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In May 2026, Byju Raveendran, the founder of BYJU's, was sentenced to six months in jail by a Singapore court for contempt related to procedural failures in disclosure orders concerning a disputed $1.2 billion loan. This was not a case of fraud or embezzlement, as the founder insisted, but a technical distinction that barely masked the deeper crisis. BYJU's, once valued at $22 billion and hailed as India’s most valuable startup, had collapsed dramatically. The company’s downf

India faces two pressing challenges that seem unrelated at first glance. One is the widespread burning of crop residue by farmers, which causes severe air pollution and health hazards across northern India every year. The other is the country's growing dependence on imported lithium for electric vehicle batteries, a supply chain vulnerable to global tensions. Nishita and Nikita Baliarsingh, twin sisters from Bhubaneswar, Odisha, have found a way to tackle both problems with a

Something extraordinary just happened in India's innovation landscape. The fifth edition of the National Startup Awards 2026 India, organized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Startup India initiative, has recognized 20 startups that are shaping the future of the country. With over 3,100 applications from across India—the largest ever participation—only 20 startups stood out after a thorough evaluation by experts, industry leader

The National Startup Awards 2026 India has quietly announced a group of 20 startups that are not just shaping the current entrepreneurial landscape but are also defining the future of technology in India. Unlike previous years, this cohort is not dominated by fintech or food delivery models. Instead, it highlights startups working on advanced drones for defence, smart wearables for industrial safety, electric vehicle battery systems, indigenous aerospace structures, and fashi

India has long been known for its talented minds and entrepreneurial spirit. Yet for many years, much of the startup energy focused on consumer-facing apps and services that addressed immediate needs—food delivery, payments, e-commerce. That phase is now giving way to a more profound transformation. In 2026, India’s startup story is evolving beyond apps into deep technology fields like aerospace, semiconductors, and biotechnology. This shift is driven by a new wave of startup

India’s startup ecosystem has long been associated with food delivery apps and quick commerce platforms. Yet, the National Startup Awards 2026 reveal a different story. This year’s winners showcase a new breed of Indian entrepreneurship focused on solving deep-rooted, practical problems that matter for the country’s future. These startups are not chasing trends but building solutions that address foundational challenges in sectors like clean energy, aerospace, waste managemen

Something remarkable is unfolding quietly inside India’s top engineering institutions. The India Deep Tech Accelerator 2026 is a focused, 10-week program designed exclusively for IIT-affiliated startups ready to expand globally. This initiative, born from the Polsky Center India partnership with the India Deep Tech Alliance, offers a structured path connecting India’s deep tech founders directly with global investors, mentors, and market strategies. This is a rare opportunity

India has taken a bold step that could redefine its startup landscape for decades. The government has doubled the duration for which deep tech startups can retain their protected status, extending it from 10 to 20 years. Alongside this, the revenue ceiling for key benefits has been raised to ₹3 billion. This move is far from a routine policy update. It reflects a deep understanding that building world-class technologies in semiconductors, biotech, or space systems requires pa

India has taken a bold step that few countries have dared to take. The government has rewritten the rules for startups focused on deep science and technology, recognizing that these ventures need more time and resources to succeed. This policy change extends the recognition period for deep tech startups to 20 years and raises the revenue threshold for startup benefits to ₹3 billion, nearly tripling the previous limit. This move signals a new era for India’s innovation ecosyst

For years, India’s most ambitious founders faced a hidden challenge. Those building semiconductors in garages, engineering biotech breakthroughs in university labs, and designing space technologies in tier-2 cities had to race against a ticking clock. The old startup framework gave them just ten years to qualify for government benefits. This timeline clashed with the natural pace of deep tech innovation, which often requires fifteen or twenty years of research and development

Artificial intelligence has largely been shaped by English-language data and perspectives, leaving billions of non-English speakers at a disadvantage. For India, home to 1.4 billion people speaking over 122 languages and more than 1,600 dialects, this gap has been especially wide. The Sarvam AI startup program India aims to change this by supporting startups that build AI products rooted in Indian languages. This initiative is part of a larger movement to create AI tools that

India’s technology landscape is evolving rapidly, but a significant challenge remains: most AI platforms do not fully understand or serve the linguistic diversity of the country. Sarvam AI, a Bengaluru-based company, is changing this by building generative AI that speaks all 22 official Indian languages. Founded by engineers Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, Sarvam AI is not just creating technology; it is creating tools that reflect India’s rich linguistic and cultural fabr

Building a semiconductor or engineering a biotech solution that could transform Indian healthcare takes years, often more than a decade. Until recently, deep tech founders in India faced pressure to prove commercial success within timelines suited for quick-turnaround apps like food delivery. This mismatch created a structural challenge for science-driven startups. That challenge has now been addressed by a major policy reform, signaling a new era for India’s deep tech ecosys

Three days after the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed, Bangalore-based SaaS startups received the first batch of 1,000 "Digital Passports." This new development allows these startups to bypass traditional EU data localization laws through a "Sovereign Trust" protocol. Berrybeat reports that this move could reduce operational costs for Indian tech companies by nearly 30%.

The ink on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is not just dry; it is glowing with promise. As markets open today, Indian SaaS companies are receiving their first "Digital Passport" certifications, enabling seamless access to the European market. This breakthrough means a startup in Pune can now compete for a Berlin government contract without regulatory delays.