Startup Competitions & Hackathons in India

Uttar Pradesh awards up to ₹3 crore in grant-in-aid to scaling-stage startups picked through an open Grand Challenge.

Dubai's global AI agent competition: four category winners each get a US$150,000 grant (about ₹1.43 crore). Free online entry for individuals and teams worldwide; registration closes January 2027.

EO's global competition for university students aged 18-30 who own and run a business. Global Finals winners share US$100,000 in cash, with US$50,000 (about ₹47.5 lakh) for first place.

Two startups per sector win a government work order of up to ₹15 lakh and ₹10 lakh to prove their concept at UP Startup Week.

A national platform for India's most promising agri startups to showcase scalable, high-impact solutions with grants up to ₹15 lakhs and expert mentorship.

A joint initiative by Maruti Suzuki and IIM Calcutta Innovation Park for early-stage startups to co-create innovative solutions for the Indian mobility landscape.

India's premier startup competition offering mentorship, exposure, and funding up to ₹10 Lakhs for startups of all sizes and industries.

India's premier startup competition — pitch your ideas, get mentorship, and win funding up to ₹10 Lakhs.

Prize money of US$5,000–10,000 (about ₹4.75–9.5 lakh), training and a regional showcase for youth-led teams in Asia-Pacific using AI for development. No closing date published.

A pitch competition for startups of all sizes and industries, with funding up to ₹10 Lakhs and mentorship from industry experts, held across 19 locations in India.

India's premier startup competition offering mentorship, exposure, and funding up to ₹10 Lakhs for startups of all sizes and industries.

A 3-day offline hackathon in Bengaluru for experienced developers to build production-grade AI solutions on edge devices — $6,000 prize pool.

Startup Haryana's free innovation challenge for Haryana residents: ₹1,00,000 for the top performer in each district and ₹5,00,000 each for the three best statewide. No deadline published yet.

India's premier pitch competition for college students, founders, and early-stage startups — ₹3 lakh prize pool, judged by IIT professors and industry leaders.

An annual cash prize competition by the Government of Goa, through GSInC, to recognize and reward Goan Innovators/Scientists for impactful product or process innovations.

Annual state awards recognizing MSMEs in Odisha with cash prizes for first, second, and third place, fostering excellence and economic contribution.

Annual awards recognizing excellence in Himachal Pradesh's tourism sector with a cash prize of ₹1 lakh per category.

Multi-state programme, powered by Capgemini, giving MVP and growth-stage social-impact innovators deployment chances, mentorship and visibility. No cash grant.

Annual Maharashtra state hackathon for student innovators, with awards and recognition for the top ten ideas or startups.

Social Alpha's ISRO-backed lab-to-market platform for SpaceTech startups, with R&D, testing, mentorship, market access and possible seed investment.

nasscom CoE AI Innovation Challenge for an examination scheduling assistant for Gujarat’s GSSSB — paid PoC with the Government of Gujarat and a path to state-wide scale. Open to AI and deep-tech startups, pan-India.

India's premier startup competition offering mentorship, exposure, and funding up to ₹10 Lakhs for startups of all sizes and industries.