New Delhi: With a day full of Shark Tank-style pitching, insightful panel discussions and meaningful networking, Conquest BITS Pilani’s flagship event—The Demo Day—saw top start-ups from multiple cohorts present their innovations to a panel of top investors, industry leaders and an audience of over 300 people from the start-up ecosystem.
Demo Day ‘25 took place on 10 August at Taj MG Road, Bengaluru. The jury panel comprised top established founders, angel investors, and representatives from some of India’s prominent VC firms, including Chiratae Ventures, Blume Ventures, Ideaspring Capital and Peer Capital, among others.
Conquest is India’s largest zero-equity start-up accelerator, organised by the students of BITS Pilani. Every year, Conquest shortlists 20-25 start-ups from over 3,000 registrations across the country, and the top ones get a pitching slot on Demo Day. This year, the event featured twelve such start-ups.
The day began with the first pitching slot, featuring four start-ups—Kustodian.life, SugarStrings.ai, StackVoice, and Inferigence Quotient. Their pitches were followed by a panel discussion on “The Next India Growth Story”.
The panel—which explored the tailwinds shaping India’s next phase of growth, from start-up-led innovation to infrastructure-led scale, and the sectors best poised to ride them—-featured Nihansh Bhat (Head of Corporate Development, KRAFTON India), Shyam Menon (Co-Founder & Partner, Bharat Innovation Fund), Amit Sharma (CTO, Ionic Wealth), with Shesh Vasudevamurthy (Executive Director, Coacharya Foundation) as the moderator.
The conversation delved into India’s evolving internet economy, where consumer platforms defined the first wave, and the next is being powered by content, IP creation, and gaming-led innovation. Panelists discussed market shifts, structural enablers and the evolving capital flows driving this transformation.
Then came the second pitching slot, with three more start-ups—DTRI, Ad Idem and Lifespark Technologies—which was followed by a fireside chat with Prashant Pitti, Co-founder of EaseMyTrip.com and Optimo Capital, and Shilpika Ganeriwala, Chief of Staff at Razorpay.
From building a profitable travel tech giant in a discount-driven market to launching new ventures and sharing an idea a day, Prashant gave the audience an unfiltered take on resilience, risk-taking and staying ahead in competitive industries.
At a second fireside chat, Sudhir Sethi, Founder & Chairman of Chiratae Ventures, spoke about what he looks for in founders, how he spots promising ideas early, and why India’s next decade will be full of opportunities for entrepreneurs. The session provided a rare peek into the mind of one of India’s most influential VCs.
The third and final pitching slot for the day featured five start-ups operating in the sustainability space under Conquest’s Greenovation Track, powered by EarthON foundation, which was like a mini-Conquest tailored around sustainability to ensure that the founders in this space get adequate mentorship, resources and funding. The companies that pitched included Marman Climate Smart Technology, TriNano Technologies, Visron Pvt Ltd, Unbubble.co, and Prithu.
Demo Day ‘25 ended with the announcement of the winners of Conquest’s equity-free grants, which were decided by the jury panel based on the pitches. Rs 20 lakh in equity-free grants were awarded cumulatively. The winners of these grants were Lifespark Technologies, Kustodian.life, Marman Climate Smart Technology Private Limited, and Unbubble.co, who impressed the jury with their breakthroughs in healthtech, fintech and sustainability.
Founded by Amey Desai, Lifespark Technologies has developed WALK, a wearable digital platform that gives Parkinson’s patients real-time gait therapy at home, clinically shown to reduce symptoms and improve mobility.
Kustodian.life uses AI to streamline EPF, insurance and inheritance claims. Till now, they have settled over Rs 15 cr with speed and clarity.
Similarly, founded by Deepak Gupta and Anurag Sood, Marman is making clean technologies, like rooftop solar, EVs and energy-efficient equipment, accessible to underserved communities through embedded PAYGO finance and vetted vendor partnerships—unlocking climate impact and livelihoods at scale.
Lastly, founded by Akash S., Unbubble creates plant-based packaging peanuts and foam that fully compost or dissolve in water, replacing plastic bubble wrap and thermocol without compromising protection or affordability.
Found this interesting? Check out Conquest at their official website conquestbits.org.
Conquest 2025 is being organised by BITS Pilani. ThePrint is its Digital Outreach Partner.
Also Read: From Prayogik to Avni, the start-ups driving sustainable innovation backed by BITS Pilani Conquest