Moneycontrol, the financial and business platform, is set to host the third edition of the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave on September 26, 2026, in Bengaluru, bringing together some of the country’s most influential founders, investors and policymakers to examine what it takes to build enduring and valuable businesses in a rapidly changing startup ecosystem.
Anchored on the theme ‘The Big Reset: AI Shift, Profitability, Valuation’, the conclave comes at a defining moment for India’s startup ecosystem, as businesses navigate an AI-led transformation, evolving capital markets and increasing scrutiny around sustainable growth and valuations.
India’s startup ecosystem has demonstrated its ability to build unicorns, attract global capital and create technology-led businesses at scale. The next phase, however, is raising a different set of questions: Can growth translate into sustained profitability? Can AI create durable competitive advantages? And which businesses will build long-term value beyond headline valuations?
Against this backdrop, the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2026 will bring together voices from across the startup ecosystem to examine the forces reshaping entrepreneurship and investment, and explore what the next generation of high-value businesses will look like.
The conclave will feature an accomplished line-up of speakers from across government, banking, technology, consumer businesses, startups and venture capital.
The distinguished speakers include MB Patil, Minister for Large & Medium Industries & Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka; Dr. Shalini Rajneesh, Chief Secretary to Government of Karnataka; Tejasvi Surya, MP, Bengaluru South; Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda, MLA Hosakote, Chairman, Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation; V Vaidyanathan, CEO & MD, IDFC First Bank; Sameer Nigam, Founder & CEO, PhonePe; Lalit Keshre, Co-Founder & CEO, Groww; Aravind Sanka, Co-Founder & CEO, Rapido; Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, Prism (Oyo); Varun Dua, Founder & CEO, Acko General Insurance; Pratyush Kumar, Co-Founder, Sarvam; Mukund Jha, Founder, Emergent; Swapnil Jain, Co-Founder, Ather Energy; Prashanth Prakash, Partner, Accel; Rahul Taneja, Partner, Lightspeed; Mridul Arora, Partner, Elevation Capital; Sankaran Naren, CIO, ICICI Prudential AMC; Vinod Kumar Meena, Co-Founder, Kuku; Naga Bharath Daka, Co-Founder, Skyroot Aerospace;Kshitij Khandelwal, Co-Founder, Pixxel; and Professor Satya Chakravarthy, Founder, The ePlane Company.
The event will also feature Rahul Chowdhri, Partner, Stellaris Venture Partners; Siddarth Pai, Founding Partner, 3one4 Capital; Manu Iyer, General Partner, Bluehill VC; Kunal Kalawatia, Chief Product Officer, NPCI; Nitin Rao, CEO, Incred Wealth; Mohit Mehra, Head – Capital Markets, Zerodha; Shobhit Mathur, Co-Founder, Ionic Wealth; Sandeep Jethwani, Co-Founder & CEO, Dezerv; Aniket Shah, Founder & CEO, Swish; Akshay Gulati, Co-Founder & CEO, Slikk; Anjali Sardana, Founder & CEO, Pronto; AB Gupta, Co-Founder & CEO, Popo Global; Akhil Iyer, Founder, Benne; Vishal Goenka, co-founder, IndiaBonds; Shlok Shrivastava aka Techburner, Tech Creator & Entrepreneur; and Rahul Joseph, Founder & CEO, White Gold.
Talking about the upcoming conclave, Nalin Mehta, Managing Editor, Moneycontrol; Chief AI Officer – Editorial Operations, Network18 said, “India’s startup story is entering a new phase of maturity. While entrepreneurship is becoming an increasingly strong ambition among Gen Z, the question is no longer simply how many startups we can create or how much capital we can attract, but how many enduring, globally competitive businesses we can build.
“With AI changing the economics of entrepreneurship, domestic capital is deepening, and founders are being pushed to think beyond growth-at-all-costs.
“The third edition of the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave brings together founders, investors, young leaders and policy makers to explore the big shifts and the new inflection point in India’s startup ecosystem as it moves from fundraising to profitability, sustainability and long-term value creation— and to celebrate the ideas, capital and ambition that will shape India’s next generation of companies,” Mehta said.
As the startup ecosystem enters a new phase, the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2026 will provide a platform to examine the ideas, strategies, and business models to decode the future of value creation.
