Insights, Innovation, Inspiration: Startup Mahakumbh’s Day 1 A Roaring Success

The first day of ‘Startup Mahakumbh’, India’s largest startup event, witnessed insightful remarks from government officials and ecosystem veterans, along with discussions on multiple topics ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) to omnichannel strategy for D2C brands.

The three-day event’s inaugural ceremony was attended by luminaries, such as DPIIT secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, and leaders from India’s biggest startups like Zomato and EaseMyTrip. 

Speaking during a panel discussion on the theme ‘Role Of Startups In Realising The Vision Of Viksit Bharat’,  EaseMyTrip cofounder Rikant Pittie said that several industries will see major changes in the coming years because of AI. 

Pittie was part of a panel discussion on the theme “Role Of Startups In Realising The Vision Of Viksit Bharat”. 

“There will be a remarkable change in how we plan and book travel. For instance, we would be able to find recommendations via leisure mode on our phones easily. Today, there are 1.5K traveltech startups under the DPIIT. More will join the league in the coming time. Currently, India is the 22nd largest travel destination. To progress towards Viksit Bharat, we must bring our country under the top 10,” Pittie said. 

The panel discussion was moderated by Arvind Gupta from the Digital India Foundation. It also featured Debjani Ghosh from Nasscom, Anil Kumar Sagar from the Uttar Pradesh government’s department of IT, and Peak XV Partners’ Ranjan Anandan as panellists. 

During his opening address, Assocham vice president and Sorin Investments founder and chairman Sanjay Nayar said, “Startup Mahakumbh has captured the entrepreneurial spirit of India. Today, there are 1.2 Lakh DPIIT-recognised startups in the country. These startups have attracted talent and investment with their ingenuity.”

Insightful Discussions To Boost Startup Growth

Kant, in his keynote address, highlighted the exponential increase in the number of startups in the country over the last few years and underlined the importance of corporate governance.

“Since launching Startup India 8 years ago, we have grown from four-five incubators to 400+ incubators. We have had a 20X increase in funding and a 12X increase in investors. Startups have created close to a million jobs (directly) and 10 Mn jobs indirectly, so it is a story of growth with massive job creation. Corporate governance is a must for startups, but regulations stifle innovation, so self-governance is important,” he said.

The event also hosted a fireside chat on ‘Building Multi-Generational Startups’ with Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal as the speaker and Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani as the moderator. The Zomato founder emphasised the need to constantly innovate to build multi-generational startups. 

Meanwhile, Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar delivered a keynote address on ‘Omnichannel Strategy For D2C Brands’.

Startup Pavilions Shed Spotlight On India’s Transformative Startups

Besides insightful sessions, the event hosted 10+ thematic pavilions where startups showcased their innovative offerings. 

WinZO, Games24X7, and JetSynthesis exhibited their offerings at the esports and gaming pavilion, while the likes of Builder.ai and Cosmocloud were part of the AI pavilion. Jenika, Aariyum, and Agrostar showcased their offerings at the agrotech pavilion.

Neeraj Aggarwal from the Boston Consulting Group, Peyush Bansal from Lenskart, Sivasubramanian Ramann from SIDBI, and Gaurav Singh Kushwaha from BlueStone were among the other prominent speakers on the first day of the event.

States like Karnataka, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh set up their own stalls to showcase the innovative startups based there. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had its own stall. MeitY Startup Hub CEO Jeet Vinay moderated a session on the topic ‘Commercialization For Deeptech Innovation: IP Framework’ at the deeptech pavilion.  

The startup exhibition was also attended by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal

The exciting first day of Startup Mahakumbh set the tone for subsequent days, which will be filled with action-filled masterclasses, keynotes, panel discussions, and fireside chats with an aim to build solutions for the ‘New India’