Campus to Market Signals Delhi’s Bet on Student-Led Startups

New Delhi’s startup ambitions are increasingly being shaped inside classrooms, labs, and ITIs. The Campus to Market: Delhi Startup Yuva Festival 2026, hosted by the Government of NCT of Delhi, offered a closer look at how public institutions are attempting to convert student innovation into market-ready enterprises.

Conceived as a flagship initiative by the Department of Training & Technical Education, Government of NCT of Delhi, and delivered in collaboration with TiE Delhi-NCR, the festival brought student founders, investors, incubators, academia, and policymakers onto a single platform. The underlying objective was clear: shorten the distance between campus ideas and commercial outcomes.

Why the Campus-to-Market Model Is Gaining Policy Attention

India’s startup conversation has largely focused on venture capital, unicorns, and scale. What the Delhi Startup Yuva Festival highlights instead is the pipeline problem: how early innovation transitions from education systems into viable businesses.

The event aligns with a broader policy shift toward competency-based learning and experiential exposure. Addressing the role of skills and opportunity, Shri Jayant Chaudhary, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India, said, “India has a huge demographic dividend. As a young country, our working capacity is naturally higher. But the real benefit of this demographic dividend will only be realised when we empower our youth with the necessary capabilities, recognise their potential, and provide them with the right opportunities to develop their skills.”

He further added: “Previously, the prevailing mindset in India's education system was that the doors of schools were closed to those outside the formal framework… Today, the vision of the country's Prime Minister and the efforts made to translate it into practice through the National Education Policy have a key pillar: that we must focus not only on qualifications but also on building competencies.”

The festival positioned student entrepreneurship as a policy lever, not an extracurricular activity.

Student Innovation Moves Beyond Hackathons

The day opened with a startup showcase featuring student-led ventures across technology, sustainability, health, education, skill development, social impact, and ITI-driven solutions. Rather than prototypes alone, the emphasis was on problem relevance and deployability.

Sessions by ecosystem practitioners reinforced this shift. Dr Apurva Chamaria, Global Head, VC & Startup Partnerships, Google spoke on AI opportunities for founders, while Swati Bhargava, co-founder of CashKaro & EarnKaro, addressed brand-building fundamentals. Ankur Warikoo, Founder, WebVeda, focused on leadership as a long-term entrepreneurial skill.

The programming reflected a deliberate attempt to expose students to market realities early, rather than post-graduation.

Government Capital Steps In Early

A key structural signal came from funding support. Shri Ashish Sood, Hon’ble Minister for Education, Higher Education, Home, Power, Urban Development and Training & Technical Education, Government of NCT of Delhi, announced the Top 100 shortlisted student startups, selected from over 750 applications across universities, colleges, ITIs, and schools.

Outlining the government’s approach, he said, “The Delhi Startup Yuva Festival brings together universities, 12 colleges, 19 ITIs and school innovators on one Campus-to-Market platform. With government-backed incubation and mentorship, over 470 startups are currently being incubated, generating ₹500–600 crore in revenue and creating 4–5 jobs per startup.”

Selected ventures received equity-free seed grants of up to ₹10 lakh, while 100 startups were supported with ₹1 lakh each. The government also indicated plans for a new Startup Policy with a ₹325 crore outlay over five years, aimed at supporting 5,000 startups by 2035.

Ecosystem Collaboration Over Isolation

Beyond capital, the festival emphasised ecosystem coordination.  Geetika Dayal, Director General, TiE Delhi-NCR, highlighted the importance of mentorship depth and market access: “Campus-to-Market marks a defining moment in Delhi’s entrepreneurial journey—where classroom ideas are transformed into market-ready ventures, and student ambition is matched with real opportunity.”

She added that the initiative reflects a growing recognition that student founders need structured exposure to networks, customers, and execution guidance early in their journey.

Recognizing Early Winners, Watching Long-Term Outcomes

The festival concluded with the announcement of the Top 6 startups, Biocare Ventures LLP (FlushSHE), AllSecureX, HeliousAI, Heuronics Pvt Ltd, Logify360, and Arista Vaulti, followed by grant cheque distribution.

Post-lunch sessions featured candid founder conversations, including Aloke Bajpai, Co-Founder and Group CEO, ixigo, and Satya Narayanan R, Founder & Chairman, CL Educate, focusing on lessons rarely covered in formal curricula.

A parallel policy roundtable, chaired by Shri Ashish Sood, brought together industry leaders to discuss execution challenges, startup policy implementation, and founder feedback loops.

What This Means for Delhi’s Startup Ambitions

With 75,000+ students engaged in entrepreneurship programmes, 550+ startups incubated through public institutions, and 15,000+ DPIIT-recognised startups, Delhi is positioning itself as a structured startup hub rather than a sporadic success story.

The Campus to Market initiative suggests a longer-term bet: that student entrepreneurship, when backed by policy continuity, early capital, and ecosystem participation, can become a reliable growth engine, not just an annual showcase.

Whether this model delivers sustained outcomes will depend less on festivals and more on execution over the next five years.