India’s startups are no longer just finding new ways to use existing technology. A growing number are building the technology itself, from satellites and autonomous robots to advanced materials, medical diagnostics and cleaner construction methods. Their work is taking them into sectors that demand years of research, specialised expertise, and significant investment, with the potential to change how industries operate.
This shift is at the heart of TechSparks 2026, YourStory's flagship startup-tech summit, themed ‘The New Tech Order’. One of its key highlights is Tech30, YourStory's annual selection of 30 promising startups working on technologies that could shape India’s future.
Sridhar Vembu, Chief Scientist and Co-founder of Zoho Corp, unveiled and presented this year's Tech30 at TechSparks 2026. Speaking on ‘Prosperity cannot be imported: The road to tech independence’, he emphasised the need for India to develop technologies that address its own challenges.
"The new tech order is to learn to solve our own problems — foundational problems from agritech to material science to lasers, and also AI. But AI is not to be the be all and end all of it,” Vembu said.
Yoonmin Cho, APJ Lead, Snowflake for Startups, and Amar Dixit, CEO, WOI India, also joined Vembu in celebrating this year's Tech30 cohort on stage.
Chosen from a pool of applicants, the startups are evaluated by a jury of experienced members of the startup ecosystem, along with YourStory's senior editorial and research teams. The Tech30 report was unveiled at TechSparks 2026, bringing attention to companies working across a range of sectors and technologies.
This year’s selection reflects the growing ambition of Indian startups to develop their own technologies and apply them to practical problems. From improving industrial processes and strengthening critical infrastructure to developing new products and markets, these companies are working on challenges in India and overseas.
Here are the 30 startups selected for Tech30 2026.
Apollyon Dynamics
Apollyon Dynamics develops autonomous drones and counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems for defence applications. Its portfolio includes high-speed interceptor drones such as Ahuti Mk II, designed to neutralise hostile drones, and Nightshade ADX-1, an autonomous strike platform.
Arctus Aerospace
Arctus Aerospace is developing high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that operate at around 50,000 feet and can remain airborne for up to 24 hours. Equipped with onboard AI for autonomous navigation, obstacle avoidance, and flight planning, its platforms are designed to provide persistent aerial surveillance and high-resolution imaging for defence, agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, and disaster response.
Attox Research Laboratories
Attox Research Laboratories develops diagnostic technology to accelerate antibiotic sensitivity testing and help address antibiotic resistance. Its flagship device, Bactolizer, analyses electrical signals from patient samples using specialised algorithms to identify effective antibiotics and appropriate dosages in around two hours, compared with the 24–48 hours typically required by conventional methods. The system uses a reusable testing unit and disposable cartridges designed for hospital settings.
Balisto Agritech
Balisto Agritech has developed the Balisto 130 Pro, an electric farm machine that combines multiple agricultural operations, including weeding, sowing, spraying, rotavating, and harvesting, on a single platform. Powered by detachable batteries, the machine can be controlled through an onboard dashboard or remotely, while an internet-connected system enables cloud-based monitoring and remote diagnostics.
CaliperAI
CaliperAI builds AI infrastructure for robots and autonomous machines, using sensor fusion, localisation, and perception to help them navigate the physical world. Its platform captures, analyses, and annotates data from cameras, LiDAR, and navigation sensors, supporting the development of autonomous systems.
CraftifAI
CraftifAI builds AI software that automates development for embedded systems, edge AI, and IoT devices. Its Orbit platform generates, compiles, and validates code directly on target hardware, helping companies develop software for robotics, drones, industrial equipment, and automotive systems.
Curium Life
Curium Life is developing AI models that interpret surgical videos, anatomy, and operating-room workflows to support surgeons during procedures. Its technology aims to provide real-time guidance, identify anatomical structures, and flag potential risks, alongside tools that analyse CT scans to assess preoperative risks and abdominal-wall conditions.
Dognosis
Dognosis is developing BreathEasy, a non-invasive cancer screening test that analyses a person's breath to identify potential cancer risk across multiple cancer types. The system combines trained dogs' ability to detect cancer-related chemical patterns with brain-computer interfaces and machine learning to interpret their responses, flagging higher-risk individuals for confirmatory tests such as imaging and biopsies.
Ecopath
Ecopath turns industrial waste into construction materials, replacing conventional cement with alternatives designed to cut emissions and water use. Its EcoConcrete supports applications ranging from road construction to masonry products, while its soil-stabilisation and waterproofing solutions address other infrastructure needs.
Enerzolve Smart Technologies
From battery storage to grid infrastructure, Enerzolve works on the power electronics and instrumentation needed to manage electricity reliably. Its technology portfolio spans bidirectional power converters, software-driven solid-state transformers, and ultrasonic water, gas, and energy meters, serving utility developers, data centres, and defence organisations.
EON Space Labs
EON Space Labs’ MIRA imaging payload is now in orbit following a launch aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9, marking a milestone for its space-imaging technology. The startup develops electro-optical and infrared systems for space, aerial, and ground surveillance, including imaging payloads, gimbals, and fixed surveillance equipment, with more than 90% of its components built domestically.
Evoxia
Agricultural residues could offer an alternative route to producing polysilicon, a critical material for solar panels and semiconductors. Evoxia is developing a plasma-based process to turn this feedstock into high-purity silicon, reporting 6N purity in laboratory validation and targeting lower energy consumption and emissions than conventional production methods.
Folium Sensing
Folium Sensing turns standard optical fibre cables into sensors that detect vibrations, temperature changes, and mechanical strain over distances exceeding 100 km. Its AI-powered monitoring system helps identify pipeline leaks, railway-track cracks, and security threats across critical infrastructure.
Harvested Robotics
Harvested Robotics' RAKSHAK uses computer vision to identify weeds and high-powered lasers to remove them without damaging crops. Mounted on a tractor, the device can eliminate 80–100 weeds per minute, offering farmers an alternative to chemical herbicides and manual weeding.
Hyperonic Engineering
Hyperonic Engineering develops hydrogen technologies for mobility and industrial applications, including its H35 dispenser for safe, precision-controlled refuelling. It is also developing microgrids that combine electrolysers, hydrogen storage, and fuel cells for decentralised power generation.
Hypersonic Technologies
Hydrogen production need not come with direct CO₂ emissions or a single output. Hypersonic Technologies is developing plasma-based reactors that split methane and other gas feedstocks into hydrogen and solid carbon black, which can be used in tyres, plastics, paints, and coatings.
ImmunitoAI
Designing antibodies from scratch is the focus of immunitoAI, whose AbInitio platform uses AI to create proteins that bind to specific disease-linked targets. Trained on 3D protein structures, the system generates candidate antibodies for laboratory testing, with potential applications in cancer, autoimmune disorders, blood diseases, and neurological conditions.
Integra Robotics
Integra Robotics equips factories and defence teams with modular robots built for hazardous and hard-to-reach environments. The hardware ranges from robotic arms and underwater manipulators to mobile platforms capable of carrying 500 kg, while software uses field-operation data to train and improve machine capabilities.
Kubo Care
Kubo Care uses 60 GHz radar and AI to monitor older adults at home or in care facilities, detecting falls without cameras or wearable devices. Its system also tracks movement patterns, sleep interruptions, and vital signs to flag potential health changes, while alerting caregivers to events such as bed exits and wandering.
Metastable Materials
Discarded lithium-ion batteries contain valuable metals that Metastable Materials recovers for industrial reuse. Its proprietary recycling process separates lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper without adding chemicals, supplying recovered materials to industries such as glass, ceramics, stainless steel, and automotive manufacturing.
MiCoB
From army bunkers to residential structures, MiCoB uses robotic 3D concrete printing to automate construction. Its integrated technology combines specialised concrete mixes, printers, and digital design software, enabling the company to produce structures with less labour and material waste; it has delivered more than 650 3D-printed structures across 13 states.
MumbaiSemi
MumbaiSemi's DhruvaPro chip enables satellite navigation receivers to work across India's NavIC system and global constellations including GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou. The fabless semiconductor startup is also developing integrated circuits for wireless communications, AI hardware, autonomous vehicles, and low-power IoT devices.
Neo San
Instead of transporting non-recyclable dry waste to disposal sites, Neo San's machines process it where it is generated, using induction heating to reach temperatures of 1,200 degrees Celsius. Its range handles between 25 kg and 500 kg or more of waste daily, serving buildings, hospitals, and industrial facilities, with the resulting ash tested for use in construction.
Pramatra Space
Pramatra Space is working on encryption systems designed to withstand future quantum-computing threats. Its integrated photonics chip generates entangled photons to create secure encryption keys, which the startup aims to distribute through fibre networks and satellites to protect enterprise communications and critical infrastructure.
Red Balloon Aerospace
Red Balloon Aerospace is building platforms to operate in near-space, the region between conventional airspace and outer space. Its portfolio includes high-altitude balloons, tethered aerostats, and autonomous stratospheric airships designed for long-duration communications, remote connectivity, disaster response, and surveillance missions.
Sanyark Space
Sanyark Space is developing low Earth orbit satellites to improve navigation accuracy from metres to centimetres. Its constellation will transmit correction data and stronger signals to support precise positioning, timing, and more resilient communications for defence and infrastructure applications.
Segritech
Segritech uses computer vision and deep learning to grade fruit by size, colour, and surface defects, processing up to two to three tonnes an hour with 95% reported accuracy. Its machines currently sort produce such as pomegranates and apples, while the startup is developing an autonomous robot to harvest fruit directly in the field.
SpaceFields
SpaceFields develops solid-propulsion systems for rockets, unmanned aerial vehicles, and defence applications, with capabilities spanning composite propellants, rocket motors, and energetic materials. Its portfolio also includes an aerospike rocket engine, while its in-house technologies are backed by 32 patent filings, 11 of which have been granted.
TeraLumen Solutions
Terahertz waves are at the core of TeraLumen Solutions’ imaging and testing systems. Its TeraXPLOR platform supports research and spectroscopy, while TeraNIM detects defects and measures coating thickness in industries such as aerospace, automotive, and oil and gas. The company is also developing a system for detecting cancer margins during surgery.
Yaanendriya
Yaanendriya develops motion sensors, navigation systems, and control software for autonomous machines, from drones to surgical robots. Its positioning technology is also being adapted for GPS-denied environments, including underwater and indoor settings.
To access the full report on Tech30 startups, click here.
Edited by Teja Lele