India’s Finest Deep-Tech Ventures To Be At Nice
Bharat Innovates Deep-Tech Pre-Summit inaugurated at IIT Bombay; Preparing India’s Finest Deep-Tech Ventures To Represent The Nation
The Bharat Innovates Deep-Tech Pre-Summit, a landmark nationwide showcase of India’s most promising deep-technology ventures, was inaugurated in the present day at ASPIRE – IIT Bombay Research Park Foundation
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, March 21, 2026: The Bharat Innovates Deep-Tech Pre-Summit, a landmark nationwide showcase of India’s most promising deep-technology ventures, was inaugurated in the present day at ASPIRE – IIT Bombay Research Park Foundation on the IIT Bombay campus in Mumbai.
The two-day occasion was inaugurated by Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and Chairperson of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC), within the presence of senior dignitaries from the Government of India.
The distinguished gathering included Dr. Vineet Joshi, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education; Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology; Dr. Okay. Radhakrishnan, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIT Bombay; and Prof. Shireesh Kedare, Director, IIT Bombay.
The Pre-Summit serves as a precursor within the Bharat Innovates 2026 journey that culminates in India’s world innovation debut at Nice, France, in June 2026, as a part of the India-France Year of Innovation 2026, introduced by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi.
Delivering his inaugural tackle, Chief Guest Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood emphasised the significance of deep-tech innovation to India’s technological management and world competitiveness, highlighting the position of educational establishments, analysis ecosystems, and startups in advancing cutting-edge applied sciences.
In his tackle Dr. Vineet Joshi, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, underscored that Bharat Innovates 2026 as a whole-of-government effort bringing collectively the Ministry of Education, the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Biotechnology, the Space Department, and the Ministry of Defence on a single platform to reveal India’s cutting-edge deep-tech capabilities to the world. Emphasising that the initiative is as a lot about reworking India’s training ecosystem as it’s about world showcasing. He famous that the National Education Policy 2020 has already triggered a big shift from equating training with examination scores to recognising its true function as a significant contribution to society, with conviction in the direction of realizing the imaginative and prescient of Viksit Bharat by 2047. He referred to as on traders and corporates to assist establish promising startups past the metros, reiterating that innovation is just not confined by geography.
Dr. Okay. Radhakrishnan, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIT Bombay, addressed the assembled innovators and founders to work with conviction and nationwide function, and invited them to write down a brand new historical past for India. Further, he referred to as innovators as ambassadors of India and inspired them to make India proud.
Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, provided a wide-ranging perspective on India’s innovation trajectory and the decisive coverage steps underway. He famous that India is now the third-largest startup ecosystem on the planet with roughly 2 lakh startups and round 125 unicorns—a exceptional rise from simply 24 unicorns in 2017–18. Over 1,000 traders at the moment are energetic in India and almost ₹70–80 billion in enterprise capital has flowed into Indian startups in recent times.
Highlighting the hole in deep-tech financing, Prof. Karandikar famous that of complete enterprise capital investments, solely about $4–5 billion has gone into deep tech. To decisively tackle this, he introduced that in July 2025, the Union Cabinet permitted a historic ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) Fund—targeted on non-public sector R&D, together with startups, via fairness participation and versatile long-term financing. The Technology Development Board (DST) and BIRAC (DBT) have been recognized as fund managers, with various funding funds and IIT Research Parks additionally to be engaged. DST at the moment nurtures almost 30–40% of India’s estimated 8,000– 10,000 deep-tech startups via the National Mission on Cyber-Physical Systems, the National Quantum Mission, and NIDHI seed assist schemes.
Praising the IIT and IISc ecosystem, Prof. Karandikar stated, “The IITs and IISc have a giant position to play in nurturing the deep-tech ecosystem.
In his welcome tackle, Prof. Shireesh Kedare, Director, IIT Bombay, described Bharat Innovates as not merely an occasion however a deep-tech ecosystem that rests on three pillars: the training system, strategic traders and company sector for market entry and real-world grounding that transforms expertise into impression. He famous that greater than 3,000 startup purposes had been obtained from throughout the nation, from which 137 of India’s most promising deep-tech startups had been chosen via a rigorous multi-stage analysis course of spanning 13 thematic areas.
Following the inauguration, the dignitaries walked via the startup exhibition, interacting with founders and exploring improvements offered throughout devoted startup stalls and the IIT pavilion. More than 70 startups offered their concepts throughout a number of parallel pitch periods, adopted by reverse pitches from main traders and {industry} representatives highlighting precedence funding areas and industry-driven technological challenges.
The Bharat Innovates 2026 Deep-Tech Pre-Summit brings collectively stakeholders from throughout India’s innovation ecosystem and gives a nationwide platform for rising startups to attach with traders, {industry} leaders, and coverage makers forward of the worldwide showcase in France.
The Bharat Innovates 2026 programme showcases improvements throughout 13 essential expertise domains, together with Advanced Computing, Healthcare & MedTech, Space & Defence, Energy & Sustainability, Semiconductors, Biotechnology, Smart Cities & Mobility, Blue Economy, Next-Gen Communications, Agri & Food Technologies, Advanced Materials, Manufacturing & Industry 4.0, and Disaster Management.
About Bharat Innovates:
Bharat Innovates 2026 is an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, with strategic steerage from the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA). It is designed to symbolize India’s R&D-backed expertise innovation prowess – nurtured at Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs) – on the worldwide stage.
The occasion will proceed on twenty second March 2026 with further startup pitching periods, coverage discussions, investor engagement, and the Grand Finale and Awards Ceremony, the place the perfect startup pitches can be recognised.
For extra info, go to https://bharatinnovates.in/