Published on: August 31, 2026
New Delhi,31st August 2026: The first edition of the Ideabaaz Startup Fest, Delhi’s biggest startup extravaganza, concluded after five days of bringing together the who’s who of India’s startup, technology, investment, academic, government officials, market regulators and entertainment ecosystems at Bharat Mandapam, Hall 3, from August 26–30.
The inaugural edition emerged as a high-energy platform connecting founders, investors, corporates, academic institutions, innovators and creators, while creating tangible pathways for startups to access capital, mentorship, market opportunities and strategic partnerships.
With initiatives including the Ideabaaz Cohort, Live Demo Day, Startup Awards, investor interactions and engaging founder experiences, the fest aims to create meaningful opportunities for startups to connect, learn, gain visibility and unlock growth.
The five-day fest witnessed the signing of 12+ strategic MoUs and partnerships spanning academia, innovation, investment and entrepreneurship, further strengthening Ideabaaz’s vision of creating a nationwide bridge between ideas, institutions, industry and investment. Some high-profile partnerships announced include JIIF (JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation), Chitkara University, Trigen Wealth, MentorX, Jindagi Live Angels Network, to name a few.
The high-impact Demo Day of the inaugural Women in Tech Accelerator Program, which was launched earlier this year by BML Munjal University and Ideabaaz, presented their startups to investors, industry leaders, and ecosystem partners.
A key highlight of the festival was the announcement of Bharat Ascend, led by the IITM Global Research Foundation (IITM Global) in partnership with Ideabaaz, India’s first media-integrated, end-to-end value-accretive startup platform. The initiative aims to discover 100 high-potential ideas from Tier II and Tier III cities and emerging innovation ecosystems across India in 365 days, and create pathways to transform these ideas into prototypes, pilots, investable ventures, market-ready products and globally scalable enterprises.
On the sidelines of the Ideabaaz startup fest, Eworks, an upcoming edutech startup, also launched their startup.
The five-day extravaganza witnessed a star-studded line-up of actors, investors, entrepreneurs and digital creators, including Dia Mirza, Bhumi Pednekar, Shibani Kashyap, Ashneer Grover, Ranveer Allahbadia and Pratik Gandhi, bringing together diverse voices from business, entertainment and the creator economy.
On the sidelines of the event, Pratik Gandhi announced the opening of registrations for Season 2 of Ideabaaz, following the resounding response to the first season and reinforcing the platform’s ambition to build a larger national movement around entrepreneurship and innovation.
Out of the many highlights of the Ideabaaz Startup Fest, one truly stood out – Ideabaaz Cohort Demo Day, where Ideabaaz committed ₹25 lakh each to all 10 participating startups, from its maiden fund with BeyondSeed Capital, highlighting that Ideabaaz isn’t about merely giving founders a stage or visibility; it’s about putting real conviction, capital and skin in the game.
Adding a new dimension to startup pitching, Ideabaaz, in partnership with entrepreneur Arjun Vaidya, also introduced “Pickle & Pitch”, an unconventional format where 17 founders pitched their brands after taking part in a game of pickleball, combining entrepreneurship, sport and networking in an engaging new format.
On the unique concept of Pickle & Pitching, Arjun Vaidya, Co-founder of V3 Ventures, added, ‘Pickle and Pitch’ strips away the formality of a boardroom when you are both running for a ball; the power dynamic disappears, and you have a more open conversation. I have already seen the IP being successful in other cities and have had some of the best conversations and heard brilliant business ideas on the court. I am super stoked to bring that same energy to Bharat Mandapam in partnership with Ideabaaz.”
The festival comes at a time when India’s startup ecosystem is expanding beyond conventional technology and consumer businesses into areas such as AI, deeptech, spacetech, defence, drones, robotics, climate technology and advanced manufacturing.
Jeet Wagh, Founder and CEO of Ideabaaz, on the inaugural edition of Ideabaaz startup fest said: “India is at a remarkable inflection point where entrepreneurship, frontier technology and patient capital are converging. The biggest opportunities of the next decade may not be visible through traditional investment lenses today, but with a collaboration like this where innovators and builders of the next decade will work closely with visionary capital allocators”
Mudit Kumar, Co-founder and COO, Ideabaaz, added: “India is moving from being a participant in global innovation to becoming an architect of the future. The next generation of wealth will increasingly be created by those who can identify transformative businesses before they become obvious. This collaboration brings together exactly that: visionary entrepreneurs and patient, forward-looking capital.”
The first edition of the Ideabaaz Startup Fest marks the beginning of a larger ambition to build a platform where entrepreneurship meets capital, academia meets industry, and India’s next generation of ideas gets the visibility and support required to scale.
With its first edition, Ideabaaz Startup Fest has laid the foundation for what it hopes will become one of India’s most influential startup platforms.
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