BITS Pilani’s Startup Accelerator Conquest To Provide Early Stage Startups Mentorship, Funding

BITS Pilani’s seven-week-long startup accelerator programme, ‘Conquest’, is all set to help early stage startups scale their businesses by providing them guidance from experts in its 20th edition.

Run entirely by a team of 25 students, the programme is structured into two phases – online mentorship and one-week offline phase. It empowers early stage startups through equity-free grants, mentorship, and industry exposure. 

The programme’s 1:1 mentorship and workshops address challenges like product-market fit and customer acquisition. Conquest also fosters a strong community for resource sharing and collaboration. 

For the 20th edition of the accelerator programme, Conquest organised a launch event on April 13, 2024 in Gurugram. Registrations for the latest edition began on April 15 and ended on May 31.

The online mentoring phase for the edition will run from June 10-July 25, 2024.

Starting from this phase, each founder will be paired with a dedicated coach, provided 1:1 mentorship sessions and get an opportunity to engage in fireside chats with other successful founders. 

NoBroker’s Amit Agarwal and Postman’s Abhijeet Kane are among the founders who featured in the earlier editions of Conquest as mentors.

The founders of the top startups from the online phase will go to Bengaluru for the one-week offline phase from July 29-August 3, 2024. This phase is envisioned to provide the startups of the cohort exclusive networking opportunities. It includes knowledge sessions and investment workshops by senior leaders of investment firms such as Accel, WestBridge Capital, among others. Office visits and networking mixers also happen during the offline phase.  

The accelerator programme culminates on the ‘Demo Day’. In the previous edition, winner Glovatrix and runner-up Verdant were awarded a grant of more than INR 10 Lakh each. 

The Demo Day also includes keynote addresses from industry experts. PeepalCo group CEO Ashish Singhal, 3one4 Capital founding partner and chief investment officer Pranav Pai, and Shiprocket cofounder Vishesh Khurana are among the prominent entrepreneurs who addressed the founders of the startups from the cohort in the past editions.

The past alumni of Conquest include Thinkerbell (a Shark Tank India-featured startup for visually impaired), BiteSpeed and Atlan. Atlan is currently valued at approximately $500 Mn. 

The Pressing Need For More Programmes Like Conquest

Over the years, Conquest has helped hundreds of founders scale up their early stage startups. The programme functions on a ‘zero-cost zero-equity’ model, meaning startups do not incur any cost. Instead, they are given a platform to earn grants to help fuel their growth. It attracts diverse startups to the event.

Such programmes not only provide funding opportunities but also facilitate mentorship and networking to help budding founders. The guidance they receive helps founders find product-market fit for their startups and gain initial traction. It also prepares them to handle the ups and downs that are a part of any entrepreneur’s journey.

Amid the boom in the Indian startup ecosystem, the youngsters in the country are brimming with ideas and want to take the startup plunge. As such, there is an acute need for more programmes like Conquest to guide these young entrepreneurs.