Manipal Start-Up Expo 2026

Manipal Start-Up 2026

Where Vision Meets Velocity…

Manipal-GoK Bioincubator – BioNEST, supported by the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) organised The Manipal Start-Up Expo 2026 the day-long event brought together start-ups, MSMEs, student innovators, investors, industry leaders, academia and policymakers from across India’s innovation ecosystem.

The Expo opened with an Inaugural and Product Launch Session led by Chief Guest Dr. Sharath Kumar Rao K, Vice Chancellor, MAHE, with Guest of Honour Dr. Chhaya Chauhan, Chief Manager & Incharge-Incubation, BIRAC, joining virtually. The session featured product launches by prominent start-ups and the inauguration of start-up stalls by dignitaries on the dais.

Keynote addresses by Mr. Suyog Shetty (Managing Director, Cloud NTT Data India) and Mr. Suresh Kamath (Founder & CEO, Rajaram Polymers; Co-Founder, Eonspark Innovations Pvt. Ltd.) offered insights on building and scaling sustainable, industry-ready ventures.

An Open Pitching Session connected founders with investors Dr. Vishal Gandhi (BIORx Venture Advisors Pvt. Ltd.), Mr. Aditya Roy (Anicut Capital LLP) and Mr. Naveen Gurrapu (Unicorn India Ventures). A subsequent Panel Discussion — “From Ideas to Impact: Building Scalable, Industry-Ready Ventures” — moderated by Dr. Shruthi Acharya, brought together voices from KCCI, KDEM and leading ventures.

A parallel Power Session ran six sessions spanning investor readiness, government startup policy, precision-healthcare diagnostics, biotech commercialization, corporate-startup collaboration and deep-tech entrepreneurship, featuring Ms. Poornima Nayak (Ventana Ventures), Dr. Pradheep Chhalliyil (AMMAGENOMICS), Dr. Rajaram (Laurus Labs Limited) and Mr. Sandeep Kondaji (Krishitantra), among others.

The Valedictory Session closed the day with prize distribution and collaborator recognition, with Dr. Vishal Gandhi, Founder & CEO, BIORx Venture Advisors Pvt. Ltd., as Chief Guest, alongside Dr. Manesh Thomas, CEO, MGOKB, and other dignitaries.

The Expo was organized with institutional partners MIDAS DST MAHE HUB and Innovation Centre, MAHE, and strategic support from TiE Mangaluru, ABLE, KCCI, IBioM and KDEM. SBI and Union Bank of India served as banking partners, with Sageowl Solutions and Beacon (Best Engineering Aids & Consultancies Limited) among the industry partners.