As Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads India’s global innovation outreach through the prestigious “Bharat Innovates” initiative in Nice, France, a parallel effort aimed at nurturing the country’s next generation of innovators has been launched in the national capital.
The HackFront India Leadership Forum, hosted at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi, marked the official launch of HackFront India, a nationwide innovation league designed to identify, nurture, and accelerate student innovators, entrepreneurs, and technology creators from across the country. The initiative has been launched by leading innovation technology startup Where U Elevate.
The launch comes at a significant moment as India showcases more than 120 deep-technology startups, premier institutions, and breakthrough innovations before global investors and industry leaders through the “Bharat Innovates” platform in France. HackFront India aims to strengthen the grassroots innovation pipeline that will produce the next generation of innovators capable of representing India on global platforms.
Inspired by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the initiative reflects the national goal of building an innovation-driven economy where technology serves society, entrepreneurship fuels prosperity, and young people emerge as creators rather than consumers of technology. The platform seeks to connect talent, technology, academia, industry, and government to accelerate India’s emergence as a global innovation leader.
Organized by Where U Elevate, the HackFront India Leadership Forum brought together leaders from industry, academia, startups, government institutions, investors, and the broader innovation ecosystem to discuss the future of innovation, entrepreneurship, and emerging technologies in India.
The initiative aims to establish a structured nationwide league comprising hackathons, innovation challenges, startup accelerators, and mentorship programs. Through these efforts, students and young entrepreneurs will be encouraged to solve real-world challenges through technology and innovation while developing skills that enhance employability and entrepreneurship.
HackFront India is spearheaded by Rishab Ilwadi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Where U Elevate, whose vision is to create a nationwide platform dedicated to innovation, entrepreneurship, and youth leadership. He is supported by an Executive Council consisting of leaders from academia, industry, technology, startups, and public policy.
The initiative is guided by an Advisory and Mentorship Council that includes industry veterans Amresh Khar and Dhiraj Tripathi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AutoBridge Ventures, along with academic leader Dr. Alok Nikhil Jha, Coordinator and Head of Innovation at IIIT Delhi. The council will provide strategic guidance, industry expertise, and mentorship to help cultivate India’s next generation of innovators.
Distinguished guests and thought leaders attending the forum emphasized that India’s innovation journey cannot be confined to boardrooms and research laboratories alone. They stated that sustainable innovation growth must be powered by millions of young minds across schools, colleges, universities, and startup ecosystems.
Among the prominent speakers were Dr. Vinod Bind, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha; Anshoo Pandey, Director, Ministry of Mines; Dr. Pankaj Tripathi, Thought Leader; Vinit Goenka, Secretary, Centre for Knowledge Sovereignty; and Malgorzata Wejsis-Gołębiak, Director, Polish Institute, New Delhi.
The speakers highlighted the urgent need to bridge the gap between academic learning and industry requirements by improving youth employability, encouraging entrepreneurship, and creating pathways for meaningful careers across both the corporate and public sectors.
Industry and academic leaders participating in the forum included Manish Gurnani, Chief Technology Officer, Ksolves India Limited; Praveen Dwivedi, Vice President, Public Sector, iLink Digital; Bhavesh Kataria, Chief Executive Officer, Telio Talent; Mukesh Bansal, Deputy General Manager, Renewable Energy, Havells; Om Prakash Maurya, Delivery Head, Ksolves India Limited; Dr. Rajesh Pathak, Vice Chancellor, Metro University; Imran Yusuf, Chief Operating Officer, Electropreneur Park – STPI; Dr. Sunita Yadav, Dean, Computer Science, Inderprastha Engineering College; Dr. Anjani Kumar Bhatnagar, Additional Director, Placements, Amity University; and Dr. Abhinav Juneja, Director, CRPC, KIET University.
These leaders stressed the importance of structured mentorship, incubation support, industry exposure, and investor access for promising innovators emerging from the six-month HackFront India Innovation League. They noted that the initiative is designed not only to identify talent but also to transform innovative ideas into scalable enterprises, employment opportunities, and solutions that contribute to national development.
Speaking about the vision behind the initiative, the organizers stated that while Bharat Innovates is showcasing India’s innovation excellence before the world, HackFront India aims to discover, nurture, and empower the innovators who will represent the country on global platforms in the years to come. They emphasized that strengthening employability, entrepreneurship, and incubation support will contribute to the creation of a future-ready workforce and help build India’s innovation-driven decade.
The HackFront India Leadership Forum was held on June 13, 2026, at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi under the theme “Building India’s Innovation Decade – A National Dialogue on Talent, Technology and Entrepreneurship.” The event witnessed participation from distinguished representatives of industry, academia, startups, government institutions, investors, and innovation ecosystems from across the country.
HackFront India, an initiative of Where U Elevate, is a national innovation league dedicated to nurturing young builders, entrepreneurs, and technology innovators through hackathons, innovation challenges, mentorship programs, incubation support, and industry engagement. By creating a nationwide platform that transforms ideas into impactful ventures, the initiative seeks to play a significant role in strengthening India’s innovation ecosystem and advancing the nation’s position as a global innovation powerhouse.
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