Founders pitch to PM Modi at Startup India event

At the National Startup Day event at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with a select group of entrepreneurs. These founders, from across sectors, presented their products and detailed their outlook for the coming year.

Here's a quick look at a few who presented.

1) Devika Chandrasekaran: Fuselage Innovations


Fuselage is an agritech startup focussing on advanced drone technology for precision agriculture. Based in Kerala and founded in 2020, the startup develops indigenised drones that utilise high-resolution data and multispectral sensors to monitor crop health and soil quality. Fuselage aims to support farmers with actionable insights to judge the use of pesticides and fertilisers, to help slash input costs and environmental impact.

2) Nirmit Parikh: Apna

Founded in 2019, Apna is a professional networking and recruitment platform which became a unicorn in 2021. The startup provides a digital ecosystem for the blue-collar and grey-collar workforce to find jobs. Users can create profiles, find opportunities, and join communities to learn new skills. It also uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to match workers with employers based on their skills and location.

3) Priyansh Mohan: MEINE Electric

MEINE Electric is a cleantech startup that specialises in developing smart charging solutions and energy management systems for the Indian market. Their products include high-efficiency AC and DC chargers that integrate IoT(internet-of-things), allowing users to monitor and manage charging sessions through a mobile interface.

4) Prasanta Sarkar: Newtrace

Newtrace is a climatetech startup operating in the green hydrogen space. The company, founded in 2021, has developed a proprietary, membrane-less electrolyser technology that produces high-purity green hydrogen at a much lower cost than traditional methods. Newtrace aims to make green hydrogen commercially viable to support heavy industries such as steel and cement decarbonise their operations. The startup was a nominee in the Top Innovator category at the ET Startup Awards, 2023.

5) Laina Emmanuel: BrainSight AI

Founded by Emmanuel and Rimjhim Agrawal, BrainSightAI combines AI and neuroscience to enable precision in neurological and psychiatric investigations, resulting in faster and more accurate patient outcomes. The startup also won the Top Innovator prize at the ET Startup Awards, 2024.

Advantage AI

During the event, Modi emphasised that the nation leading the AI revolution will hold the ultimate global advantage, and urged startups to lead this charge for India's economic security. He called for a pivot towards manufacturing, stating it is time for the startup ecosystem to focus on physical production.