New funding models have emerged – or have been developing in the last few years – which are offering more diverse options to startup founders. It is not only Family Offices and Corporate VCs getting increasingly involved in startups funding. The revenue-based financing model is for instance creating access to non-dilutive financing. Or the model of Simple Agreement for Future Equity – SAFE – could be an efficient way to get funding at an early stage of the startup as it gives investors the right to purchase preferred shares in the startup when the company raises a future round of funding. There is also the increasing role played by crowdfunding and Angel Investors, while the debt-financing model can be mostly attractive in a low-interest rates context.

• What criteria to select the most efficient funding model?
• In what ways different funding models condition a startup’s strategy and the Modus Operandi?

Speakers:
Prem Barthasarathy, Founder & Managing Partner, Pontaq, United Kingdom
Takeshi Ebihara, Founding General Partner, Rebright Partners, Singapore
Padmaja Ruparel, Founding Partner, Indian Angel Network; Co Chair Global Business Angel Network (GBAN), India

Speaker:
Nir Koren, Global Innovation expert, CEO & Founder, Buildinn, Israel

In this thought-provoking session, Nir Koren explores how individuals and organizations can not only survive but lead in a world defined by rapid technological shifts and constant disruption. Drawing from real-world examples, powerful visuals, and cutting-edge AI tools, Nir invites the audience to embrace experimentation, and turn uncertainty into opportunity. With a dynamic storytelling style and deep insights into innovation ecosystems, this talk is a wake-up call — and a practical guide – to stay ahead in the age of exponential change.

What next in the Clean Energy sector?

• The next developments to expect
• What new opportunities this could create
• How does India stand in this domain compared to what is happening elsewhere?

Speakers:
Ajeet Babu, CEO, Gudlyf Mobility, India
Nitin Seth, CEO – New Mobility, Reliance Industries Ltd, India
Lakshay Taneja, Founder, Chainfly, India

The geopolitics of innovation … And why it matters to you
Deep technologies and the Data that sustain their development are today key tools driving growth performance and military capability, creating dominant positions or even supremacy in these domains, and providing to countries that master them a crucial tool for international influence and geopolitical leveraging. Increasingly stringent restrictions on technology transfers, sanctions banning the export of categories of chips, or high-tech products or services to specific countries are now part of the standard panoply of the geo-economic competition among countries. The fact that Deep Technologies are by nature dual-use ones creates even more complex situations, opening the gates to discretionary decisions and pressures by the country most able to dictate its will.

• How can countries of middle technological level protect their ability to develop further their capabilities in this context of great powers competition for technological dominance?
• What should startup founders be aware of to avoid becoming the collateral casualties of the geopolitics of innovation?
• How can open-source technological platforms can be developed and leveraged to blunt the impact of the geopolitics of innovation on third parties?

Speakers:
Anirudh Suri, Managing Director, India Internet Fund, best-selling author of “The Great Tech Game”, India

While there is today a momentum and mobilization of efforts to get India’s economy to the 6-7 trillion dollars milestone by 2030, there is still a lot of debate about the different elements of the strategy to achieve that goal, and not yet a clear road map on how these elements should be implemented in a synergetic and complementary way to successfully implement this strategy.

• How to combine a technology-driven approach to growth with one producing the millions of new jobs needed to absorb the cohorts entering the job market?
• How to engineer the necessary synergies between government policies, corporate initiatives and the R&D contribution from academia?
• What is needed to mobilize the bigger domestic and foreign investment resources required?

Speakers:
Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri, India
VK Saraswat, Member – NITI Aayog, India

Moderated by:
Madan Padaki, Founder & CEO, 1BRIDGE; Co-founder, GAME; President, TiE Bangalore & Trustee, TiE Global, India

What next in the Defense/Security sector?

• The next developments to expect
• What new opportunities this could create
• How does India stand in this domain compared to what is happening elsewhere?

Speakers:
Deepu Philip, Professor In-Charge, Innovation & Incubation, Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India

There is no underestimating the benefits of engineering cross-borders synergies between innovation ecosystems to benefit from the multiplier impact of combining complementary knowledge and resources to accelerate the development of new technologies. Joint research projects, technology transfer programs, Joint-Ventures on technology projects are among the most used ways of implementing these
synergies.

• What success factors for developing genuine innovation synergies?
• What ways to measure the tangible results of these synergies?
• What safeguards to protect the interests of each party in such synergetic collaborations?

Speakers:
Priscilla Fasoro, Partner, Covington & Burling, USA
Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, Indian Institute of Management, India
Stefan Metzger, Co-Founder & CEO, Beyond Civic, Switzerland
Aruna Schwarz, Co-founder & CEO, Stelae Technologies, India

What next in the Healthtech sector?

• The next developments to expect
• What new opportunities this could create
• How does India stand in this domain compared to what is happening elsewhere?

Speakers:
Shyam Akku, Sr. General Manager, Hetero, India
Purav Gandhi, Founder & CEO, Healthark Insights, India
Anand Iyer, COO, 5C Network, India
Anish Tripathi, Director, Epigeneres Biotech, India

Startup founders pioneering new products and services by leveraging the very fine edge of Ai capabilities describe their work, the challenges they have faced -or are still facing – and look at the next stage they want to get in their innovation process.

Speakers:
Kobi Gal, Professor, Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering, Ben-Gurion University, Israel
Ankur Goyal, Co-Founder & CEO, Fibr, USA
Suguru Kawashima, Head of Global Expansion CFO, Findy, Japan
Lakshay Taneja, Founder, Chainfly, India
Sajeev Viswanathan, Co-Founder & CEO, New Street Technologies, India

Speakers:
Hareesh Chandrasekar, Co-Founder & CEO, Agnit Semiconductors, India
Mudit Dandwate, Co-Founder & CEO, Dozee, India
Subramani Ramachandrappa, Founder, Fermbox, India