National, 9 March 2026: PedalStart, in collaboration with Cesim India, recently hosted NitiQuest 2026 at The Den, Whitefield, Bengaluru – a curated event designed to connect select early-stage startup founders with active investors and operators. The high-engagement ecosystem-enablement event served as the culmination of a national-level startup challenge, as well as a launchpad for 12 promising student-led startups from campuses across India – many of them from tier-2 and tier-3 locations. It also witnessed participation from 4 startups accelerated by PedalStart, 2 of its portfolio startups, and 50+ investors from PedalStart’s flagship PedalInvest club.

Notably, the twelve college student-led startups invited to present their innovations at NitiQuest were carefully handpicked through a rigorous screening process, from a pool of over 1,400 applications received from across the country, including college teams from reputed institutions such as IITs, IIMs, NIIT and Masters Union. Team Tejas, a campus startup project from GIET University in Gunupur – a tier-3 city in Odisha – which has built an autonomous aerospace defence system, emerged victorious at NitiQuest, and was awarded the Lachhwani Grant of ₹2 lakhs by Vikas Lachhwani, noted angel investor and Co-founder of mCaffeine & Hyphen.

The day-long immersive event began with a panel discussion on the theme – ‘How to Make Real Returns from the Startup Asset Class’, wherein industry veterans – Mohit Sethi, a product management leader, ex-OLX and Snapdeal; Madhusudan Rao, Managing Director, MSS Pharma and Partner, PedalStart; and Vikas Lachhwani, unpacked valuable insights on conviction allocation in early-stage investing and evaluating startups at formative stages.

Thereafter, the shortlisted college startups and PedalStart-backed startups took the stage, pitched before a curated room full of active investors and ecosystem experts, and got real-time feedback. The angel investors and mentors present engaged directly with the founders, exploring synergies and, in many cases, committing support and strategic guidance. They also gave a soft funding commitment of over ₹2cr to the founders who pitched at the event.

Manas Pal and Aditya Darolia, Co-Founders of PedalStart said, “At PedalStart, we see ecosystem building as a long-term responsibility, and are committed to enabling founders beyond capital – through mentorship, access, networks and conversations with those who have walked the path before. We organized NitiQuest, in partnership with Cesim, to curate a platform where early-stage ambition meets experience. We’re glad to see that NitiQuest 2026 created a full-circle ecosystem moment – bringing together budding student founders, seasoned entrepreneurs, mentors, active angel investors and operators in the same room, enabling early, meaningful engagement, quality connections, and powerful conversations.”

Varun Patil, Country Head India, Cesim Business Simulations commented, “Cesim has spent decades teaching business through simulation because we firmly believe the entrepreneurial mindset is not inherited; it is built. NitiQuest was a natural extension of that belief. But a platform is only as strong as the ecosystem behind it, and PedalStart brought precisely that – investor communities, hands-on coaching, and a genuine commitment to student founders. Together, we did not just give these young entrepreneurs a stage – we gave them a pathway to engage and grow with ecosystem enablers.”

NitiQuest was anchored in the broader vision of PedalStart’s Build Startup India initiative. Under this initiative, PedalStart works closely with colleges across the country to promote entrepreneurship at the student level in a pro-bono manner, aiming to give back to society and the startup ecosystem without commercialization. The initiative focuses on mentoring student founders, providing grants, supporting early revenue generation, and beyond.

At NitiQuest, while PedalStart led the event execution, Cesim, a global leader in business simulation, played a key role in screening and sourcing startups from across India. As India’s startup ecosystem continues to expand across cities, sectors, and increasingly across college and university campuses, a new generation of student entrepreneurs is beginning earlier than ever, experimenting, building, and displaying strong entrepreneurial ambitions. NitiQuest 2026 not only captured this shift, but also emerged as a platform that strengthened the foundational layers of India’s next generation of startups, by combining founder exposure, structured evaluation, grant and support, and ecosystem collaboration.