First Edition of Startup Mahakumbh to Take Place on March 18-20 The summit will be a first-of-its-kind event to bring together India's entire startup ecosystem including startups, investors, incubators and accelerators, and industry leaders from various sectors
By Entrepreneur Staff •
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The government of India is all set to unveil 'Startup Mahakumbh' on March 18. The three-day event will be a showcase of innovation in the startup ecosystem, featuring 1000+ emerging startups across 10 verticals- AI &SaaS, Agritech, Biotech and Pharma, B2B and Manufacturing, Climate tech, Deep Tech, D2C, Gaming & Esports, Fintech, and Incubators/Accelerators.
Taking place in the national capital at Bharat Mandapam and Pragati Maidan, the event is being led by ASSOCHAM, NASSCOM, Bootstrap Incubation & Advisory Foundation, TiE and IVCA. The summit will be a first-of-its-kind event to bring together India's entire startup ecosystem including startups, investors, incubators and accelerators, and industry leaders from various sectors.
India emerged as the 3rd largest ecosystem for startups globally as of 31st May 2023. At present, there are 90,000+ startups and 110+ unicorn companies headquartered in the country. Startup Mahakumbh sees its organizing committee consist of Anjali Bansal, Founding Partner of Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund; Archana Jahagirdar, Founder & Managing Partner, Rukam Capital; Nithin Kamath, Founder & CEO, Zerodha and Rainmatter; Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM; Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner, Accel; Rikant Pittie, Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip and Vikram Gupta, Founder and Managing Partner, IvyCap Ventures.
The confluence event will see 2000+ startups, 3000+ conference delegates, 10+ country delegations, 1000+ investors, 300+ incubators and accelerators, and 50,000+ business visitors.
The AI & SaaS track will be led by Umakant Soni Chairman, AI Foundry; Co-founder & former founding CEO, ARTPARK; Hari Balasubramanian Angel Investor & Mentor Anagh Prasad Investor, Accel; Agritech by Vineet Rai, Founder & Chairman, Aavishkaar Group; B2B & Manufacturing by Vidhya Ananthakrishnan, Chief of Staff, Accel and Sarthak Singh Investor, Accel; Biotech & Pharma by Taslimarif Saiyed, Director and CEO, C-Camp; Deep Tech by Debjani Ghosh, President, nasscom; Climate Tech by Sanjay Nayar, Sr. Vice President, ASSOCHAM, Samir Shah, Managing Partner, Peak Sustainability and Aakash Shah Partner, Peak Sustainability Ventures; D2C by Ankit Nagori, Founder, Curefoods; Gaming and Esports by Rajan R Navani, Chairman & Managing Director, Jetline Group of companies; Founder & CEO, JetSynthesys and Girish Menon Chief Strategy Officer, JetSynthesys; Fintech by Pramod Bhasin, Founder, Genpact; Founder, Clix Capital Services; Chairman, ICRIER, Siddarth Pai, Founding Partner, CFO & ESG Officer, 3one4 Capital and Sanjeev Kumar Gupta, CEO, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission; and Incubators / Accelerators by Poyni Bhatt, Former CEO, SINE IIT Bombay & Startup Advisor, Suresh Narasimha, MD, Co-Create Ventures and Karthik Kittu, Chief of Staff to Chairman, Startup Karnataka.
The event will also host a special day dedicated to Future Entrepreneurs in India on March 20, 2024. This sub-event will see a gathering of close to 3,000 individuals handpicked by colleges and incubators nationwide for their inclination towards entrepreneurship. "Today's youth are not merely job seekers; they are the architects of India's future. Through the Future Entrepreneurs Day, we aim to empower these young minds to become job creators, driving innovation and progress in our society," said Prashanth Prakash, Member, Organising Committee, Startup Mahakumbh.
Some of the prominent personalities speaking at the event include Amitabh Kant, Former CEO, Niti Aayog; Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman, Info Edge; Deepinder Goyal, Founder & CEO, Zomato; Falguni Nayar, Founder, Nykaa; Kris Gopalakrishnan Chairman - Axilor Ventures Co-founder - Infosys & President - Infosys Science Foundation; Sameer Brij Verma, Managing Director, Nexus Venture Partners; Debjani Ghosh, President, nasscom; and S Ramann, CMD, SIDBI.
Founders from startups like Ather Energy, BlueStone, boAt, BookMyShow, CaratLane, CropIn, DeHaat, Agrostar, Zetwerk, Captain Fresh, and Mapmygenome will also be sharing their valuable insights about their experiences and startups.
India's startup ecosystem is expected to grow at a YoY growth of a consistent 12-15 per cent.
It is also holding a nationwide Contest 'AI for Public Good' to recognize AI innovations for social impact. Startups, research labs, universities, indie developers, and students have been invited to showcase their AI-driven solutions. The top 6 projects will also win a cash prize of INR 500,000 with the deadline for submission of applications being March 15.
The government-backed initiative will work towards diving deep into the latest trends and challenges in the space, exhibit a wide array of innovative products, technologies, and business models from startups, serve as a vital platform for Indian startups to network with global parties, and connect startups with suitable investors.
