MIT India’s Capital Nexus and National Hackathon Advance Startup Growth and Student Innovation

Held at Radisson Blu Plaza, New Delhi, Capital Nexus served as the national finale platform for 16 startups, bringing them before 6 investors from the investment ecosystem. The platform provided an opportunity for ventures to engage with investors and explore potential pathways for growth.

The platform was designed to move beyond pitch-led recognition and facilitate meaningful investor connections, funding opportunities, strategic partnerships and growth. The participating investors brought opportunities for startups to explore potential investments, strengthen business relationships and identify pathways for sustainable growth.

Startups engaged with the ecosystem around key areas including investor readiness, market validation, scalability, founder mentorship and corporate-startup collaboration. Through curated networking and investor engagement, Capital Nexus aimed to help promising ventures build relationships that can support their next phase of growth.

The MIT India National Level Hackathon Grand Finale featured 37 teams presenting refined solutions to a jury of 15 panel members. The finale marked the culmination of a two-stage journey that began at the Pune Qualifier Round. Over two months of guided refinement, teams continued developing solutions against the same industry-sourced problem statements, allowing the finale to assess the depth of execution and product development rather than a new pitch. Each team comprised four students, with final product presentations evaluated against a common judging rubric. The format gave students an opportunity to apply their learning to real-world challenges and gain exposure to industry professionals, domain experts and potential future employers.

At the MIT India National Level Hackathon Grand Finale, the first-place team in Engineering was awarded ₹2,00,000, the second-place team ₹1,00,000, and the third-place team ₹71,000. In the Design category, the first-place team was awarded ₹1,00,000, the second-place team ₹71,000, and the third-place team ₹51,000. Every Grand Finale team member received an AWS Certification Voucher worth ₹10,000, while each team received cloud credits worth up to ₹20,000.

Together, Capital Nexus and the National Level Hackathon reflect MIT India’s focus on building stronger connections between entrepreneurship, investment, industry and future talent. While Capital Nexus creates pathways for promising ventures to access capital, mentorship and business networks, the Hackathon encourages experiential learning and practical innovation through industry-relevant challenges.

Commenting on the initiatives, Mr. Digvijay Karad, Group Director, MIT India, said  “At MIT India, we believe education must extend beyond the classroom to create meaningful opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship and industry engagement. Through Capital Nexus, we brought startups closer to investors, mentorship and networks that could support their growth, while the National Level Hackathon gave students a platform to apply their knowledge to real-world industry challenges. Together, these initiatives strengthened the connection between academia, industry and investment, creating opportunities for young innovators and entrepreneurs to take their ideas forward and translate them into tangible outcomes.”

About MIT India

MIT India, founded in 1983 under the MAEER Trust, is a multidisciplinary educational ecosystem with 70+ institutions and 6+ universities across India. Built on the vision of Prof. Dr. Vishwanath D. Karad, MIT India brings together education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship with a focus on developing future-ready talent and contributing to societal progress. With a presence across diverse disciplines, MIT India continues to foster collaboration between academia, industry and the wider innovation ecosystem.

For more information, visit the official website: MIT India | IES 2026