India’s deep-tech ecosystem took centre stage at PIVOT 2026, a two-day startup summit hosted by IIMK LIVE on September 18 and 19 at the Amenity Tower Auditorium, LuLu IT Twin Towers, SmartCity Kochi. The summit brought together founders, investors, policymakers and industry leaders to examine what it takes to build and scale technology ventures beyond the pitch.
The first day featured parallel tracks on Venture Creation and Foundations. Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director of IIM Kozhikode, described a business pivot as a first-principles decision rather than simply a change in direction, stressing the importance of understanding consumer psychology and the larger Indian context.
In his keynote, Ramanan Ramanathan, Mission Governing Board Member of the India AI Mission and founding Mission Director of the Atal Innovation Mission, traced India’s innovation journey and highlighted the growing focus on foundational technologies. He identified semiconductors, space and defence technology, EVs, drones, robotics and IoT, and sovereign AI as key areas while pointing to gaps in R&D investment, deep-tech funding, intellectual property creation and regulatory agility.
Rakshit Bhatt, Co-founder and VP Product at GalaxEye, discussed the role of Earth observation technology in climate, defence and operational planning. He explained how combining optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar technologies can address limitations caused by cloud cover and darkness.
Eshaan Khullar, Chief Business Officer at Skye Air Mobility, highlighted the challenges of building an ecosystem around emerging technologies, particularly autonomous aerial systems, while Abhishek, TMT Practice Leader at PwC India, emphasised the growing value of deep tech and cautioned startups against easily replicable solutions.
The second day shifted the focus to capital and scale. Kunal Upadhyay, Co-founder of IIMA Ventures and Managing Partner of Bharat Innovation Fund, discussed the evolution of venture capital and deep tech, stressing the importance of intellectual property, patient capital and research-driven entrepreneurship.
Vishnu Rajeev, Partner at Speciale Invest, examined questions around technological moats, founder equity and potential market size. Sheeba D’Mello, Head of Private Markets at Pratithi Investments, outlined the different objectives of seed, Series A and Series B funding while highlighting governance, compliance, team clarity and market adaptability as key scale-up challenges.
An investors’ forum featuring Pratekk Agarwal, Anil Joshi, Yash Jain and Vinod Keni explored how risk is assessed in deep tech. The summit concluded with a product panel featuring Arvind Saraf, Nitesh Aggarwal, Tushar Jadhav and Prof. Arqum Mateen, focusing on the importance of strong problem-solving alongside technical capability.
Across two days, PIVOT 2026 placed intellectual property, market validation, patient capital and ecosystem development at the heart of discussions around India’s deep-tech future.
