FITT Forward 2026: Who will drive India’s Deep-Tech future?

India wants to build the technologies of the future. FITT Forward 2026 is asking whether it can own them too.

The second edition of FITT Forward, organised by the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi, opened in New Delhi on September 10, bringing founders, investors, industry leaders, policymakers and researchers together to discuss India’s ambitions across semiconductors, AI, space, biotechnology, agriculture and sports technology.

The two-day summit, taking place on September 10 and 11, comes a year after its first edition closed with more than 20 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and over 30 startup-investor meetings.

This year, the focus has expanded from individual technology sectors to a larger question of whether India can develop and scale technologies that matter to its economy and strategic priorities.

From AI to semiconductors

The summit opened with a panel titled “Can India Build AI for 1.4 Billion, and the World?”, which brought together Sandeep Aurora, Group Director and Head of Public Policy and Government Affairs at Microsoft India and South Asia; Kavita Bhatia, Scientist G and Group Coordinator for AI and Emerging Technologies at MeitY; and Prof. Mausam of IIT Delhi.

The discussion explored whether India’s AI ambitions can move from government-backed missions to globally competitive companies.

Another session examined the capital required to support deeptech, with investors discussing what patient capital could look like for companies that typically need longer development cycles.

The afternoon shifted towards advanced manufacturing and semiconductors. Industry representatives from companies including Sona Comstar, Cadence Design Systems and Maruti Suzuki discussed India’s opportunity to build technologies that can power global industries.

Agriculture also took centre stage, with a panel exploring how technology can help Indian agriculture compete in global markets.

Startups meet investors and industry

FITT Forward also put founders and startups at the centre of the summit. In a Unicorn Fireside session, InsuranceDekho founder and CEO Ankit Agrawal, Delhivery co-founder and CTO Kapil Bharti, and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal discussed their journeys from early ideas to scale.

A five-hour closed-door Demo Day meanwhile gave selected startups, including ventures led by women, students and rural innovators, an opportunity to demonstrate products directly to investors.

The first day also concluded with two MoU signings. FITT signed one with World of Innovation, while TechnoSport and AIC-IIT Delhi signed another to build a dedicated SportsTech accelerator.

Building beyond the lab

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, cricket icon and investor, spoke about the role technology can play in sports and how his own injury experience influenced his move into investing.

“Sports mein there’s a lot of chance for technology. It has really taught me a lot in life, especially when I was injured, and I couldn’t show up to the stadium. I am here today as an investor and not as a sportsman,” he said.

Dr. Nikhil Agarwal said FITT Forward was organised to move the conversation from India’s capability to innovate to its ability to own and scale technologies that will shape the next decade.

“The next wave of Indian innovation will not be defined by one sector or one technology,” said Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi. “It will emerge at the intersection of research, entrepreneurship, capital and national priorities.”

As of the 2025 edition, FITT had incubated more than 280 startups, facilitated over Rs 450 crore in cumulative funding and commercialised 25 global patents.

Day two of FITT Forward 2026 focused on India’s space ambitions, healthcare and biotechnology, institutional capital for deeptech and SportsTech, before concluding with the FITT Forward Innovation Awards 2026.