Five student-led ventures have received seed funding of ₹5 lakh each after presenting technology-based solutions at Techforchange – Cohort 4: Innovate X 2026 in New Delhi.

The programme, supported by Ciena and implemented by Nasscom Foundation, brought together 10 finalist teams at the India Habitat Centre on 19 August. The teams addressed challenges across manufacturing, education, healthcare, agriculture, disaster response, oral care and waste management.

The finalists included CorpoGN Technologies, Orova, Alevora, WearEase, BioQuantix, Stratasense Technologies, Jatayu, CaviSafe, Canvasly and ZeStraw.

Their solutions ranged from an artificial intelligence platform for reusing industrial metal scrap and a solar-powered agricultural machine to a drone-based disaster-response system and an assistive learning tool for visually impaired students.

A jury assessed the teams on their understanding of the problem, use of technology, feasibility, user adoption, scalability and potential social impact. The five ventures selected for funding will also receive mentoring and incubation support.

“Young people are not short of ideas. What they need is an ecosystem that helps them test, refine and take those ideas forward,” said Jyoti Sharma, chief executive of Nasscom Foundation. “The teams in Cohort 4 have not only built prototypes; they have learned to listen to users, question assumptions and design for impact.”

Vineet Vohra, vice-president of software engineering applications at Ciena, said the programme provided students with technical guidance, industry exposure and support to develop their ideas into viable solutions.

Cohort 4 engaged 360 students and received 250 ideas from more than 14 colleges. It included 221 teams in the ideation track, 52 in the prototyping track and 25 in the start-up track. Participants completed 18 workshops, four webinars, a hackathon and 333.5 hours of mentoring, leading to the development of 34 prototypes.

Since the initiative began in August 2020, it has received 611 ideas and applications across four cohorts.

The event also included a discussion with programme alumni and the launch of an impact compendium documenting the partnership from 2020 to 2026.

Cohort 4 will continue until December 2026. The funded ventures will work on their prototypes, business models, user validation and plans for pilot projects and wider adoption.

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