National Startup Day 2025: Ignite your Entrepreneurship Dreams with Visionary Voices of India

Ankush Sabharwal, Founder & CEO, CoRover

"In India, a thriving startup ecosystem depends entirely on innovation, collaboration, and supportive policy regime. As of April 2024, there were close to 6.2 thousand artificial intelligence (AI) startups in India.  It paints a bright picture of India's enormous potential towards startup expansion. A successful startup is a melting pot of incubators, corporate, and policymakers for discussions to foster innovations. At CoRover, we believe that fostering AI innovation through government incentives, partnerships with both public and private enterprises, and a strong focus on skill development can revolutionize various sectors. This approach can propel India toward a truly ‘Make in India’ startup scenario with a global impact."

Rohit Mahajan, Co-Founder, plutosONE

"India has emerged as a global leader in digital payments, driven by innovative policies and robust infrastructure. The Indian government, in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has been pivotal in empowering fintechs to develop customer-focused and bank-friendly solutions.

plutos ONE, a Bharat Bill Payment System Technical Service Provider (BBPS TSP), is actively working with banks to expand the adoption of digital payments across the country. With the strategic guidance of NPCI, digital payment transactions are projected to double in the coming years, reflecting the immense growth potential and dynamism of India's startup ecosystem."

Sankar Lagudu, Co-Founder & COO, Responsive

“The SaaS industry of the past, built on cloud deployments and standard scalability models, is no longer sufficient to meet the disruptive forces of today. In 2025 and beyond, SaaS startups must embrace a fundamental shift—leveraging generative AI and advanced system modeling to create adaptive, intelligent solutions that deliver more than software. SaaS companies have an opportunity to evolve into platforms that orchestrate complex AI systems, turning raw processing power into meaningful outcomes. This transition from traditional SaaS to AI-driven, model-based solutions is the key to standing out, thriving, and preparing for the next technological frontier. Innovation must center on systems that connect, learn, and grow with customers’ needs—this is where the future of SaaS lies.”