Dear Reader,
From autonomous drones to electric farm machines manufacturers, meet the 30 startups building the next generation of technology.
At the 17th edition of YourStory’s flagship tech-startup event, TechSparks, Sridhar Vembu, Chief Scientist and Co-founder of Zoho Corp, unveiled and presented this year’s Tech30 at TechSparks 2026. This year’s picks reflect the growing ambition of Indian startups to develop their own technologies and apply them to practical problems. Here’s the full list.
With AI taking over software development, the technology remained the core topic across several discussions at the event.
“AI already can write better code than at least 60-70% of software engineers out there. And in maybe three to six months, when things accelerate, AI can do better software than maybe 90% of software engineers,” Vembu said, speaking at TechSparks 2026.
But it is not all doom and gloom.
Despite the impending disruption to tech professionals, a huge part of India’s population will remain largely unaffected, said Vembu, presenting a counter-intuitive macro perspective. He pointed out that roughly 97% of the broader population does not write software and operates as consumers of technology.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government is being cautious about using AI in governance as it first needs to understand how this technology can be used responsibly, Priyank Kharge, Minister for Home, IT, BT & E-Governance, Government of Karnataka, said at the event.
However, this does not mean that the state government will not use AI in governance. The minister said the technology is being leveraged for basic issues such as citizen grievances, health, and mobility. He also said the government has set up a committee to study how to use AI responsibly in governance.
ICYMI: All that happened on day 1 of TechSparks 2026.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Priyank Kharge on Karnataka’s new tech order
- Overcoming failures in spacetech
Here’s your trivia for today: Which multinational computer hardware company gets its single-word name from the last four letters of the mythical winged horse Pegasus? (Scroll down for answer)
TechSparks
Priyank Kharge on Karnataka’s new tech order
Karnataka is setting its sights on defining the future of global technology. At Techsparks 2026, Kharge declared that the next era of tech innovation will originate from the state.
During a captivating conversation with Shradha Sharma, Founder & CEO of YourStory and The Bharat Project, the minister highlighted the government’s relentless focus on upskilling local talent to meet the evolving demands of the global economy.
Key takeaways:
- The minister said that, in the last nine months, the state has attracted close to $4.9 billion investments just from the technology sector. Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru is already the fourth largest technology cluster in the world.
- He said manufacturing units and global capability centres (GCCs) have come up across the state, and that one of Apple’s supply chain partners operates out of Belagavi, doing precision manufacturing.
- Kharge added that the state runs dedicated entrepreneurship programmes for startups outside Bengaluru and cited recent deals to emphasise the state’s Beyond Bengaluru policy.
TechSparks
Overcoming failures in spacetech
Building spacetech companies requires nerves of steel, given the nature of the business. Companies have to survive hundreds of investor rejections, acute supply chain bottlenecks, and the constant threat of orbital failure.
Speaking with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO, YourStory and The Bharat Project, at the 17th edition of YourStory’s flagship tech-startup event, TechSparks, Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder and CEO of AgniKul Cosmos, and Suyash Singh, Co-founder and CEO of GalaxEye, shared practical insights into the complex task of building aerospace ventures in an emerging market.
Key takeaways:
- Ravichandran faced 275 investor rejections before securing initial backing. Singh encountered similar headwinds at GalaxEye, facing roughly 100 rejections.
- Following a successful test launch in May 2024 using 3D-printed engines and a mobile launchpad, AgniKul is now preparing for orbital customer flights while testing rocket stage reusability, bringing hardware safely back to Earth to lower launch costs.
- Despite the risks, market demand in spacetech is expanding rapidly. Surging geopolitical conflicts across the globe have made space-based Earth observation indispensable.
News & updates
- Deeptech: Amansa Investments, SBI Mutual Fund and HDFC Life Insurance Company, and others, have invested over Rs 413 crore in defence electronics maker Tonbo Imaging India Ltd through secondary share transactions, valuing the company at around Rs 4,000 crore.
- Tech deal: Freshworks has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Torii, a SaaS management platform, as it looks to expand its Freshservice offering into software spend management and AI governance.
- Fresh capital: Clueso, the agentic video platform for business founded by IIT Madras alumni, has raised $10 million in a Series A round of funding led by Dharana Capital, with Founders Future and Neotribe Ventures joining as new investors.
Which multinational computer hardware company gets its single-word name from the last four letters of the mythical winged horse Pegasus?
Answer: Asus
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