UpStart 2025, the flagship startup pitching competition by Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kanpur, hosted their biggest edition of the national event in Bengaluru. The event was hosted in the elite Davanam Sarovar Hotel, attended by 20+ notable dignitaries, including industry leaders and international VCs from South Korea and Singapore.
The event saw the participation of 24+ startups from diverse sectors across technology, healthcare, defence, ed-tech, fashion, sustainability, and F&B, showcasing some of the most exciting early-stage innovations. The Indian Business Model competition was held in a Shark Tank-like live pitching arena, providing a 7+5 minute pitching & discussion session to the participating entrepreneurs in front of the investors, and venture capital firm representatives. The event was even telecasted live in association with StartupTV and iQue Ventures. Further, the selected startups will go through multiple levels of screening and face-to-face mentoring sessions as they prepare for the finals at IIT Kanpur campus on January 25, 2026, as a part of E-Summit’25.
The Entrepreneurship Cell IIT Kanpur team shared their insights on the event, saying, “Bengaluru represents the heartbeat of the Indian startup ecosystem, and is uniquely positioned towards extending IIT Kanpur’s vision of assisting the growth of entrepreneurs. Today’s event witnessed several highly innovative, and motivated entrepreneurs who are building for the future, with the vision of contributing towards national growth. At Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kanpur, we stand determined to help these businesses to reach the pinnacle of success, and hope to witness a growing ecosystem in the future.”
The event saw participation from notable investors and VC firms like Unicorn Incubator South Korea, Emphasis Investments, Ankur Capital, Thaksil Ventures, IAN ventures and many more. The UpStart event simultaneously took place in Hyderabad, following the earlier edition in Delhi-NCR, which witnessed participation of over 23 startups in different stages of development. The Delhi-NCR edition hosted VCs from GMR Group, Inflection Point Ventures, Finvolve, GrowX Ventures, and others. The UpStart Nationals have been emphasizing innovative ideas in fintech, health tech, deep tech, Web3, and Cybersecurity, among others.
The UpStart, brought by Entrepreneurship Cell IIT Kanpur gave entrepreneurs the opportunity to network, share ideas, and receive feedback from industry veterans, providing significant value to their personal and professional growth. The event in Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru would be followed by the Mumbai edition on December 6th, before the finalists are announced for E-Summit’25.
