TiECon to spotlight coastal Karnataka’s emergence as innovation, investment destination

Mangaluru: On the occasion of National Startup Day, TiECon Mangaluru 2026, supported by the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) and Silicon Beach Programme (SBP), will bring together more than 500 delegates, entrepreneurs, investors, corporate leaders, policymakers and innovators from across India and abroad to spotlight coastal Karnataka's emergence as an innovation and investment destination.TiECon Mangaluru will be held on Jan 16 at the Dr TMA Pai International Convention Centre, and will showcase 30 of the region's best startups.Key persons participating in the event include minister of IT and BT Priyank Kharge, Dakshina Kannada MP Capt Brijesh Chowta, ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) secretary S Krishnan, IT and BT secretary Manjula N, KEONICS chairman Sharath Bache Gowda, Accel India partner Prashanth Prakash, TiE global president Murali Bukkapattanam, 3one4Captial chairman Mohandas Pai, CEO Deloitte South Asia Romal Shetty, entrepreneur and actor Suniel Shetty, KDEM chairman BV Naidu, and Sanjeev Gupta, CEO, KDEM.Rohit Bhat, founding president, TiE Mangaluru, told reporters on Thursday, that the TiE Mangaluru chapter was established in April 2023, with the vision to galvanise the startup ecosystem in the Mangaluru-Udupi-Manipal region, which is now being recognised as the Silicon Beach of India. In less than two years, we organised over 40 startup-focussed programmes, reached more than 400 entrepreneurs, and built a member base of 130-plus founders collectively employing more than 20,000 people. With over 15 angel investors and three recent tech exits valued collectively at USD 250 million-plus, the region demonstrated strong early traction and the potential to become Karnataka's next major startup hub. The long-term vision is to enable 4,000 startups by 2034, with at least five unicorns emerging from the region," he said."We have a great line-up of speakers, ecosystem builders, and we intend to learn from them and make our region one of the top innovation hubs in this decade. We have curated the 30 high-potential, high-growth startups from the Silicon Beach of India for all potential investors and HNI to experience the innovation at play," said Prashanth Rao Aroor, chair, TiE Con Organising Committee.The event is supported by banking partner DBS. Platinum sponsors include Niveus Solutions (part of NTT Data), Featherlite, and Neo Wealth Partners. Diamond sponsors include Nuvama Private, Karnataka Bank, Vertex Workspace, and Peninsula Del Mar, and the hospitality partner is The Avatar Hotel.Prashanth Shenoy, cofounder & CTO, Unicourt, Sudeesh Karunakaran, director, Karuna Infra and Shyamprasad Hebbar, chief people services officer UnifyCX were present.