Surat Startup Day brings together founders, operators, and ecosystem enablers who are shaping the next wave of companies from the city. It’s a space to meet people building across sectors, learn from each other’s journeys, and discover how ideas from Surat are scaling across India and beyond.
The evening will feature three focused conversations:
>> Fundraising for Startups
Founders and investors will share what early fundraising looks like in today’s market — how they prepared, where signals came from, what shaped their pitches, and what they would do differently. It will be a candid conversation about real experiences, practical steps, and lessons that can help early-stage teams.
>> Building Brands & Scaling Up from Surat
Surat has quietly produced strong product and consumer brands. This conversation will dive into how founders approached brand building, what helped them scale, how they built trust, and the choices that shaped their growth. You’ll hear stories rooted in Surat’s culture of experimentation, design, networks, and speed.
>> AI & SaaS
This discussion brings together teams building AI-driven and SaaS products from Surat. They’ll talk about early choices, user discovery, quick iterations, and how they turned simple ideas into working products. It’s a grounded look at how software is getting built in the city right now.
After the sessions, we’ll bring everyone together for informal conversations, founder introductions, and new connections across the community.
If you’re building, investing, or looking to stay close to what Surat founders are creating, this is a good place to be.
Jatin, Devrishi
+ 20 others
went
See who came
Co-founder, Bootstrapped and Profitable, in Media / creator.
Building eChai.Ventures
Founder, Pre-revenue / pre-PMF and Bootstrapped, in B2B / enterprise + AI/ML + Cybersecurity.
Building <div>Serial entrepreneur with expertise in logistics and a demonstrated history of working in the textiles industry and construction line. Skilled in Operations, Negotiations, Sales, Market Research and Management. Strong program and project management professional graduated from University College London.</div>
Building <div>I help you adopt AI in your business<br><br>I am a research scientist turned entrepreneur. <br><br>I have worked on close to 30 startups and launched them successfully. I have grown B2B startups to over 100,000 users and had one successful exit. <br><br>Although I loved every second of my life as a researcher, I always wanted to become an entrepreneur. I have over a decade long experience managing software development teams. I founded my first company when I was a Sophomore at school. <br><br>My area of expertise as a researcher was cloud computing with over 4 years of experience working with complex data sets, algorithms, and applications. <br><br>One of the applications that I primarily worked on had the potential to employ thousands of computers in the cloud. <br><br>We tested this with 100 computers and reduced the traditional processing time of 6 hours to less than 10 minutes. <br><br>The application helps find the closest safe rescue shelters in the event of a natural disaster such as a hurricane or Tsunami.<br><br>My Ph.D. dissertation on frameworks to convert your legacy software to cloud-ready without a learning curve has been featured by HPC in the cloud, a leading journal on cloud computing. My papers have been published in reputed IEEE and ACM conferences.<br><br>I hold multiple patents in my field of research.<br><br>I am now a full-time founder. I spend my time working on solving challenges to grow our startup so that we can help our users become at least 10x more productive.<br><br>I regularly share my expertise with world’s leading publications. If you want to work with me on a publication message me.</div>
Building <div>Co- Founder @ Truly SMA | Founder @ My House Teacher | Business Acumen, Manufacturing<br><br>Founder and Director of My House Teacher, a company specializing in handcrafted learning activities designed to simplify complex concepts for children through playful and memorable experiences. With a strong IT foundation and business acumen, the organization has built a trusted presence across states and villages in India. <br><br>Holds a BTech in Computer Engineering from SVNIT, Surat, and leverages leadership expertise to empower a team of women in creating impactful educational tools. Passionate about advancing India’s learning games sector, while fostering innovation and inclusivity within the industry.</div>
Building <div>Co-founder, ZebraLearn | CFA | Ex-Private Equity | Artist | Stanford STP 2025 | Forbes 200 Select 2024 | TOI - Excellence in Publishing<br><br>Radhika is the Co-Founder at ZebraPro. It is a research platform for investors that focuses on providing quality Fundamental Data to investors in an insightful and collaborative manner. We present this using standardized formats i.e Industry Sheet, Business Sheet and Management Sheet. We leverage algorithms to make sure right user gets the right data set.<br><br>It also has an education arm- ZebraLearn. ZebraLearn is a research-based education platform. Here, we are working on creating e-courses for the research work that we have been doing to develop ZebraPro.<br><br>Prior to this, Radhika has worked in the Private Equity space and is extremely enthusiastic about startups. She is reachable at [email protected]</div>
Building <div>Basic Roots | Raising funds for technology startups and capital advisor to Founders | Board-Level Strategy<br><br>I’m a serial entrepreneur, investment banker, and early-stage angel investor with hands-on operating experience across both traditional industries and technology-led ventures. I began my career at Lehman Brothers and ENAM, leading IPOs, M&A, and private equity transactions for some of India’s largest companies. I’ve also worked with global teams, including my time at Banker without Boundaries, a UK-based climate finance advisory firm, where I collaborated on sustainable finance and infrastructure mandates across emerging markets.<br><br>Later, I moved to Surat, where I built a textile trading and manufacturing business from scratch and launched one of the city’s first coworking spaces. These ventures gave me a deep understanding of tier-2 markets—their potential, limitations, and the realities of scaling outside the metro lens.<br><br>Today, I co-lead Basic Roots, a strategic advisory and investment firm focused on early to growth-stage companies in consumer, fintech, SaaS, and B2B commerce. I work closely with founders, investors, and boards on fundraising, M&A, and long-term growth strategy.<br><br>I’m also a regular voice on Bloomberg TV, speaking on macro trends, startups, and capital markets. Recognized as an Emerging Female Entrepreneur by Union Minister Smriti Irani, I remain deeply committed to supporting more women in business and leadership.</div>
Building <div>Oxi9 Expert App | Oneiros the Sports Club | Fresio Herbals Mfg Unit | Trademark Owner “Paraben Free” | Helped Launch 100+ Skincare Brands | His concept Case study In Harvard n Emarald Publication and being studied at IIM<br><br>At the helm of Oxi9 Essentials Pvt Ltd, my leadership synthesizes over a decade of extensive expertise in Innovation and process improvement and new business development. Our organization has thrived under a culture of innovation, where strategic decision-making and collaborative efforts have been pivotal in streamlining operations and solidifying our market presence with new Beauty Tech. <br><br>As Founder of ONEIROS The Sports Club, I've cultivated a community-centric environment, growing membership and revenue through dynamic marketing and inclusive sports programs. Leading with a vision for versatile business management, we've successfully diversified our offerings, ensuring ONEIROS remains India's premier destination for sports enthusiasts.</div>
Co-founder, Series A, in AI/ML and Agritech.
Co-founder, Pre-revenue / pre-PMF and Pre-seed, in Fintech + SaaS + AI/ML.
Building Currently building apriltax a taxtech startup that helps e-commerce sellers to file their GST returns themselves with three simple steps. Upload, Validate and Done
Solo founder, Pre-product (building), in SaaS and Cybersecurity.
Building I’m building tools that take the panic out of India's new data privacy laws (DPDP Act).
Founder and Co-founder, Pre-seed, in Marketplace and Proptech / real estate.
Founder, Pre-revenue / pre-PMF and Pre-seed, in SaaS + D2C / consumer + E-commerce / retail.
Founder, Profitable, in SaaS + B2B / enterprise + E-commerce / retail.
Founder and Co-founder, Bootstrapped, in D2C / consumer + Marketplace + Logistics / supply chain.
eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner. Together we explore new ideas, open doors, and build momentum across the startup ecosystem.
