insaan, has built a strong following through engaging challenge videos, entertaining collaborations and long-form content on YouTube.
Read more: The creator story behind the Malhan family

YouTuber of the Year — Female — Pragati Verma

Pragati’s YouTube videos mix lifestyle moments, challenges and easy-going entertainment.

Vlogger of the Year — Sourav Joshi

Sourav’s daily vlogs turn family routines and everyday moments into familiar viewing for his loyal audience. Read more: Sourav Joshi’s 40-million-subscriber milestone

Talk Of The Town — Roshni Walia

Roshni’s actor-to-creator presence blends entertainment, style and personality-led social content.

Comedy, dance and performance

Comic Creator of the Year — Female — Kimmi Pangli

By finding humour in everyday situations, Kimmi creates quick, relatable comedy that audiences can easily connect with and share.

Comic Creator of the Year — Male — Aakash Gupta

Aakash turns everyday observations into sharp stand-up, powered by timing and a distinctly relatable comic voice.

Emerging Comic Creator of the Year — Female — Deesha Katkar

Through her relatable skits and everyday comic observations, Deesha is steadily establishing herself as an emerging voice in short-form comedy.

Emerging Comic Creator of the Year — Male — Kabir Kechvani

Kabir brings a youthful, character-driven approach to comedy, finding humour in the details of daily life.

Dancing Sensation of the Year — Female — Aditi Negi

Aditi’s dance reels bring choreography, expression and polished performance together in quick, watchable clips.

Dancing Sensation of the Year — Male — Awez Darbar

Awez’s high-energy choreography, collaborations and performance-led reels have made him a recognisable face of short-form dance. Read more: How the Darbar Squad navigated the creator economy

Emerging Music Sensation of the Year — Zaid Darbar

Zaid’s performance-first videos bring music and entertainment into a familiar short-form format.

Music Sensation of the Year — Female — Taniska Bahl

Taniska shares vocal performances and music content with an intimate, understated presentation.

Music Sensation of the Year — Male — Anuv Jain

Indie singer-songwriter Anuv Jain connects with listeners through intimate songwriting and emotionally direct melodies.

Fashion, beauty and lifestyle

Emerging Fashion Creator of the Year — Female — Vridhi Giri

Vridhi’s styling-led posts pair fashion inspiration with an approachable, personal point of view.

Emerging Fashion Creator of the Year — Male — Akshit Chopra

Akshit’s menswear-led content is built around sharp outfits, clean styling and confident presentation.

Emerging Lifestyle Creator of the Year — Female — Manasi Choudhary

Manasi shares lifestyle moments and personal stories through a mix of everyday relatability and aspirational visuals.

Emerging Lifestyle Creator of the Year — Male — Yash Sachdeva

Yash uses his lifestyle feed as a space for personality, self-expression and trend-aware storytelling.

Emerging Makeup/Beauty Creator of the Year — Mruni Min

Mruni’s makeup and beauty content leans into glam, creative looks and visual transformations.

Fashion Creator of the Year — Female — Rajvee Gandhi

Rajvee’s fashion feed offers polished styling inspiration and a consistent sense of personal style.

Fashion Creator of the Year — Male — Sanket Mehta

Sanket combines fashion and visual storytelling, using presentation and performance to give his looks an identity.

Lifestyle Creator of the Year — Female — Aditi Khurana

Aditi blends fashion, lifestyle and personal moments into a polished, personality-led feed.

Lifestyle Creator of the Year — Male — Sahil Pal Singh

Sahil’s visuals focus on lifestyle, personal style and aspirational everyday storytelling.

Luxury Content Creator of the Year — Male — Mohak Narang

Mohak’s posts bring an aspirational lens to luxury lifestyle and premium experiences.

Luxury Content Creator of the Year — Female — Sakshi Mittal

Sakshi pairs luxury fashion and lifestyle content with an elegant, curated visual approach.

Makeup / Beauty Creator of the Year — Female — Tanya Singh

Tanya brings glam looks, beauty trends and confident styling into her makeup-focused feed.

Makeup / Beauty Creator of the Year — Male — Sujal Thakar

Sujal experiments with beauty and grooming through distinctive looks and bold on-camera presentation.

Skincare Educator of the Year — Mansi Goel

Mansi explains skincare topics in an accessible format for viewers looking to understand products and routines.

Food, fitness and well-being

Fitness Content Creator of the Year — Female — Soniya Singh

Soniya brings workout motivation and fitness-led lifestyle content to an audience looking for everyday inspiration.

Fitness Content Creator of the Year — Male — Rohit Zinjurke

Rohit blends fitness, motivation and a personality-driven social-media presence.

Food Content Creator of the Year — Female — Anushka Rawat

Anushka turns recipes and food experiences into warm, inviting content for curious eaters.

Food Content Creator of the Year — Male — Ranveer Brar

Chef Ranveer Brar makes food storytelling richer with recipes, cultural context and his distinctive conversational style.

Health & Wellness Creator of the Year — Female — Dr. Mital Rathod

Dr. Mital shares digestible health and wellness information through accessible educational posts.

Health & Wellness Creator of the Year — Male — Dr. Yash Chadha

Dr. Yash uses his medical knowledge to make common health and wellness questions easier to understand.

Money, business, tech and gaming

Emerging Tech Content Creator of the Year — Abhirav Chand

Abhirav translates gadgets and emerging technology into short, accessible creator-led content.

Entrepreneur of the Year — Female — Pari Gulati

Pari represents a creator-founder approach, using her platform to combine entrepreneurship with personal branding.

Finance Educator of the Year — Female — CA Saheli Jain

CA Saheli makes money topics less intimidating through clear financial education and practical explanations.

Finance Educator of the Year — Male — Ankur Warikoo

Ankur simplifies personal finance, career decisions and self-development into approachable, actionable lessons. Read more: Ankur Warikoo’s approach to financial stability

Gamer of the Year — Female — Payal Dhare

Payal Gaming is known for streaming, gameplay and her strong connection with India’s gaming community. Read more: Payal Gaming’s growing ambitions beyond streaming

Gamer of the Year — Male — Anshu Bisht (GamerFleet)

GamerFleet’s streams and gaming videos mix gameplay with humour and an easy sense of camaraderie.

LinkedIn Influencer of the Year — Vedika Bhaia

Vedika is known for practical LinkedIn and personal-branding advice, turning professional growth into engaging content.

Tech Content Creator of the Year — Gaurav Chaudhary (Technical Guruji)

Technical Guruji, or Gaurav Chaudhary, has made gadgets, reviews and tech updates understandable to a huge Hindi-speaking audience. Read more: The Reelstars’ guide to India’s leading tech creators

Travel, automobiles and visual creativity

Artfluencer of the Year — Abhinav Yadav

Abhinav brings a creative twist to DIY, plants and sustainable home décor, making everyday spaces feel full of possibilities.

Motorhead of the Year — Female — Swati Roja

Swati uses her platform to share her enthusiasm for motorcycles and motoring culture.

Motorhead of the Year — Male — Prabhjot Singh

Prabhjot’s motoring content brings road journeys, vehicles and an energetic on-camera personality together.

Travel Creator of the Year — Female — Sonia Garg

Sonia’s travel-led posts combine destination imagery with a sense of discovery and personal style.

Travel Creator of the Year — Male — Chitranshu Sharma

Chitranshu shares travel and hospitality experiences through polished, destination-first storytelling.

Voices, causes and storytelling

Body Positivity Voice of the Year — Rumi Rai

Rumi’s body-positivity and self-love content encourages viewers to feel more comfortable in their own skin.

Couple Content Creator of the Year — Smruti & Oskar

The duo shares relationship and lifestyle moments with an easy-going chemistry that drives their couple content.

Creator With a Cause — Hussain Maner

Hussain uses his platform for cause-led content and conversations that aim to go beyond entertainment.

Infotainment Creator of the Year — Kavya Karnatac

Kavya gives educational and informative subjects a playful, curiosity-led treatment that makes learning feel entertaining.

LGBTQIA+ Voice of the Year — Gaurav Panchal

Gaurav’s content brings LGBTQIA+ visibility and personal expression into the mainstream creator conversation.

Storytelling Creator of the Year — Ruchika Lohiya

Ruchika’s short-form stories give ordinary emotions and everyday moments a personal, engaging voice.

Sustainability Voice of the Year — Aman Sharma

Aman uses accessible content to bring sustainability and environmental awareness into everyday conversations.

Screen and streaming entertainment

OTT Creator of the Year — Male — Karan Kundrra

Karan combines screen entertainment with a strong online fandom across television and OTT audiences.

OTT Creator of the Year — Female — Tejasswi Prakash

Tejasswi brings her screen career and personality-led digital presence together for an engaged fan community.

What do the InfluencEX 2026 winners tell us?

One award season, dozens of niches: the InfluencEX 2026 list shows how varied the word “creator” has become. The most familiar names still draw attention, but at the same time, the emerging and specialist categories are just as telling.. Audiences are finding their people in everything from personal finance and gaming to inclusive storytelling and do-it-yourself art.

For a look back at how the list has evolved, see The Reelstars’ InfluencEX Awards 2024 recap.

Source: Exhibit Social’s InfluencEX 2026 winners list