Startup Policy Forum

India’s AI story is about more than building bigger models. The real opportunity lies in solving problems businesses face every day and creating products they are willing to pay for.

In conversation with The Economic Times, our President & CEO, Shweta Rajpal Kohli, spoke about the challenges AI startups continue to face, from accessing affordable compute, quality datasets and specialised talent to finding patient investors and getting businesses to move from pilots to paid adoption.

Read here: m.economictimes.com/ai/ai-insights…

@PihuYadav05 | @ShwetaRKohli | @AvantikaGode | @Shubhangip611 | @akankshaghosh13 | @bforbaruah

We’re delighted to welcome Neokred to the Startup Policy Forum as an Anchor Member.

Neokred is a modular fintech infrastructure company that empowers businesses to rapidly build and launch financial products through API ansd platform solutions across digital identity enrichment, payments, and privacy compliance.

We look forward to working with the Neokred team on strengthening India’s fintech infrastructure landscape, from addressing regulatory gaps to building long-term policy frameworks that enable innovation.

@neokredtech | @tarunazare

@ShwetaRKohli | @AvantikaGode | @Shubhangip611 |
@akankshaghosh13 | @bforbaruah

At TechSparks 2026, Shweta Rajpal Kohli (President & CEO, Startup Policy Forum) ran a masterclass called "Startups and Storytelling: Making Narrative Your Moat."

Read this beautifully captured summary of her masterclass to dive deeper into three themes she addressed in the session:

1. AI has made storytelling easier, and standing out harder.
2. Storytelling isn't about marketing. It's about building trust.
3. Visibility without substance is distraction.

Thank you YourStory for the session and the summary.

@ShwetaRKohli | @_TechSparks | @YourStoryCo | @SharmaShradha | @ShivMuths

@AvantikaGode | @Shubhangip611 | @akankshaghosh13 | Oishika Ghosh | @bforbaruah

Read: yourstory.com/2026/11/techsp…

From all of us at Startup Policy Forum, wishing everyone a Diwali full of light and new beginnings! 🪔

Some evenings are best captured in motion. 🎥

Glimpses from Lights & Leaders 2026: four hours, 200+ friends, and endless conversations.

@ShwetaRKohli | @AvantikaGode | @Shubhangip611 | @bforbaruah | Oishika Ghosh | @bforbaruah

India’s deeptech ecosystem is growing. Now, it’s time to think bigger.

At TechSparks 2026, our President & CEO Shweta Rajpal Kohli joined a panel discussion with Kaushik Mudda (Ethereal Machines), Hareesh Chandrasekar (AGNIT Semiconductors) and Gokul N A (CynLr) on what it will take for Indian deeptech startups to compete globally.

From access to capital and talent to government support and building sovereign capabilities, the discussion covered the opportunities and challenges facing the sector.

Startup Policy Forum's message was clear: India has the talent, scale and policy support to make this its moment in deeptech. The challenge now is to move faster, build with conviction and think beyond India.

Here's the story that captures the session takeaways: yourstory.com/2026/10/deepte…

@SharmaShradha | @ShivMuths | @YourStoryCo | @_TechSparks | @MuddaKaushik | @etherealmachine
@CynLr00 |

@ShwetaRKohli | @AvantikaGode | @Shubhangip611 | @akankshaghosh13 | Oishika Ghosh | @bforbaruah