Post the inauguration, day one witnessed a diverse range of activities and sessions across 10 pavilions including AI + SaaS, D2C/Consumer brands, Agritech, Fintech, Deep Tech, Biotech & Pharma, Incubators, Climate, E-sports, and B2B Manufacturing.
Day one at Climate Pavilion witnessed multiple sessions, keynotes, and exhibitions from startups such as Chlorohemp, Drinkwell, Greenshift Energy, Gap Solar and more. Speaking at the event, Aakash Shah, Partner, Peak Sustainability Ventures said, “Financing is a key challenge for all startups. The growth in India’s climate ecosystem has led to significant progress in sustainability innovation and moving towards India’s energy transition. Within the realm of venture capital, climate-related investments are witnessing rapid growth, signifying the increasing interest in building climate startups from India for the world.”
The keynote address was given by Gurdeep Singh, Chairman & Managing Director of NTPC Limited, who spoke at length on Meeting India’s Energy Demand’ and highlighted how power should be available, affordable, and sustainable. He further added that energy security, reliability, and affordability are very crucial as we make the transition towards a low-carbon economy.”
The inaugural session was moderated by Samir Shah, Managing Partner, Peak Sustainability, with panelists Punit Lalbhai, Vice-Chairman & Executive Director, Arvind Ltd; George Menezes, Chief Operating Officer, Godrej & Boyce; Shankar Venkateswaran, Co-Founder and Managing Partner - Sustainability Integration; Vivek Pathak, Global Head and Director of Climate Business, International Finance Corporation; Mahendra Singhi, Managing Director and CEO of Dalmia Cement highlighting how corporates are leading the way for sustainability.
The session was followed by a discussion on “India’s path to energy transition” by Arunabha Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, of Council on Energy, Environment, and Water; Debi Prasad Dash, Executive Director, India Energy Storage Alliance; Amit Paithanker, Chief Executive Officer, Waaree Group; and more. The discussions concluded with a panel of Sandeep Patel, CEO and Founder, Nepra; Amrit Om Nayak, Co-founder and CEO, Indra Water; Amitabh Saran, Founder and CEO, Altigreen Propulsion Labs; Sandeep Chopra, Founder and CEO, Metafin Cleantech Finance Pvt Ltd; and Avnish Kumar, Founder and CEO - LivNSense on capital raising journey for climate founders.
Startup Mahakumbh onboards top unicorns in the sponsors list, with Games 24X7, Oyo and Info Edge as Unicorn Gold sponsors, Dream11, Flipkart, Infra Market, Moglix, Nykaa as Unicorn Silver sponsors, BharatPe and Razorpay as Unicorn Bronze sponsors. The list of AIF sponsors includes Accel, Rukam Capital and Peak XV in the gold category, Aavishkar Group, Elevation Capital, Iron Pillar in the silver sponsorship category and Avendus Capital, Chiratae Ventures, Fireside Ventures, IvyCap Ventures and Sorin Investments in the bronze category of AIF sponsors.
The event will also connect Indian startups with event partners including Dalmia Bharat & Google (silver partners), Acko, Captain Fresh, Mobile Premier League (MPL), Jetsynthesis, Tally (bronze partners), IAN & Blume Ventures (session partners), IDFC First Bank (Bank partner), MM Active & India Mobile Congress (IMC) (Event partners) and Indian School of Business (ISB) (Academic partner).
