Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2026 to explore AI, profits and valuations

MUMBAI: The startup party is getting a reality check, with Moneycontrol putting AI, profits and valuations under the spotlight at its third Startup Conclave. Moneycontrol will host the third edition of the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave on September 26, 2026, in Bengaluru, bringing together founders, investors, policymakers and industry leaders to examine what it takes to build enduring businesses as India’s startup ecosystem enters a new phase.

The conclave will be anchored around the theme ‘The Big Reset: AI Shift, Profitability, Valuation’, reflecting the changing priorities of a startup ecosystem that has spent years chasing growth, capital and unicorn status.

The conversation now moves to a tougher set of questions. Can rapid growth translate into sustained profitability? Can artificial intelligence create lasting competitive advantages? And can startups build long-term value beyond headline valuations?

India’s startup ecosystem has produced unicorns, attracted global capital and scaled technology-led businesses. But as AI reshapes business models and capital markets evolve, founders and investors are facing greater scrutiny around sustainable growth and the valuations attached to it.

The Bengaluru event will bring together voices from government, banking, technology, consumer businesses, startups and venture capital to examine these shifts.

Among the speakers are Karnataka Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development MB Patil; Karnataka Chief Secretary Dr Shalini Rajneesh; Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya; Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation chairman and Hosakote MLA Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda; IDFC First Bank CEO and MD V Vaidyanathan; PhonePe founder and CEO Sameer Nigam; Groww co-founder and CEO Lalit Keshre; Rapido co-founder and CEO Aravind Sanka; Prism (Oyo) founder Ritesh Agarwal; and Acko General Insurance founder and CEO Varun Dua.

The technology and AI line-up includes Sarvam co-founder Pratyush Kumar, Emergent founder Mukund Jha, Ather Energy co-founder Swapnil Jain, Skyroot Aerospace co-founder Naga Bharath Daka, Pixxel co-founder Kshitij Khandelwal and The ePlane Company founder Professor Satya Chakravarthy.

The investor community will be represented by Accel partner Prashanth Prakash, Lightspeed partner Rahul Taneja, Elevation Capital partner Mridul Arora, ICICI Prudential AMC CIO Sankaran Naren, Rahul Chowdhri of Stellaris Venture Partners, Siddarth Pai of 3one4 Capital and Manu Iyer of Bluehill VC.

The wider line-up also includes NPCI chief product officer Kunal Kalawatia, Incred Wealth CEO Nitin Rao, Zerodha head of capital markets Mohit Mehra, Ionic Wealth co-founder Shobhit Mathur, Dezerv co-founder and CEO Sandeep Jethwani, Swish founder and CEO Aniket Shah, Slikk co-founder and CEO Akshay Gulati, Pronto founder and CEO Anjali Sardana, Popo Global co-founder and CEO AB Gupta, Benne founder Akhil Iyer, IndiaBonds co-founder Vishal Goenka, Techburner creator and entrepreneur Shlok Shrivastava and White Gold founder and CEO Rahul Joseph.

The conclave also brings a creator-economy perspective into the mix, with Techburner among the speakers as the ecosystem increasingly overlaps with digital audiences, technology and entrepreneurship.

Moneycontrol Managing Editor and Network18 Chief AI Officer – Editorial Operations Nalin Mehta said the startup ecosystem was entering a phase where the focus was shifting from simply creating startups and attracting capital towards building globally competitive and enduring businesses.

Mehta said AI was changing the economics of entrepreneurship while domestic capital was deepening and founders were increasingly being pushed beyond a growth-at-all-costs approach.

The conclave will therefore examine how founders, investors and policymakers are approaching profitability, sustainability and long-term value creation as India’s startup story moves into its next chapter.

With Bengaluru as the backdrop, the event aims to decode where startup value comes from when fundraising headlines take a back seat and the business itself has to do the talking.