CII CIES

ICONN Summit 2025

Synergy for Scale: Corporate–Startup Partnerships for National Impact

24 - 25 November 2025 | Hyderabad, India

Get your Tickets Programme

ICONN stands for Industry–Startup Connect a powerful platform curated by CII CIES to foster impactful partnerships between corporates and startups. Launched with the vision of enabling India’s innovation-led transformation toward Viksit Bharat @2047, ICONN offers structured, high-visibility opportunities for startups to scale solutions and co-create impact alongside industry leaders, investors, policymakers, and academia.

Building on the success of its previous edition, ICONN Summit 2025 returns as a pivotal platform aimed at translating vision into tangible outcomes. The summit will bring together India’s most innovative startups, forward-thinking corporates, influential policymakers, and international stakeholders for two days of strategic dialogue, knowledge exchange, and partnership-building.

ICONN Summit 2025 goes beyond being a traditional summit, it is a dynamic platform where ideas, strategic intent, and collaborative spirit converge. With an unwavering focus on practical solutions and cross-sector engagement, the summit seeks to accelerate innovations that are ready to scale and deliver measurable impact aligned with India’s development priorities.

This edition of the summit centres around four transformative themes that reflect the nation's most urgent and high-potential areas for innovation: Sustainability, Financial Inclusion, Connectivity, and Manufacturing Excellence.

Focus Themes of ICONN Summit 2025

Sustainability
Building a Greener, More Resilient Future
(Environment, Energy, Waste, Agriculture, Circular Economy)

Financial Inclusion
Driving Access to Credit and Financial Services
(Banking, Finance, Insurance)

Manufacturing Excellence
Powering Smart Industry for Global Competitiveness
(Industry 4.0, IoT, Automation, Cybersecurity, Predictive Maintenance)

These themes represent India’s most urgent developmental goals and offer unmatched opportunities for startup–industry co-innovation.

Key Dignitaries

Shri D Sridhar Babu

Hon’ble Minister for information Technology, Electronics, and Communications Industries & Commerce & Legislative Affairs
Govt of Telangana

Mr Kris
Gopalakrishnan

Chairman
CII CIES Advisory Board & Chairman, Axilor Ventures

Mr CK
Ranganathan

Co-Chairman
CII National Startup Council and CMD, CavinKare Pvt Ltd

Mrs Manisha Verma IAS

Additional Chief Secretary, Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Department, Government of Maharashtra

Mr Ashish Bhandari

Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
Thermax Limited

Ms Nirupa Shankar

Joint Managing Director
Brigade Group

Mr Deepak Padaki

President
Catamaran

Mr Sanjeev Gupta

Chief Executive Officer
Karnataka Digital
Economy Mission

Dr Shivkumar Kalyanaraman

Chief Executive Officer
Anusandhan National, Research Foundation, (ANRF)

Mr Harsh Vardhan

Chief Digital Transformation Leader Apollo Tyres

Mr Ankit Kedia

Founder and Lead Investor
Capital A

Ms Jyothi Pradhan

Executive Director
Kanara Consumer Pvt Ltd.

Dr Harish Iyer

Director - Health R&D
Digital Innovation and AI
India - Gates Foundation

Mr Pravin Agarwal

Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer
BetterPlace

Mr Sridhar Sarathy

Chief Ethics Officer
& Head - Sustainability, CSR, Tata Capital

Ms Kirthiga Reddy

Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Verix

Mr Sumeet Ahuja

Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Evoque Impact

Mr Ramesh Loganathan

Professor
Co-Innovation/Outreach
IIIT Hyderabad

Mr Kushal Nahata

Co-founder and
Chief Executive Officer
FarEye

Mr Vijayanand Samudrala

CEO/ President
Amara Raja Advanced
Cell Technologies

Mr Murali Pullela

Sales Director and Country
Manager (S&A), India
Synopsys

Mr K R Venkatadri

Chief Commercial Officer
Tata Chemical

Mr Praveen Dwarakanath

Designated Partner
Whitespace Alpha

Dr Raj Narayanam

Founder &
Executive Chairman
Zaggle

Mr Abhijeet Pai

President, Puzzolana
Machinery & Co-Founder
Gruhas PropTech

Mr Sato Yosuke

Senior Representative
JICA India

Mr Narayan Devanathan

President &
Chief Strategy Officer
Dentsu South Asia

Mr Chanukya Patnaik

Founder CEO
AI Planet

Mr Kentaro Okoshi

Representative Private Sector Development Group, Economic Development Department JICA

Mr Manabu IIDA

Chief Advisor
SGBBE Project
JICA

Mr Mayur Shah

Executive Director
Suzuki R&D Center
India Private Limited

Event Format & Highlights

Vibrant Startup Expo

B2B Matchmaking Sessions

ICONN NINJA Demo Day

Insightful Masterclasses for Startups

High-level Thematic Dialogues with policy and industry leaders

Startupreneur Awards 2025 honouring impactful Indian Startups

Launch of the Women in Innovation (WIN) Compendium 2025

Engagements with International Delegations & Trade Missions

Release of sectoral Whitepapers and Reports with actionable insights

Key Stakeholders

Startups & Entrepreneurs looking to showcase innovations
Corporates & Industry Leaders seeking solutions and collaborations
Investors, Family Offices & VCs scouting for high-impact ventures
Government & Policymakers advancing innovation and policy support
Incubators & Accelerators scaling startup readiness
Academia & Research Bodies contributing knowledge and talent
International Delegations exploring cross-border synergies
Multilateral & Bilateral Institutions fostering global collaboration

ICONN Summit 2025 invites all startup ecosystem stakeholders to be a part of this impactful summit toward building an inclusive, innovative, and globally competitive India.

Get your Tickets Get your Stall

For more information, please contact:

Nishit Sharma | nishit.sharma@cii.in
Sivasundari Subramanian | sivasundari.subramanian@cii.in

Industry Innovation Partners

Manufacturing Session Partners

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Awards Partner

Patron Partners

Technology Partner

Strategic Partner

Outreach Partners

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