Local Startups' Meet 2026- Pitching Competition

About Entrepreneurship Awareness Drive: Local Startups' Meet 2026 (EAD-LSM'26): Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kharagpur under Rajendra Mishra School of Engineering Entrepreneurship is back with its flagship events – Entrepreneurship Awareness Drive: Local Startups' Meet 2026 (EAD-LSM'26), a mammoth nationwide drive to increase awareness regarding entrepreneurship and to kindle an entrepreneurial spirit among the students, to be held in association with prominent colleges/venture capitalists in October across India. Local Startups Meet (LSM), since its inception in 2018, has grown manifold and witnessed a participation of 1000+ startups and 100+ investors last year. Some of the previous year's associations with the Venture Capital firms/Incubators/Accelerators are Blume Ventures, Waterbridge Ventures, Windrose Capital, Venture Catalysts, Kerala Startups Mission, etc. Eminent personalities like Mr. Sundar Pichai, Mr. Rajat Sharma, Mr. Arjun Malhotra, Ms. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Mr. Phanindra Sama, Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Khan Sir, etc. have been some of our distinguished speakers in past LSM's and GES’. LSM 2026 will be an initiative aimed at providing opportunities to early-stage startups and some incubated startups that are currently working on their Alpha or Beta stage of product development. Events During LSM 2026: Keynote Session Panel Discussion Workshops/Fireside Chats Networking Session Pitching Session Mentoring Session Schedule: 18th October 2026: Bengaluru 21th October 2026: Kanpur 24th October 2026: Jaipur, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Gurugram, Nagpur, Indore 25th October 2026: Guwahati, Pune, Delhi 31st October 2026: Kolkata Pitching Session: Local Startups' Meet will have a Pitching Session. From all the registered participants, the top 8 startups will be selected for pitching in the Pitching Session at each LSM. The top 3 will get a direct Semi-Final entry to Empresario 2027 – Global Business Model Competition. The top-performing startups will receive access to exclusive startup services and support. Guidelines: Local Startups' Meet (LSM) 2026 will feature Keynote Sessions, Workshops, Fireside Chats and Panel Discussions comprising some of the most successful entrepreneurs and business giants. There will be a Pitching Session judged by leading angel investors/venture capitalists. The pitch deck submission via Unstop will be the shortlisting round for the Session. The top 8 teams from each city will get a chance to participate and pitch their startup idea at LSM. Startup founders and enthusiasts can attend LSM 2026 for Guest Speaker sessions without taking part in the Pitching Session. All updates and developments will be conveyed via mail.