24 Startup Competitions in India Open for Applications — June 2026
This roundup covers 24 active competitions across India, with 10 newly launched and 15 closing in July 2026. Highlights include the iDEX Open Challenge for defence tech, Bharat Ke Super Founders Season 2, and SLINGSHOT 2026 for deep tech startups.
This June 2026, India’s startup ecosystem is buzzing with 24 active competitions — 10 newly launched and 15 closing within the next 14 days. Among the notable ones are Bharat Ke Super Founders – Season 2 with a ₹400 crore prize pool, the iDEX Open Challenge offering ₹15 crore for defence innovations, SLINGSHOT 2026 with ₹16.34 crore in grant prizes, and the Built with Opus 4.7 hackathon providing ₹9 crore. Whether you are a student founder, deep tech innovator, or social entrepreneur, there is a competition suited to your stage and sector.
Many of these competitions are closing soon, so act quickly to secure your spot. Below is a comprehensive list and detailed profiles of each opportunity.
At a Glance
SLINGSHOT 2026 Deep Tech Startup Pitching Competition at SWITCH, Singapore (Enterprise Singapore)
The SLINGSHOT 2026 competition is the 10th edition of Asia’s leading deep tech startup pitching competition, organised by Enterprise Singapore and held as part of the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) 2026. Winners receive grant prizes: the grand winner gets S$400,000 (≈₹2.97 crore), first runner-up S$300,000, second runner-up S$200,000, and the top 10 global startups each receive S$80,000. The total grant prize pool exceeds S$2.2 million (≈₹16.34 crore). The competition covers five domains: Advanced Computing & Intelligence; Advanced Manufacturing & Industrial Systems; Digital Technologies & Security; Environment, Energy & Green Technologies; Health & Biomedical. Startups from any country can apply, but they must be early-stage (pre-Series A) with a minimum viable product. The top 50 startups get a sponsored trip to Singapore for the domain finals. The deadline is 30 June 2026.
Hack[AI]thon 2.0 (Sphere Hive)
Hack[AI]Thon 2.0 is a national-level Artificial Intelligence hackathon organised by Sphere Hive in collaboration with VRIF VTU Belagavi. It focuses on a Data-Centric AI Challenge: improving AI performance by enhancing dataset quality through intelligent data analysis, strategic labeling, and identification of high-impact samples. Participants use the 3LC.ai platform. The competition has an online selection round followed by a final round. The total prize pool is ₹35,000. Open to students, innovators, and AI practitioners across India. Deadline: 30 June 2026.
Brainwave (ACT House)
Brainwave is a virtual hackathon with a $1,000 prize pool (≈₹90,000), organised by ACT House and hosted on Devpost. Participants build innovative solutions in AR/VR, blockchain, and communication technologies. Open to developers, designers, and innovators globally. The hackathon runs from June 12 to June 30, 2026. Submissions are judged on creativity, technical execution, and impact. Deadline: 30 June 2026.
Creator Colosseum Startup Competition: Student Founders. Real Startups. (—)
Creator Colosseum Startup Competition is an online startup competition for student founders. Participants showcase their real startups and compete for a $575 prize pool (≈₹51,750). The competition is beginner-friendly and encourages low/no-code projects, with a focus on social good. Open to student founders globally. The competition runs from April 24 to June 30, 2026. Registration deadline: 30 June 2026.
Moonshot Hackathon (Aethra)
The Moonshot Hackathon is an online, open-ended innovation challenge organised by Aethra with a total prize pool of $33,532 (≈₹3.0 crore). Participants build creative solutions using ML/AI or any open-ended approach. Beginner-friendly, open to students, developers, designers, and entrepreneurs. The event runs from June 3 to June 30, 2026, entirely online. Deadline: 30 June 2026.
iDEX Open Challenge by DIO (Defence Innovation Organisation)
The iDEX Open Challenge is a flagship initiative under Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), implemented by the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO). It invites startups, MSMEs, and individual innovators to propose breakthrough technologies in aerospace, autonomous systems, AI, quantum technologies, advanced materials, intelligent machines, predictive algorithms, and related defence applications. The prize is up to ₹15 crore. Open to Indian startups and innovators. Deadline: 30 June 2026.
Bharat Ke Super Founders — Season 2 (Rusk Media)
Bharat Ke Super Founders — Season 2 is India's entrepreneurial reality series, created by Rusk Media and powered by Recur Club, streaming on Amazon MX Player. Hosted by Suniel Shetty, the show features revenue-generating Indian founders pitching to a panel of investor “Tycoons” for equity, venture debt, and revenue-based financing from a pool of ₹100 crore+. For Season 2, the casting deadline is 30 June 2026. The prize pool is ₹400 crore in committed capital. Open to Indian founders with revenue-generating startups. This competition is both newly launched and closing soon.
StoxraHack 2026 — India's Student FinTech & AI Trading Hackathon (IIMT University)
StoxraHack 2026 is a premier national online hackathon for college students across India, organised by IIMT University, Greater Noida. It is a 48-hour innovation challenge focusing on fintech, AI, trading, and other domains. Teams of 2-5 can participate. Prizes total ₹3.1 lakh. The deadline is 2 July 2026.
Pitch Fest | Pitch Your Business Idea (Masters Union School of Business)
PitchFest is an open hackathon where students and young founders pitch their business ideas. It is free to enter, runs in two rounds (online submission and final pitch), and offers cash prizes of ₹15,000 along with mentorship. Open to anyone aged 18+. All domains welcome. Round 1 deadline: 2 July 2026.
Trilytics'26: Analytics Case Competition (IIM Calcutta)
Trilytics ’26 is the flagship analytics case competition of the PGDBA Conclave, organised by students of the PGDBA program (IIM Calcutta, IIT Kharagpur, ISI Kolkata). In collaboration with Sun Pharma, participants build a statistical model to generate a District Level Market Attractiveness Index for the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Prize pool: ₹2.5 lakh. Open to undergraduate, postgraduate, MBA, engineering, and analytics students in India. Deadline: 2 July 2026.
Open Source Hackathon (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)
The Open Source Hackathon 2026 is a nationwide coding challenge encouraging contributors to work on real-world open-source projects. Powered by Unstop and supported by IIT and NIT communities. Participants must have basic knowledge of Git and GitHub. Individual participation only. Prize: ₹20,000. Two rounds: screening and final. Deadline: 5 July 2026.
CaseVerse 2.0 - Case Study Competition (NIT Rourkela)
CaseVerse 2.0 is the flagship national-level case competition organised by the Analytics and Consulting Club (AnC) at NIT Rourkela, in partnership with Finshots and Unstop. Open to all UG and PG students in India. Teams of 1-4. Three rounds: quiz, case rounds. Prize pool: ₹20,000. Deadline for registration: 5 July 2026.
AVANZARE V19.0 – 24-Hour National Level Hackathon (Kongu Engineering College)
AVANZARE V19.0 is a 24-hour national-level hackathon organised by the IEEE Student Branch of Kongu Engineering College, Erode. Student teams ideate, code, and build working prototypes within 24 hours. Open to UG and PG students from recognised colleges in India. Prize: ₹50,000. The event takes place on 17-18 August 2026, but registration deadline is 6 July 2026.
Global AI Hackathon Series with Qwen Cloud (Alibaba Cloud)
The Global AI Hackathon Series with Qwen Cloud is an online hackathon inviting developers worldwide to build AI solutions using Qwen Cloud. Prize pool: $45,000 (≈₹4.0 crore). Open to individuals, teams, and startups globally. Runs from May 26 to July 9, 2026. Deadline: 9 July 2026.
Kaya AI IIT India Hackathon 2026 (Kaya)
Kaya AI IIT India Hackathon 2026 is an online hackathon with a prize pool of ₹3,50,000. Focus on IoT, ML/AI, and enterprise applications. Open to Indian students, developers, and tech enthusiasts. Runs from June 10 to July 10, 2026. Deadline: 10 July 2026.
Innovations for Social Good and Better Bharat (ISGBB) (Capgemini)
The Innovations for Social Good and Better Bharat (ISGBB) initiative is a strategic multi-state program by Capgemini, implemented by BharatCares and SRF Foundation. It aims to strengthen regional innovation ecosystems through collaboration among innovators, academic institutions, ecosystem partners, and community groups. Focus areas include social impact. Prize varies. Open to Indian innovators and organisations. Deadline: rolling (not specified).
Defence India Startup Challenge 12 (Re-Open): Development of Inflight Urination Device for Female Fighter Pilots (Defence Innovation Organisation)
The Defence India Startup Challenge 12 (Re-Open) is a specific problem statement from the Armed Forces Medical Services under iDEX. It calls for solutions to develop an inflight urination device for female fighter pilots compatible with ejection seat systems. Prize: ₹15 crore. Open to MSMEs, startups, and innovators. Deadline: 15 July 2026.
Cross-Border Jobs Competition (Labor Mobility Partnerships)
The Cross-Border Jobs Competition seeks innovative startups shaping safer, fairer, and more scalable labor mobility across South and Southeast Asia. Prize: ₹8.3 lakh. Open to startups building platforms or services for cross-border worker mobility. Deadline: 5 August 2026.
Scheme for Goa Rajya Vidnyanik Puraskar (GRVP) (Goa State Innovation Council)
The Goa Rajya Vidnyanik Puraskar (GRVP) is an annual cash prize competition by the Government of Goa. Three awards (Innovation, Environment, Societal Impact) of ₹2 lakh each are given to Goan innovators/scientists whose ideas have been adopted or show high probability of adoption in Goa. Open only to Goan innovators. Deadline: rolling (annual).
STPI CoE-EA: Schneider Electric Open Challenge Program 3.0 (STPI CoE-EA, Bengaluru)
The STPI CoE-EA: Schneider Electric Open Challenge Program 3.0 is run by the Centre of Excellence – Efficiency Augmentation (CoE-EA) hosted by STPI, in partnership with Schneider Electric. It supports proof-of-concept development and industry validation. Prize range: ₹2.5 lakh to ₹2.5 crore. Focus on Industry 4.0 and emerging technologies. Open to startups. Deadline: 17 July 2026.
BOSCH - BMU Innovation Challenge (ACIC-BMU Foundation)
The BOSCH – BMU Innovation Challenge is a corporate innovation competition run by ACIC-BMU Foundation in partnership with Bosch India. Focus areas include sustainable mobility, connectivity, electrification, inclusive mobility solutions for persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and women. Prize varies. Open to innovators and researchers. Deadline: rolling.
Locus' Paygentic Hackathon - #2 (Locus)
Locus' Paygentic Hackathon #2 is a four-week virtual hackathon series. Week 2 challenges participants to use the BuildWithLocus suite to create solutions. Prize: ₹3.6 lakh. Open to individuals and teams of 1-4. Ideal for developers and innovators. Deadline: rolling.
HackNex Season 2 (JIS College of Engineering)
HackNex Season 2 is a 24-hour hackathon as part of InnovoCon Season 2, hosted by JIS College of Engineering, Kalyani. Participants tackle real-world problems. Prize: ₹50,000. Open to students and tech enthusiasts across India. Deadline: rolling.
Built with Opus 4.7: a Claude Code hackathon (Cerebral Valley)
The Built with Opus 4.7 hackathon is a week-long virtual competition organised by Cerebral Valley. Participants use Claude Code with Opus 4.7 (Anthropic’s LLM) to build projects. Prize: ₹9 crore. Open to up to 500 selected participants globally. Deadline: rolling.
Before Applying
Several competitions have specific eligibility constraints. The iDEX Open Challenge and Defence India Startup Challenge 12 are open only to Indian startups, MSMEs, and innovators. The Goa Rajya Vidnyanik Puraskar is restricted to Goan innovators/scientists. The Creator Colosseum and Pitch Fest are limited to student founders. Additionally, the BOSCH-BMU Innovation Challenge prioritises inclusive mobility solutions for persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and women.
Timing is critical: 15 competitions close within 14 days, with deadlines concentrated on 30 June (7 competitions) and 2 July (3 competitions). The Global AI Hackathon and Kaya AI Hackathon have later deadlines in July. Some competitions like the Goa Rajya Vidnyanik Puraskar are annual, meaning missing the current round means waiting a full year. The SLINGSHOT competition requires a pre-screening nomination step before the main application. Plan accordingly.
