This week at eChai feels like one big cross-city founder jam — where startup folks come together to talk fundraising, AI, product, growth, and what it actually takes to build.

Here’s what’s happening:

Surat Startup Summit ’25 | April 11–13
eChai is Co-hosting couple of panels with SGCCI, as part of their 3-day startup festival.

🔥 Shark Tank Stars sharing real fundraising stories:
– Radhika Sundarka (Zebra Learn)
– Chetan Kanani (Alpino)
– Yash Tarwadi (Solnce Energy)
– Priya Gadhiya (Raja-Rani Coaching)
– Rakesh Somani (Decode Age)

🤖 AI Panel – Putting Artificial Intelligence to Work

 – Arjun Kava (VideoSDK)
 – Prerna Mehta (Narola AI Studio)
 – Chintan Papaiya (KissanAI)
 – Manoj Adwani (Narad.io)

...

Women Founders Initiative – Mumbai Edition

📅 April 12 | Saturday | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
 📍 Invite-only | Venue will be shared with confirmed guests

🎙️ For women founders and operators across Mumbai

This is a safe and open space for women entrepreneurs to connect, share their journeys, and support one another. Each participant gets a chance to introduce themselves, share what they’re building, and explore ways to collaborate.

Expect real talk, shared experiences, and strong community vibes — from one founder to another.

...

Bengaluru Startup Meetup – Fundraising for Startups
📅 April 12, Saturday | 6pm onwards | Draper Startup House, Koramangala

🎙️ Featuring:

 – Neha Lakhwara (CEO, Agility Ventures)
 – Harnidh Kaur (Head of Fund, WTFund)
 – Moderated by Nivin Joseph (Draper Startup House)

Expect honest takes on early-stage investing, what founders miss while pitching, and how investors really evaluate deals.

AI and Marketing – The New Growth Formula

📅 April 12 | Saturday | 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
 📍 UrbanVault, HSR Layout, Bengaluru

🎙️ Featuring founders & marketers building at the intersection of AI and growth

Expect real-world strategies on how startups are using AI to personalize engagement, run leaner campaigns, automate workflows, and scale faster.

Whether you’re running AI-driven experiments or looking to sharpen your GTM with automation, this panel will offer candid insights, honest lessons, and actionable takeaways.

Bengaluru Startup Open House

📅 April 13 | Sunday | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
 📍 Draper Startup House, Koramangala

🎙️ Open to all founders, builders & early-stage teams

Expect informal, high-trust conversations with fellow founders. Bring what you're building, share ideas, discover collab opportunities, or just hang out with people who get the startup life.

No decks. No pitches. Just good energy and real conversations.

...

Ahmedabad Design Meetup – Building with Design
📅 April 12 | 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM | Aubergine Solutions, Prahladnagar

🎙️ Featuring:

 – Bhavesh Patel, Co-Founder, Brands.live
– Bhakti Dudhara, Founder & Chief Designer
– Jhanvi Thaker, Co-Founder, Olleeve Films & Design
– Drupad Mistry, Experience Design Expert

Hosted by: Jatin Chaudhary (eChai Ventures)

Expect candid conversations on how design shapes product thinking, lessons from building design-led ventures, and what community-driven design looks like in the real world. Whether you’re a founder or a first-time designer, this is where perspectives meet practice.

...

📅 April 12 | 11:00 AM onwards | COEP's Bhau Institute

🎙️ Featuring product builders, engineers & AI hackers

 Expect live demos, code-first convos, and behind-the-scenes workflows from developers building at early-stage startups. Great for anyone working on AI tools, dev infra, or experimenting with new frameworks.

📅 April 12 | 4:00 PM onwards | Ideas to Impacts (1st Floor)

🎙️ Featuring founders, marketers & growth leads

 Expect informal conversations around traction, distribution, customer acquisition, and startup growth stories. No pitches — just real talk and connection over coffee and experiments.

...

Hyderabad Startup Meetup
📅 April 12 | 6:00 PM onwards | Draper Startup House, Banjara Hills

🎙️ Featuring early-stage founders, startup operators & enablers

Expect a relaxed, high-trust environment to share what you're building, explore collaborations, and connect with fellow founders driving innovation in Hyderabad. No pitches — just meaningful conversations over chai and startup stories.

..

Also, on April 10th, Thursday, we hosted a high-signal session on Fundraising for Startups with the team from Expert Dojo at Draper Startup House, Koramangala.

🎙️ Brian Mac Mahon (Founder & Managing Partner) and Ashutosh Kumar-Jha (GP & Head of Portfolio) shared global perspectives on:

– What early-stage investors actually look for
– How Indian founders can stand out internationally
– Why storytelling matters more than ever in 2025

The session was packed with honest takes, sharp questions from founders, and practical insights you won’t find on Twitter threads.

Big thanks to Nivin Joseph for steering the conversation just right