An article by Ms. Geetika Dayal, Director General, TiE Delhi-NCR
India’s startup landscape is entering a decisive decade. Deeptech is moving from buzzword to backbone, women founders are gaining overdue visibility, and global expansion is no longer a luxury reserved for late-stage companies. As these shifts reshape the entrepreneurship narrative, organisations that act as ecosystem builders hold an outsized responsibility.
TiE Delhi-NCR, has played a pivotal role in building the startup ecosystem we see today. 2025 was no different. Through a year packed with founder-focused forums, deeptech programs, and opportunities for women leaders, TiE Delhi-NCR has turned its calendar into a blueprint for where Indian entrepreneurship is heading next.
The Workforce, Technology and Capital Reset
The year opened with a clear signal: India’s next wave of growth will be powered by new skills, new technologies, and new capital flows. The HR Summit 2025 tapped directly into workforce transformation and how founders must rethink hiring, culture, and talent for the AI era. Days later, the AI Advantage masterclass brought businesses into the real, practical world of deploying artificial intelligence for scale rather than only conversation.
February also underscored the capital question. Capital Connect 2025, organised with SIDBI, gathered policymakers and investors to decode what next-generation enterprises need from India’s financial ecosystem. Meanwhile, Leap Ahead at Bharat Mandapam and TiE’s quarterly Pitch & Partner series opened vital pathways for early-stage startups across sectors including Deeptech, Fintech, EV, D2C, Healthtech and Web3. These gatherings didn’t just create pitching opportunities. They stitched together a growing founder-investor community looking to build long-term value.
Adding to this focus on innovation, TiE Delhi-NCR, in partnership with GMR, launched TAKE OFF: the Intrapreneurship Ignition Program, an initiative designed to empower GMR employees to think like entrepreneurs and drive transformative ideas from within the organisation.
Women at the Centre of the Conversation
One of this year’s sharpest inflection points was the SHE Summit, an action-heavy platform dedicated to women founders, leaders, and investors. The event balanced inspiration with execution. Dynamic panels and networking forums made for meaningful discussions, and a premium power lunch with investors underscored our dedication to positioning women at the heart of the entrepreneurial growth of India. It reflected a larger movement in the landscape where women-led innovation is finally gaining the visibility and support it deserves.
Deeptech Steps Into the Spotlight
2025 has been a breakout year for deeptech, and TiE Delhi-NCR placed itself squarely at the center of this movement. Through this collaboration with STPI for LEAP AHEAD, the organization supported over 70 promising startups with mentorship, demo days, and practice-driven financial modeling and pitch refinement sessions.
This commitment extended further through the Samarth Incubation and Acceleration Programs in partnership with C-DOT. Founders working on 5G, cybersecurity, AI, IoT and quantum technologies, they received structured guidance across business models, hiring, IP, legal frameworks, ESG, financial management, and market fit. Each module reflected a deep understanding of how complex frontier-tech companies grow.
A major milestone came with the TiE India Startup Superpower2035 dialogue, where TiE Delhi-NCR’s deeptech delegation met senior government leaders to discuss patenting support, district-level innovation, capital mobilisation and pathways for global competitiveness. For deeptech startups that often struggle with regulatory clarity and commercialisation challenges, this platform was a rare and meaningful intervention.
The Founder’s Growth Journey Across the Year
Beyond deeptech, TiE Delhi-NCR spent the year strengthening the everyday building blocks of entrepreneurship. The Mastering PR & Comms workshop brought practical clarity to brand building. The TiE Institute Learning Series, launched with a high-energy session on the modern sales playbook, offered sector-tested insights from India’s top sales leaders. Group mentoring sessions on media strategy, advertising and brand growth were equally action-oriented.
The Founders & Funds forum, the Exclusive Networking Breakfast with Ashish Sharma (InnoVen Capital), and the Founders’ Club breakfast with industry leaders like Sandeep Sinha(Oister Global), along with investor-focused formats such as Chai or Cheques, created distinct spaces where founders could gain perspective, sharpen narratives, and accelerate their funding efforts.
At the same time, TiE’s Youth Entrepreneurship programs surged ahead. The TYE Regional Finals and Global Finals spotlighted the talent of high school innovators whereas the Student Entrepreneurship Summit brought together more than 400 young minds keen to explore the startup universe via hands-on tours, workshops and corporate immersions.
From Local Roots to Global Pathways
TiE Delhi-NCR’s commitment to help Indian startups adopt a global lens was one of the highlights in the startup ecosystem in 2025. Sessions with the UAE-India CEPA Council opened access to expansion support and sponsored scale-up programs. The Samarth Program’s deeptech focus encouraged founders to look at international markets early.
And October’s announcement of TiEcon Delhi 2025 positioned India’s deeptech ascent on a global platform, gathering more than 2000 stakeholders across policy, R&D, and frontier technologies. The two-day summit, themed “India’s Deeptech Ascent,” featured a keynote by Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, and played host to visionary panels, fireside chats, and showcases, including Lab2Scale, highlighting India’s most promising homegrown deeptech ventures and fostering collaborations to drive the nation’s technology and innovation leadership forward.
The 3rd edition of the Emerging Finance Leader Awards 2025 in partnership with Binary Semantics, celebrated India’s most visionary finance leaders. Honoring trailblazing CFOs and financial strategists across sectors from AI and fintech to B2B and cleantech, the awards recognized excellence in innovation, governance, and strategic growth, highlighting the critical role of finance in powering India’s startup ecosystem.
A Year That Redefined What Support Looks Like
As the year wraps, one thing is abundantly clear. TiE Delhi-NCR established momentum and provided clarity, self belief and community to countless founders operating in an even more challenging environment. From fostering young innovators to supporting women entrepreneurs to unlocking global channels to advancing deeptech ventures, TiE Delhi-NCR defined 2025 as a year of meaningful impact.
The future of entrepreneurship will demand sharper skills, deeper innovation, and a stronger international presence. If the organisation’s 2025 playbook is any indication, TiE Delhi-NCR is not just ready for that future. It is actively shaping it.
