SaaS solutions form 30% of applications that BITS Pilani’s startup accelerator receives

“SaaS solutions are quite a significant portion of our applications,” he said. “The impact of the Freshworks is yet to be seen; we expect it to reflect in the applications of the next cohort. However, we are positive that it was an inspiration to many in the ecosystem.”

He went on to add that Conquest’s registrations show that agritech, electric vehicles and sustainability-focused startups are the other sectors that are hot right now as they’re seeing a lot of innovation.

“One trend that we have noticed in student-led startups is that they are usually rich in technology and focus on digital product offerings,” Guru said. “This is mainly because of the technical skills of the students, and the low initial investment required. However, we also notice that more and more students are choosing to start up, and the day is not far where student-led startups will span multiple sectors, even the ones dominated traditionally by big companies.”

The accelerator has around 25 on-campus start-ups working in sectors like tech, content, finance, IT, and more. The accelerator is looking to create a repository of information and resources that will be accessible to all registered startups. Further, it is working to partner more extensively with VC firms, to provide more funding opportunities to participant startups.

“We partner with E-cells and colleges across the country to create as much awareness as possible and have been seeing applications from tier-II and tier-III cities. We are sure of the numbers increasing in the future editions, as we see technology penetrating into these regions,” Guru said.

Guru also said that startups going public has also boosted sentiment and that the success stories of startups like Zomato and Nykaa will motivate more students to take up entrepreneurship.