YouTube Spotlight Feat. Startups
YouTube Splotlight Feat. Startups x Next Generation Acquisitions with Google AI Search and YouTube
As part of this first YouTube Spotlight cohort, you will receive exclusive entry to the Google office for an immersive session designed for founders pursuing rapid growth. This goes beyond a standard marketing presentation—it is a masterclass in establishing a distinct strategic advantage.
Why This Session Is Essential
Leading startups do more than adopt tools—they build on the foundational infrastructure that directs global user intent. In this focused, intimate gathering, we bypass industry noise to concentrate entirely on the essential drivers of actual growth:
- Master the "Answer": Learn to navigate the transition from standard search to Generative Engine Optimization. Discover how to position your brand to be cited, trusted, and recommended by upcoming AI models.
- Expand Your Vision via YouTube: Discover how to turn YouTube from a basic content platform into a robust full-funnel growth engine. Find out how to use creator-driven discovery to tap into high-intent demand at scale.
Agenda
- 09:30 AM - 09:45 AM | Welcome & Introductions (15 mins): Opening address and setting expectations for the YouTube Spotlight group.
- 09:45 AM - 10:45 AM | AI in the Search Era (60 mins): Adapting to an AI-first ecosystem, understanding AI Overviews, and content positioning.
- 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM | Building Content for YouTube (60 mins): An organic framework to expand search visibility, increase conversions, and establish a brand moat.
- 11:45 AM - 12:15 PM | Partnering with the Right Creators (30 mins): Approaches for effective collaboration and utilizing creator-led discovery.
- 12:15 PM - 12:30 PM | Q&A & Closing (15 mins): Interactive Q&A for founders and final remarks prior to lunch.
Featured Speakers:
- Anand Iyer - India Lead, Agency and PE/VC Growth Partnerships
- Sahil Chopra - Senior Manager, PE/VC Growth Partnerships
- Yash Rajgarhia - Senior Manager, PE/VC Growth Partnerships
FI India Expo 2026
Overview
FI India Expo 2026 will take place on 26, 27, and 28 August 2026 at Bombay Exhibition Center, Mumbai.
FI India Expo 2026 will take place on 26, 27, and 28 August 2026 at Bombay Exhibition Center, Mumbai. The event brings together food ingredient companies, beverage brands, R&D teams, food manufacturers, and trade buyers. Booth Fabricators helps exhibitors build professional stalls that support product display, visitor engagement, buyer meetings, and brand visibility during the exhibition.
Investor of the Month featuring Rahul Khanna - Trifecta Capital
Investor of the Month: Rahul Khanna
BigBasket, PharmEasy, BharatPe, Cars24 — 20+ unicorns, one common thread: they all sat across the table from Rahul Khanna at some point.
Rahul is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Trifecta Capital, a specialised financing platform for India's new economy across venture debt, advisory and equity. Previously Managing Director at Canaan Partners ($3.5B AUM), with 26 years investing and operating in tech, media and telecom.
This month, he's joining us for a real conversation on capital strategy — when debt beats equity, what he actually looks for before backing a founder, and where most get their capital strategy wrong.
Small room, real conversation. Register before it fills up.
The Next Billion Won't Type: Wispr Flow's road to $2B
The keyboard was designed 150 years ago for a mechanical era. Speaking is 3x faster than typing and for the first time, the interface is adapting to the human instead of the other way around.
Together Fund and Wispr Flow invite you to a fireside chat with Tanay Kothari, Cofounder & CEO of Wispr Flow, fresh off a $280M Series B at a $2B valuation. Wispr Flow is used by millions worldwide, has grown revenue 150%+ for four straight quarters, and just launched Canto - our first proprietary speech model. Dictation, though, is just the wedge.
This conversation will unpack:
- Voice as the next interface: what voice-controlled agentic workflows look like, and the vision of computing at the speed of thought
- Canto & the model layer: why they built their own speech model, and what owning it unlocks
- Beyond dictation: the notetaker, new interface bets, and the road to multi-product
- The India opportunity: why India, already a top-3 market for Wispr, is central to its growth ambitions
- The $2B journey: from the original avatar to the 2024 reboot, and the conviction it took to get here
Who should attend?
AI founders & operators, and business, product & tech leaders building AI-enabled orgs.
Founder Meet #01
START FOUNDERS MEET 01
Small group. Real conversations. People actually building.
We're bringing together 20 founders and builders for an intimate evening to talk about startups, funding, customers, failures, ideas, and the problems we're actually facing.
No stage. No pitches. No forced networking.
Just a table, good conversations, and interesting people.
What we'll talk about
- What are you building?
- What problem are you stuck on?
- How are you finding customers?
- How are you thinking about funding?
- What has worked and what hasn't?
- Who could you collaborate with?
Who is this for?
We're especially looking to bring together early-stage founders, first-time founders, and serious builders who are actively working on something.
This is a paid, curated event. There will be a small minimum ticket price to cover the venue, food, and event experience.
This is not a free networking event.
Registration does not automatically guarantee a spot. We'll review applications and select a small group based on what you're building, your stage, and the kind of conversations you could bring to the table.
Please include your LinkedIn profile when registering so we can get to know you before confirming your spot.
Limited to 20 people.
One evening. 20 people. Connections that matter.
Come with an idea, a startup, a problem, or simply the curiosity to meet people building something.
How to Win an Oscar from Your Browser
Hollywood is terrified, your GPU is crying, and we are here to teach you how to make cinematic masterpieces without ever leaving your ergonomic chair. Join GDG MAD for a chaotic but incredibly practical dive into AI video generation, prompt-driven directing, and keeping your generated humans from having seven fingers.
What to Expect
Remember when making a video required a camera, decent lighting, and actors who actually showed up on time? Yeah, we’re mostly done with that.
Welcome to the era of AI filmmaking, where your directing skills are entirely dependent on how aggressively you can type adjectives into a text box. In this month’s event, we're skipping the theoretical fluff and diving straight into the deep end of AI video generation.
We will explore the current landscape of video models (yes, the ones that are currently keeping studio executives awake at night), how to build actual cinematic workflows instead of just generating creepy 3-second clips of people eating spaghetti, and the dark art of maintaining consistency so your actor doesn't spontaneously turn into a coffee table halfway through the scene.
Agenda
- He-Hasn't-Sent-Us-His-Talk-Title-Yet-but-Something-Around-AI-Videos, by Suvaditya Mukherjee, Hugging Face
- GenMedia for Indian Creatives by Girish Nair, Google
- Future of AI Film Making Workshop by Sagar Chogale, FramingBlack
How to Attend
Sign up using the button below, and we'll send out confirmations and QR codes by Monday, the 17th of August. Only confirmed attendees will be allowed entry at the venue.
Synq-a-thon
Synq-a-thon is a full-day hackathon hosted by Ignite Room in collaboration with Synq AI, built for developers, engineers, and AI enthusiasts who want to solve real enterprise challenges using Synq AI's context layer: the system that connects models to institutional knowledge, so they stop guessing and start knowing. If you've ever wondered how enterprise AI actually gets grounded in real business data, this is your chance to build it yourself.
Participation: Solo only
Problem statement: Will be revealed on the day of the hackathon, so come ready to think on your feet and build under pressure
This is a full day of building, mentorship, and hands-on access to Synq AI's platform and APIs. Once the problem statement drops, you'll have the day to design, build, and demo a working solution grounded in real enterprise context. Our team will be around throughout for technical support and guidance, so you're never stuck for long.
🏆 Prizes worth Rs 1,00,000
We're covering breakfast, lunch, and snacks through the day, high-speed internet, a fully equipped venue, and swag for everyone who shows up. All you need to bring is your laptop and your curiosity.
Launchpad - Mumbai
Launchpad Mumbai is a 3.5-hour community AI event bringing together developers, working professionals, and builders for an afternoon of learning and networking. The event features two focused sessions : the first on how AI is transforming day-to-day workflows and the second diving deep into Agentic AI, covering autonomous systems, real-world use cases, and tools like n8n and LangChain.
Following the sessions, a Google Developer Expert will lead a live hands-on workshop using Google AI tools including Gemini API and AI Studio, where attendees build alongside the speaker in real time. The afternoon wraps up with a structured networking activity, refreshments, and a community giveaway.
DeepX : A Headstart DeepTech Event
A Headstart DeepTech Event co-hosted with The Ecosystem Community
A microcontroller designed and sold entirely out of India. Satellites six times sharper than the global standard. A robot that ended manual scavenging in 180 cities.
All built by Indian startups, most of it in the last three years. What it took to get there is the part nobody posts about. IP that takes years to defend. Regulatory approvals. Manufacturing scale-up. Capital that has to wait.
This event is about walking a mile in a Deeptech founder's shoes - how they got through each of those, what they'd do differently, and what's actually working now. Come to exchange notes.
Panel - Idea to Market
Three founders, one moderator, 40 minutes. The story, the struggles, and everything that went wrong before it came together.
Fireside - How Deeptech Gets Backed
One investor, one moderator, 30 minutes. How you underwrite a company that won't have revenue for years.
Demos - 5 Teams, Live Product
Five startups show what they've built. A platform for builders, an open room, pure curiosity.
If you want to watch these conversations unfold and contribute to them, Please register right away - limited seats available.
Ideabaaz Cohort 2026
Pitch where Capital, Media & Opportunity meet.
50 STARTUPS | 4 WEEKS | 1 DEMO DAY
The Top 10 startups pitch live for 10 minutes each in front of 150+ Indian and global investors — VCs, Family Offices, Angel Investors, and Syndicates. Investment commitments are announced and deals signed on the day. Streamed live on OTT and YouTube for national and global reach.
What's Included
- 50 Startup Cohort: Rigorously selected by expert panel
- Top 10 Live Pitches: Pitch live on Demo Day – Aug 30
- 150+ Investors: VCs, Angels, Family Offices, Syndicates
- OTT + YouTube Live: National & global visibility
- 4-Week Mentorship: Weekly live sessions + 1:1 coaching
- Deals Signed Live: Commitments announced on the day
How It Works
- Step 1: May – Jun 10 | Apply Online | Applications open at ideabaaz.co.in. Any stage, any sector, any city in India. Last day to apply: 30 June 2026.
- Step 2: May – Jun 10 | Apply Online | Applications open at ideabaaz.co.in. Any stage, any sector, any city in India. Last day to apply: 30 June 2026.
- Step 3: Jul - Aug | 4-Week Cohort | Weekly live mentor sessions, 1:1 coaching, pitch deck & financial model building. Top 10 selected at Week 6.
- Step 4: Aug 30 | Demo Day 🔥| Top 10 pitch live. Investors in room. Deals signed. Streamed globally on OTT + YouTube.
Only 50 startups selected. Applications reviewed on a rolling basis — the earlier you apply, the better.
Top 10 Startups on Demo Day get guaranteed investment of ₹25 Lakhs from Ideabaaz.
Filter Events
Loading...
Startup Events – FAQ
The Events directory helps founders, entrepreneurs, investors, developers, students, and startup enthusiasts discover upcoming conferences, meetups, workshops, webinars, hackathons, networking sessions, pitch competitions, and other startup-related events from around the world.
No. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, DesiFounder does not organize, sponsor, endorse, or have any affiliation with the events listed in this directory.
The Events section is an aggregation platform that helps the startup community discover relevant events from various organizers.
If an event is officially organized, hosted, or co-hosted by DesiFounder, it will be clearly identified with a "DesiFounder Hosted" or "Official DesiFounder Event" badge on the event page.
We make reasonable efforts to review submissions, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or availability of every event.
We recommend verifying event details directly with the organizer before registering or making travel arrangements, as many times event details are updated by organizers at a later stage, and we do not automatically update them on DesiFounder.