The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore’s startup incubator, NSRCEL (Nadathur Sarangapani Raghavan Center for Entrepreneurial Learning), marked 25 years of entrepreneurial impact with its flagship annual conclave, SummitUp 2025, held on November 24.

The event convened over 400 founders, investors, policymakers, and ecosystem leaders to reflect on India’s evolving innovation landscape.

Since its inception, NSRCEL has supported more than 3,178 ventures, generating over 35,700 jobs and extending its reach to 82 towns across India. The milestone edition of SummitUp explored the theme of resilience and collaboration through five key tracks — DeepTech, FinTech, Climate, Social Impact, and Women’s Entrepreneurship.

The conclave featured sessions such as The VC Blind Spot: Founder Learnings and Strategies and AI for Bharat: Tech-Driven Solutions for India’s Future, spotlighting both opportunity and complexity in a changing global order.

“Over the years, we have seen ideas evolve into purpose-driven ventures, and each success reinforces the importance of institutions like ours,” said Anand Sri Ganesh, CEO of NSRCEL.

During the keynote, Accel founding partner Prashanth Prakash emphasised collaboration as central to innovation, urging founders to “tap into the broader ecosystem” when solving complex problems.

Speakers included Nishchay Ag (Jar), Ankit Mehta (IdeaForge), Srinath Ravichandran (Agnikul), and Anil G (Bounce Infinity), who shared insights from scaling their ventures.

The event also launched Start Right, a handbook for early-stage entrepreneurs, and Impact Insights – Assessment, a report based on 120 tech-enabled social enterprises, revealing that 95 per cent advanced to their next growth stage.

NSRCEL aims to expand its innovation initiatives with AI-enabled learning pathways and inclusive, globally connected support for the next generation of founders.