Less than 72 hours to go for India’s largest startup-tech event, TechSparks Bengaluru. Scheduled for September 26-28, at Taj Yeshwantpur, we at YourStory are stoked to host the grand 15th edition of TechSparks. Are you ready?
Since 2009, TechSparks has enabled the builders and movers of the Indian startup ecosystem to showcase their innovations. Over the years, YourStory has hosted more than 1,000 sessions, featuring over 2,200 speakers, and has helped attendees create 1.5 million connections.
This year, we celebrate India’s rise towards becoming a global tech leader. The inclusive, carefully curated lineup of ecosystem leaders, veterans and industry experts will provide attendees with an opportunity to learn, grow, and take home some of the most interesting and impactful lessons.
Here is the star-studded speaker line-up to watch out for:
Piyush Goyal
Indian politician and chartered accountant Piyush Goyal is serving as the Minister of Commerce and Industry since 2019. Under his leadership, India has clocked the highest-ever exports ($776 billion) in 2022-23. Goyal has also led the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with UAE, and the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA).
Earlier this month, the Union Minister launched the Bharat Startup Knowledge Access Registry (BHASKAR), an initiative aimed at centralising and enhancing collaboration among various stakeholders within the entrepreneurial landscape.
Shri Amitabh Kant
Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa and the former CEO of NITI Ayog, will be gracing the stage at TechSparks 2024 in Bengaluru. As a governance reformer and a public policy agent for India, Kant has driven key reforms, initiatives, and flagship national initiatives such as Startup India, Make in India, Incredible India, Kerala: God’s Own Country, and the Aspirational Districts Programme.
As the Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) from 2014 to 2016, he has driven the Startup India movement. His focus has been to facilitate the ease of doing business through predictability, consistency of policies and elimination of rules.
Ronnie Screwvala
In 2009, Ronnie Screwvala was ranked among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine. More than a decade later, he continues to inspire millions across the globe. The entrepreneur, investor and film producer has many successful ventures that have become part of India Inc’s folklore. As the Co-founder of upGrad, Screwvala is on a mission to upskill and reskill professionals to enable them to up their game. But that’s not it, his NGO, Swades Foundation is working towards rural development in India.
With its 300-plus strong team, and more than 1,000 volunteers, it hopes to lift a million people in rural India out of poverty every six to seven years. It is currently engaged in various projects in rural India covering areas including sanitation, education and livelihood, reaching close to 3,300 villages across Maharashtra, and benefiting close to 12 lakh people so far. The successful listing of Swades Foundation on the NSE’s Social Stock Exchange, earlier this year, is the biggest and widest on the exchange so far, with more than 150 prominent individuals participating.
Anil Agrawal
Anil Agarwal, a member of the Competition Commission of India has played a crucial role in shaping fair market practices, fostering healthy competition across industries. During his stint as the Additional Secretary to the GoI at DPIIT, Agrawal handled flagship government schemes such as Make in India, Investment Promotion, Startup India, and Internal Trade, among others.
He has also pioneered the conceptualisation and institutionalisation of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) for democratising ecommerce. With a deep understanding of market dynamics and regulatory frameworks, Agrawal is playing a key role in shaping policies that promote competition and curb monopolistic tendencies.
Sameer Nigam
Sameer Nigam, Co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, has been at the forefront of the fintech revolution in India. A Wharton School alumnus, Nigam oversaw multiple functions at Flipkart—business development, digital distribution and marketing—before he quit as the Senior Vice President of Engineering. Starting as a digital payments app in 2016, PhonePe is now one of the leading consumer payments players in the country—expanding its services beyond digital payments to launch insurance, lending, wealth and new consumer tech businesses including Pincode and Indus Appstore.
Lalit Keshre
Lalit Keshre, Co-founder and CEO of online investing platform Groww, took the entrepreneurial route to make investing simple. Groww focuses on providing necessary information, resources and user experience for people who wish to start investing, in the simplest way possible.
Backed by a list of marquee investors—Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator and Propel Venture Partners, Groww joined the unicorn club in 2021. Today, it is the largest stock broking platform in the country, with close to 80% of its users being from beyond the metro cities. At Groww, Keshre looks after all the aspects of the business, predominantly the product and customer experience.
Phani Kishan Addepalli
Online food delivery platform Swiggy has become a household name in India. The driving force behind the revolutionary unicorn is Phani Kishan Addepalli, Co-founder and CGO at Swiggy. Earlier last year, Addepalli took charge of Swiggy’s quick commerce vertical, Swiggy Instamartl, revolutionising the space.
As the Co-founder and Head of Instamart, he has set new benchmarks for speed, availability and customer satisfaction. He has also been pivotal in scaling Swiggy’s operations across cities, spearheading growth initiatives and enhancing tech capabilities. Under his leadership, the foodtech unicorn is preparing for its IPO.
Ananth Narayanan
For Ananth Narayanan, the former CEO of Myntra, entrepreneurship has been a gradual succession. After a blockbuster exit from the PharmEasy-Medlife deal in 2021, Narayanan quickly moved to his new venture, Mensa, the same year. With Mensa, the Founder and CEO aims to take India’s D2C brands global, moving India from an unbranded to a branded market.
His immense knowledge and understanding of digital transformation, consumer behaviour, and brand building helps Mensa identify and acquire high-potential digital-first brands and facilitate their growth.
Kaushik Das
Kaushik Das, Managing Director at JCPenny India, spearheads innovation and oversees the transformation strategy at the company’s Bengaluru centre. With experience spanning over two decades across retail, fintech, and consulting, Das brings a deep understanding of strategy, operations, transformation, customer experience and enterprise programmes. He is known for building, scaling and transforming complex capabilities, with a focus on investing in talent, culture, data and technology.
We are also thrilled to have on board Rajiv Khaitan, Senior Partner at Khaitan & Co.; Roopa Kumar, Founder of Purple Quarter; Mandeep Julka, Vice President of Chiratae Ventures; Shanti Mohan, Co-founder and CEO of LetsVenture; and Deena Jacob, Co-founder and CFO of Open Financial Technologies; among others.
But that’s not it, take a look at our incredible and power-packed list of speakers gracing TechSparks here.
To know more about what’s in store at TechSparks 2024, click here.
