Rajasthan Set To Spotlight India’s Fastest-Growing Startups With TGS100

The Rajasthan government’s Department of Information Technology & Communication (DoIT&C) is partnering with TiE Rajasthan to host a landmark event – the Rajasthan DigiFest X TiE Global Summit 2026. The entrepreneurship conclave will be held in Jaipur from January 4-6, 2026, at the state-of-the-art Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre.

A key highlight of the Summit is TGS100, the flagship startup discovery and acceleration initiative of the TiE Global Summit (TGS). Designed as a global hunt for the most promising early stage startups, TGS100 aims to identify, evaluate and spotlight 100 high-potential, investable startups poised to become the next wave of technology and innovation leaders. These shortlisted startups will pitch their ideas across morning and afternoon sessions on January 5 and 6.

This announcement comes at a defining moment for India’s startup ecosystem, which has rapidly risen to become the world’s third-largest over the past decade. Today, the country is home to more than 70,000 tech startups, 125 unicorns and 147 soonicorns — a thriving innovation landscape that continues to redefine scale and ambition across emerging markets. 

Rajasthan itself has emerged as a burgeoning hub, with over 7.2K+ under the iStart initiative, giving rise to success stories such as CarDekho, Wooden Street, Finova Capital and Minimalist.

TGS100 taps into the collective expertise of TiE’s global Charter Member network and leading VCs, setting a new benchmark for early stage investment readiness for startups registered in India as well as global ventures looking to raise capital from Indian investors.

The programme acts as a high-quality pipeline for founders building scalable, investment-ready ventures. More than just recognition, TGS100 serves as a true launchpad connecting startups to capital, customers, mentors, industry leaders and global visibility.

This year’s edition focuses on high-impact, technology-led startups with strong scalability and clear market validation across key themes like deeptech, AI/ ML, climate tech and sustainability, healthtech and bio-innovation, fintech, SaaS and digital platforms, consumer tech and mobility, and social impact and inclusive innovation.

Startups applying to TGS100 must be IP-able, at the idea or early stage, with some form of external validation, and actively seeking to raise between $100K to $1 Mn to scale towards a Pre-Series A round.

Multi-Layer Evaluation & Founder Preparation

TGS100 is central to the Summit’s mission, reinforcing TiE’s mandate of fostering entrepreneurship at scale by creating a high-quality pipeline of investment-ready startups for its global investor network. By bringing together capital, ideas and innovation, it positions TGS as a global convergence point for early-stage entrepreneurship while strengthening TiE’s standing as a global accelerator for emerging ventures. 

The programme is being led by the Summit leadership, including convener Mahavir Pratap Sharma and chairs Rajesh Mundra and Rajneesh Bhandari.

The evaluation process incorporates multiple safeguards to ensure fairness, neutrality and credibility. The selection journey is structured across several phases, beginning with the pre-Summit application window, which was open online via the TGS Portal until November 30. During this phase, startups submitted their pitch decks, traction metrics and team/ product details for the initial screening. This will be followed by a structured series of evaluations:

1. Regional Evaluations (Up To December 15, 2025): TiE Members and regional VCs will conduct a virtual evaluation round to identify and shortlist the most promising applicants.
2. Global Jury Round (Up To December 20, 2025): Shortlisted startups will participate in virtual pitching sessions to a global panel of investors, culminating in the final selection of the top 100 startups. 

The judging panels typically comprise TiE Charter Members from 63+ global chapters, partners from leading VC funds of India, the US, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, as well as corporate innovation leaders and successful entrepreneurs.

To ensure objectivity, TGS100 employs a multi-layer evaluation (regional, cross-chapter and global jury), a scoring criteria standardisation that scores against a shared global template (innovation and IP, market validation, team capability, scalability and investment readiness), a strict conflict-of-interest protocol requiring jury members to declare and rescue themselves from evaluating any startup they have directly invested in or mentored, and a digital audit trail for complete transparency. This establishes TGS100 as a credible and integrity-driven startup selection platform. 

The journey for the TGS100 top 100 finalists will not stop at selection – it will include a curated ‘Founder Preparation Programme’ leading up to the Summit on December 30, 2025. 

The programme will include virtual masterclasses on pitch architecture, unit economics, fundraising strategy, investor psychology, and global market expansion playbooks. It will also feature sector-specific deep-dive Workshops covering areas like AI/ deeptech productisation, healthtech regulations and climate tech impact metrics. 

Critically, each startup will receive a dedicated one-on-one mentor match with a TiE Charter Member, an investor mentor and a domain expert, culminating in intensive pitch refinement sessions and investor-readiness bootcamps to prepare them for the Summit-day pitching and media interactions.

A Global Stage For Growth & Opportunity 

The final selection will deliver an unmatched platform for the top 100 startups, placing them at the centre of global investor attention. TGS100 reinforces the Summit’s broader mission of shaping one of the world’s strongest founder-support ecosystems driving measurable impact through investments, strategic partnerships, deep mentorship and meaningful job creation.

The Summit showcase on January 4, 2026, will give finalists unparalleled visibility, as they will get to present their ventures before 10,000+ delegates, including 300+ investors, corporates, media and global partners. The showcase will feature live pitch sessions and will put the spotlight on the startups across TGS’ main stage and digital platforms. TGS100’s previous winners include Sale Assist, SandLogic, and Seekho, underscoring the programme’s track record of identifying future category leaders.

For the selected startups, the platform opens doors to direct investor access through closed-door VC roundtables, speed-networking sessions and curated introductions to TiE’s global investor network, offering a pathway to secure over $1 Mn in funding. Finalists also receive a 30% discount on exhibition space at the Summit, further strengthening their visibility and outreach.

Beyond investment, TGS100 is designed for strategic growth. It enables founders to forge partnerships through enterprise-customer connects, government engagement opportunities and referrals to global incubators and accelerators, helping startups expand into new markets. Startups gain a powerful recognition and credibility boost, receiving the “TGS 100 Top Startups” badge, VC-choice awards and media amplification.

TiE ensures broad-based representation across the ecosystem by attracting strong participation from leading Indian innovation hubs such as Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai, as well as global chapters including Silicon Valley, Dubai and Singapore. Dedicated initiatives like TiE Women and TiE University further strengthen diversity across gender, geography and industry.

TGS100 finalists benefit from extended mentorship, long-term access to TiE Charter Members and priority entry into TiE accelerator programmes. With pre-arranged, hassle-free meetings, closed-door interactions and opportunities to connect with potential cofounders and mentors across keynotes and parallel sessions, TGS100 becomes an essential launchpad for high-potential early stage startups.