India’s startup landscape is booming right now with new launches, multi-million dollar funding rounds & innovation in artificial intelligence, climate, defence, manufacturing, fintech, and deep tech. Yet behind this momentum lies a different reality, only around 1% of Indian startups ever receive venture capital. For those outside the major hubs of Bangalore or Delhi, or those without a specific pedigree, the chance of even landing a meeting is less than 5%.
This is where Conquest, BITS Pilani has decided to step in and bridge the gap.
Founded by students and alumni of BITS Pilani, Conquest has evolved into one of Asia’s largest student-run startup accelerators. Over the years, it has worked with hundreds of startups across sectors, many of which have gone on to raise institutional capital, scale globally, and build category-defining companies.
But Conquest’s relevance today goes far beyond simply being just another accelerator or startup competition.
India is entering a new phase with a wave of startups emerging across sectors like aerospace, semiconductors, industrial automation, healthcare infrastructure, climate systems, robotics, and AI software. These businesses require deeper technical understanding, longer development cycles, and access to people who understand how to navigate complex markets. In many cases, talented founders fail not because their ideas lack potential, but because they have limited to no access to the right people who can help them scale and solve problems that arise during the early stages of a startup.
Conquest, BITS Pilani solves this by creating a structured ecosystem where startups can interact directly with founders, venture capitalists, operators, and industry experts who have already navigated similar journeys. With mentors such as Dhruv Madaan & Prasenjit Roy, and several others actively engaging with the founders, startups are able to shorten the learning curve significantly instead of spending years navigating purely through trial and error.
Conquest follows a unique ‘zero-cost zero-equity’ model. This means that participating startups do not have to pay any fees or give away any equity in exchange for the benefits they receive. Instead, Conquest provides equity-free cash grants to support the startups. This distinctive approach makes it an attractive option especially for early-stage startups looking to accelerate their growth without sacrificing ownership or incurring costs. Cohort startups also get access to resources like AWS, Notion and Tally that would be otherwise out of reach.
The entire 7 week hybrid accelerator program is designed to be intensive so that startups can make significant progress in a relatively short period. The program begins with the 6 week online phase where founders go on multiple one-on-one curated mentorship calls, along with several curated workshops. This is followed by the offline week in Bangalore where cohort startups get the opportunity to network directly with investors, attend exclusive ecosystem events, and build relationships with some of the country’s leading startup operators and investors.
The accelerator culminates in the Demo Day, where the cohort founders get an opportunity to pitch in front of a crowd of over 300, including notable investors, founders and operators. The top performing startups receive an equity-free grant from the Conquest team, with all startups getting an immense boost in visibility and network through the process.
A small testament of this program is SocialCops, a Conquest alum, which developed into Atlan and recently made headlines with its valuation exceeding $750 million.
Earlier this year, Conquest hosted a closed-door founder mixer in Gurgaon that brought together over 60 curated attendees including startup founders, operators, and ecosystem leaders. The event featured a fireside chat with Mukul Singhal (Founding Partner, Pravega Ventures) and Sachin Bhatia (Co-founder, Exotel), with discussions centered around venture building, fundraising realities, and scaling challenges in the current market.
As registrations for this year’s Conquest accelerator approach closure, the initiative represents more than just another opportunity for startups to pitch. It represents a gateway into one of India’s fastest-growing founder ecosystems.
If you are someone who is interested, register now at conquestbits.org
Conquest 2026 is being organised by BITS Pilani. ThePrint is its Digital Outreach Partner.
Also read: From ‘Shark Tank’-style pitching to idea exchange, what went down at BITS Pilani Conquest’s Demo Day