MAM
Startups take centre stage as UpStart 2025 gives ideas a lift-off
MUMBAI: Bengaluru didn’t just host a startup event, it felt like India’s entrepreneurial pulse kicked into overdrive. UpStart 2025, the flagship national pitching competition by Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kanpur, touched down in the city with its biggest-ever edition, turning the Davanam Sarovar Hotel into a buzzing arena of ideas, ambition and unapologetic hustle. With 20 plus dignitaries, including global VCs from South Korea and Singapore, the atmosphere crackled with the energy only a startup capital can conjure.
The event showcased 24 plus early-stage startups spanning technology, healthcare, defence, ed-tech, fashion, sustainability and F&B. In a Shark Tank-style live arena, founders had 7 minutes to pitch and 5 minutes for grilling, facing sharp questions from investors who came armed with appetite and scrutiny.
The competition reached viewers beyond Bengaluru too, it was telecast live with StartupTV and iQue Ventures, pushing early-stage innovation straight onto national screens.
These selected startups will now progress through multiple screening rounds and in-person mentoring sessions before heading to the grand finals at the IIT Kanpur campus on January 25, 2026, part of E-Summit’25.
And Bengaluru wasn’t the only pit stop: editions in Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad have already seen 23 plus startups pitch across fintech, health tech, deep tech, Web3, cybersecurity and more. The circuit now rolls into Mumbai on December 6, before finalists emerge.
The organising team from Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kanpur summed up the day with characteristic clarity, “Bengaluru represents the heartbeat of the Indian startup ecosystem. Today’s event showcased highly innovative founders building for the future. We remain committed to helping them reach the pinnacle of success.”
Heavy-hitters from across the venture landscape turned up, including:
• Unicorn Incubator South Korea
• Emphasis Investments
• Ankur Capital
• Thaksil Ventures
• IAN Ventures
…along with several others evaluating the country’s next breakthrough ventures.
Delhi-NCR’s earlier edition featured VCs from GMR Group, Inflection Point Ventures, Finvolve, GrowX Ventures, and more signalling the rising investor appetite for UpStart’s national pipeline.
Across its editions, UpStart has transformed into a rare confluence where founders gain:
• network access
• industry-veteran feedback
• storytelling refinement
• visibility across cities
• cross-sector insight
For many, it’s not just a business competition, it’s a career-shaping accelerator, and a rare chance to pressure-test ideas under the brightest lights.
With Bengaluru wrapped, Hyderabad buzzing, Delhi-NCR completed and Mumbai next in line, UpStart 2025 is rolling across India with the force of a nationwide innovation tour.
If early signs are anything to go by, the finals at IIT Kanpur may just witness India’s next big headline-maker, one pitch at a time.
Brands
Boeing appoints Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering function
Seasoned finance leader to steer budgets and strategy across global centres
BENGALURU: Boeing’s finance cockpit has a new pilot, and he is no stranger to turbulence or transformation. Boeing has appointed Barun as head of FP&A for global engineering, placing him at the centre of financial strategy for its worldwide engineering and technology operations.
Based in Bengaluru, Barun steps into a role that is as expansive as it is critical. He will serve as the primary finance lead for Boeing’s Engineering and Technology Centers globally, working closely with executive leadership to shape financial decisions, manage complex budgets, and design scalable finance processes that support the company’s growing engineering footprint.
In a note announcing his move Barun said, “I’m excited to share that I’ve joined Boeing Global Engineering. This opportunity is incredibly meaningful to me not just from a professional standpoint, but also for what Boeing represents globally.” He added that he looks forward to contributing to an organisation that continues to shape the future of aerospace and innovation.
Barun’s mandate spans strategic financial leadership, operational oversight, and stakeholder engagement. From directing large-scale budgets and schedules to influencing long-term organisational goals, the role blends financial discipline with business foresight. He will also lead cross-functional teams and partner with finance colleagues worldwide to support engineering programmes across geographies, including India.
The appointment caps a long stint at Juniper Networks, where Barun spent over a decade, most recently as finance senior manager. There, he led FP&A for global product business units and G&A functions, driving budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning. He also played a key role in enterprise-wide transformation, including spearheading an Oracle to SAP ERP migration and building advanced analytics capabilities using tools such as Tableau and SAP Analytics Cloud.
His earlier career includes finance leadership roles at Sony India Software Centre, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Mphasis, where he focused on financial planning, governance frameworks, and operational efficiency across global delivery centres.
A chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Barun brings nearly two decades of experience across financial planning, digital transformation, and analytics-led decision making.
His appointment comes at a time when global engineering operations are becoming increasingly complex and distributed, requiring sharper financial oversight and agile planning. With Barun at the helm of FP&A for engineering, Boeing appears to be tightening its financial playbook as it looks to scale innovation with discipline.
