New Delhi, India, April 07, 2025 – The third day of Startup Mahakumbh marked the grand conclusion of the Startup Maharathi Challenge 2025—a flagship initiative to design spotlight and support DPIIT-recognized startups tackling real-world challenges through innovation. Held under the Startup Mahakumbh umbrella, the challenge created a national scale effort to empower high-potential founders across ten key sectors with funding, visibility, and investor access.

The Startup Maharathi Challenge was concluded in the presence of Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Sanjiv, Joint Secretary DPIIT, Shri Amit Kumar, Deputy General Manager & Regional Manager, ECGC, Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner, Accel India ACT Grants, Sunali Rohra, Senior Executive Vice President, HDFC, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder & Executive Vice Chairman, Info Edge, Aman Gupta – Co Founder and CMO – boat Lifestyle, actor-entrepreneur Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Rikant Pittie, CEO & Co-founder, EaseMyTrip, and Archana Jahagirdar, Founder & Managing Partner, Rukam Capital. The winning startups were felicitated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Aman Gupta, awarding prizes with a total outlay of INR 20 crores.

Referring to all startup founders at Startup Mahakumbh as “Maharathis,” Hon’ble Union Minister Piyush Goyal urged everyone to dream big. “Startup Mahakumbh last year saw 30,000 visitors. Surpassing everyone’s expectations, this year, around 2,30,000 visitors have attended Startup Mahakumbh. Similarly, next year I want to see Startup Maharathi Challenge receiving 25000 applicants—a giant leap from 2400 entries this year. India has the capacity for exponential growth. I am confident that the winners of today’s Challenge will go back inspired, with the confidence in their own ability to succeed in the future.”

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said, “We don’t expect this to be a one-time activity. This is just the start. We expect more and more companies to get onboarded.”

“This is the culmination of everyone’s hardwork and our dreams. There has never been a startup challenge organized at this scale by the government or corporates so far. Going by the success of the Startup Maharathi Challenge 2025, I am confident we will be doing hundreds of such challenges in future,” said Shri Sanjiv Singh, Joint Secretary at the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Shri Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner, Accel India, shared his thoughts on the occasion, “The Grand Maharathi Challenge is special—it shows we don’t just encourage startups from high-tech sectors with words but with true action as well. This is also a free grant to the startup without any equity. We hope this motivates them to build the next generation of startups. We would not have dreamt this 10 years ago. I am happy that this partnership between private entities and government is multidimensional. The response this year is so encouraging. I can now proudly say we are at pole position to be the technology leader globally. “

The Startup Maharathi Challenge 2025 drew an overwhelming response with 2,000+ applications from across India. Through a multi-phase evaluation—spanning expert screening, data checks, and virtual jury rounds—over 240 promising startups were selected. The challenge tackled 11 critical problem statements in frontier sectors like satellite imagery, maritime awareness, cryptography, LLMs on sensitive data, and cybersecurity. With a funding outlay of over INR 20 crore, the initiative offered structured grant support, milestone-linked prize money, and non-monetary incentives including technical mentorship, cloud credits, business guidance, and procurement support.

Highlighting India’s rapidly expanding innovation ecosystem, nearly 40% of applications came from Tier 2 and 3 cities. Over 80 selected startups were led by women founders or co-founders, while 10 from emerging states like Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland, and J&K received special recognition—underscoring how India’s entrepreneurial spirit is thriving beyond metro hubs and reaching the grassroots.

Amidst vibrant energy, the grand finale of the Futurepreneurs Challenge at Startup Mahakumbh brought together some of India’s most promising student innovators, showcasing AI-powered solutions to pressing local challenges. Ten finalist teams pitched their breakthrough ideas in a rapid-fire format to an audience of investors, policymakers, and industry leaders. Shri Jayant Chaudhary, Hon’ble Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship graced the occasion to present the award to the winners. With mentorship, funding support, and national exposure, Futurepreneurs proved to be a powerful platform for igniting the next wave of changemakers and creators driving India’s innovation journey.

To accelerate startup growth, top performers in each sector were awarded grants of INR 10 lakh, 5 lakh, and 1 lakh respectively. Beyond funding, all shortlisted startups gained access to curated Speed Dating sessions with investors. Over two days, more than 500 one-on-one meetings were facilitated with 250+ venture capital firms, angel networks, and family offices—each carefully aligned by sector and funding interests.

Union Minister for Industry and Commerce Shri Piyush Goyal also toured the vast exhibition and interacted with various startups.

The event also featured an engaging discussion with actor entrepreneur Sonam Kapoor Ahuja on the topic From the spotlight to Boardroom- Navigating the startup ecosystem.

Startup Mahakumbh showcased a remarkable array of innovations, including an advanced platform to detect deepfakes and extract intelligence from unstructured data, high-performance materials designed for extreme conditions, a globally patented AI-powered traffic vision system for real-time road and safety monitoring, a portable, trunk-fitted energy backup unit solving range anxiety in electric vehicles, solar-powered EV charging stations with IoT-backed remote diagnostics, and a digital business management app for rural and micro women entrepreneurs. These groundbreaking solutions demonstrated the diverse and impactful ways in which startups are addressing real-world challenges across industries.

This year’s edition of Startup Mahakumbh, India’s largest-ever startup gathering, brought together over 3,000 startups, 1,091 investors and incubators, and 10,000+ delegates from across India and 60+ countries and saw a footfall of around 2,30,000 over a span of three days. 211 sessions with 750+ speakers were conducted over 3 days, and a total of 1052 startups benefited through mentoring sessions. This unprecedented scale reaffirms India’s commitment to fostering entrepreneurship, driving deep-tech innovation, and cementing its position as a global hub for startup-driven solutions.

New Delhi, April 5, 2025: Startup Mahakumbh kicked off today, uniting entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and industry leaders to propel India’s startup ecosystem forward. The opening day featured thought-provoking discussions, insightful masterclasses, and key initiative launches aimed at shaping the future of innovation and entrepreneurship.

The second day began on a high note with a panel discussion titled ‘Systemic Challenges in Indian Mobility and Solutions’, moderated by Chintan Daftardar, Program Head, Transport, WRI. Panelists included Uttam Digga, Co-founder and CEO, Porter, Adrian Smith, CEO and Co-founder, Sarla Aviation, AK Singh, Chief General Manager of Research & Development, Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), Mayank Jain, CEO – New Auto, CarDekho Group, Dr T Surya Kiran, Executive Director, ASRTU, and Priya Singh, Co-founder and Director, Chalo.

The panelists stressed the need for homegrown innovation in terms of vehicle designs and localized supply chains, along with decentralized infrastructure like battery swapping. Dr T Surya Kiran made an open call to startups to innovate for public bus transportation, adding that ASRTU is working on a mechanism that will ensure startups have business opportunities with STUs without going through the tendering process.

While discussing trends and realities, and what lies ahead in this sector, Mayank Jain posited, “We have roughly about a million STEM graduates coming out of India every year. That’s the envy of the world, right? I mean, only China is ahead of that in terms of number. So, there is no reason why India should not be leading, and we are the forefront of these AI technology and tools.”

The day also featured an impactful panel titled ‘Accelerating EV Adoption in Last-Mile Mobility’. Moderated by Varun Agni, CTO and Co-founder, Bounce, the panel included Kunal Mudra, Founder, Astranova, Chintan Daftardar, Program Head, Transport, WRI, Pulkit Khurana, Co-founder and CEO, Battery Smart, Sameer Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, RevFin, Abhishek Bansal, Co-founder, Shadowfax, and Anubhav Sharma, Co-founder Baaz Mobility.

The panel discussed how EVs are transforming urban logistics and hyperlocal delivery is becoming the testing ground for EV adoption, and agreed that unique challenges remain in financing, vehicle design and operational models. Speaking about the challenges that yet remain, Varun Agni said, “A lot of the OEMs are still quite small, not scaled, and there is obviously that risk coming from the larger, more traditional OEMs. So that’s one. There are other challenges, right? So, infrastructure, by which I mean, it’s not just about charging, but it’s also about spare part availability, after sale service support. Where do you get your vehicle repaired?”

The third engaging panel of the day, The Electrification of Mobility and the Impact on the Climate, was moderated by Adrian Schmidt, CEO and Co-founder, Sarla Aviation. On the panel with him were Gagan Agarwal, CEO and Co-founder, Planet Electric, Mahua Acharya, Founder and CEO, INTENT, Feroz Khan, Head of Government Relations, Policy Advocacy and Global Regulations, Hero MotoCorp, Vaibhav Tyagi, CTO, Kazam, and Himanshu Sharma, Associate VP, Theia Ventures.

Feroz Khan emphasized the crucial role the government played in fostering innovation and supporting the EV startup ecosystem but suggested that it was now time for the industry to give back to the government. “The government has been doing its part. I really compliment the government for doing all these things on the demand side, also on the supply side. On the supply side, we have PLI of 26,000 crores allocated to the auto sector, along with the additional ACP. So, while everything is so far so good, I think now quality of the product – that’s where the government is, of course, focusing – but I think more strength is required so that the high quality products come into the market, a sense of satisfaction is given to the consumers, and overall, it helps in encouraging the consumers to move towards the electric movement. And I think this has been happening in the segment of two and three wheelers, because these are the two segments which have been driving the electrification journey of India. What needs to be happening on the four-wheeler side, the buses and other things.”

Beyond discussions, the Mobility Pavilion showcased several innovative startups, presenting their cutting-edge solutions to investors, industry experts, and attendees. Among them, standout startups—Porter, Baaz and Karishma Global Ventures among others—represented breakthroughs in the Mobility sector.

As Day 2 concluded with more impactful discussions, networking opportunities and meaningful conversations, Startup Mahakumbh only highlighted how India’s mobility sector is poised to take off.