Plaksha University today showcased 35 startups, emphasising its growing startup ecosystem at the Progressive Punjab Investors’ Summit 2026 hosted at the university’s campus at Mohali. The showcase highlighted how student and alumni founders are building technology ventures and contributing to the state’s innovation ecosystem.
A technology university founded by over 130 business leaders and entrepreneurs through a unique collective philanthropy model, the university’s Incubation Center currently supports 23 alumni startups and more than 15 active student startup ideas. AI and deep-tech ventures, under the Info Edge Centre for Entrepreneurship, account for over 60% of startups from the Plaksha ecosystem. Collectively, startups from the community have raised over ₹25 crore in external funding so far. The university campus is a hub where engineering research, student entrepreneurship and industry collaboration come together to build technology ventures emerging from Punjab.
Commenting on this vision, Neeraj Aggarwal, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Plaksha University and Senior Partner & Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group said, “In today’s fast-moving world, universities have to not only support innovative ideas and research but also become platforms for them to turn into ventures which solve real world problems. Our goal is to enable student founders, researchers and industry partners to build deep-tech ventures that can emerge from Punjab and scale globally.”
Emphasising on the importance of industry-academia collaboration, Prof. Rudra Pratap, Founding Vice-Chancellor, Plaksha University, said, “Technology universities must create pathways where research and innovation move from the lab to the market. At Plaksha, we are building an ecosystem where students can experiment, build companies and collaborate with industry to solve real-world problems.”
Among recent examples, alumni-led funded startup Marbles Health, is delivering clinically licensed portable neuromodulation for scalable brain and mental healthcare. Its founders Ramya Yellapragada and Lakshay Sahni have been featured in Forbes India 30 Under 30 (2026). Thinklude, founded by BTech students Prerit Rathi and Pranjal Rastogi (BTech Class of 2026), and AgriGuru founded by Sanchit Gupta (BTech Class of 2028), have secured funding. Student ventures AgriGuru and Swipester also reached the Top 10 at the TiE U Chapter Finale. Among the student ideas supported by Plaksha is the development of an autonomous vehicle by Team Kalki that can land on Mars and do a certain set of actions.
Plaksha’s approach combines engineering education, research infrastructure and structured support for founders to help students and alumni translate ideas into technology ventures. The university is also working with research institutions and industry partners to create a platform for AI and deep-tech venture creation, enabling startups to test technologies, run pilots and access early customers.
