Upekkha's VIBE50 Emerging Vertical AI Startups Summit Kicks Off in Bengaluru
Upekkha, India's leading accelerator for Al-driven and Saasstartups, conducts the world’s first-of-its-kind vertical AI summit in the Leela Palace, Bengaluru. The summit also hosted the release of the industry report: “Top 50 Emerging Startups in the Tech and AI Space” in the presence of Simon Wardley, British researcher and the former CEO best known for creating Wardley Mapping.
Upekkha was founded by Prasanna Krishnamoorthy, Shekhar Nair, and Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan, a trio with deep experience in venture building, product strategy, and global Al growth.
It empowers founders to build capital-efficient, value-driven businesses from India for the global market.
Commenting on the occasion, Prasanna says, “In the early days, electricity felt like magic, often failing 80–90 percent of the time. Magic, by its nature, isn’t easily repeatable, you can’t build stable systems on top of it. That’s why electricity had to become a dependable utility—accessible, consistent, and standardized. About a century ago, that transformation took place, and once electricity became a utility, its practical applications skyrocketed. The same shift is now happening with intelligence and cognition. Once scattered in isolated and mysterious pockets, they’re moving toward becoming a universally accessible utility. And when cognition becomes that kind of foundational layer, the applications expand exponentially.” Prasanna, a former VC and one of the most trusted startup coaches in India, has mentored over a thousand founders in refining product-market fit and go-to-market execution.
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Shekhar says, “In recent years, many founders have focused narrowly on shortcuts—like finding cheap code to pass tests—only to realize they’re now trapped by a changed environment. The principles, the tactics, and even the rules of the game have shifted. As a fan of Simon, we invited him here to share his strategic thinking—how to navigate a world in flux, how to adapt when the landscape transforms, and how he successfully responded when everything changed around him."
Meanwhile, every CIO who approved their first ChatGPT pilot has a new mandate: find AI that moves real numbers, not just generates marketing copy,” adds Shekhar.
Addressing the press, Simon added, "India may have missed the initial wave of large-scale investments in the LLM space compared to the US and China. However, the focus is now shifting toward building applications on top of these models—and in that domain, India holds a strategic advantage. With its strong legacy in software-as-a-service innovation and access to deep talent pools, India is well-positioned to lead in creating AI-driven applications. India’s experience in building scalable software and serving global markets provides a solid foundation to drive the next phase of AI adoption through practical and impactful use cases."
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"In recent years, many founders have focused narrowly on shortcuts—like finding cheap code to pass tests—only to realize they’re now trapped by a changed environment. The principles, the tactics, and even the rules of the game have shifted. As a fan of Simon, we invited him here to share his strategic thinking—how to navigate a world in flux, how to adapt when the landscape transforms, and how he successfully responded when everything changed around him," says Thiyagarajan.
“India holds the structural advantages here. Twenty years of IT services created something unique: 100,000+ engineers who understand both American enterprise workflows and Indian operational realities. They are building vertical AI at a fraction of the cost of Bay Area teams. When you combine that with proven cross-border GTM advantages, you get a machine that is unmatched,” adjoins Thiyagarajan.
Upekkha partners with a range of global platforms and startup enablers, including Microsoft for Startups, AWS Activate, Stripe Atlas, Freshworks, HubSpot for Startups, and DevRev. While it maintains strong relationships with leading VCs such as Accel and Matrix Partners, Upekkha's model remains uniquely founder-aligned and capital-neutral, supporting startups that seek strategic capital only when it aligns with their long-term goals.