Right from the beginning the event set a serious tone. Nawabzada Mohammed Asif Ali, Heir Apparent and Prince of Arcot stepped up along with Sridevi B.S, Director – Chief Control Office – Markets at Barclays. Their speeches hammered home the need for industry ready skills and real-world exposure and not just textbook smarts.
The four events that formed the backbone were StrategIQ (Business quiz), Market Masters (Live trading and portfolio simulation), VentureX (Shark tank) and Case Quest (Case study challenge). Every round forced participants to think on their feet, defend their decisions, justify the numbers and communicate clearly.
It all built up to the FINAL SHOWDOWN – A high stakes challenge that tested strategy, finance, negotiation, politics and basically everything that you need to know to run a business. The competition reached an end with CMS Bangalore winning the event and taking home ₹1,25,000 in total, out maneuvering finalists from every event.
The closing ceremony was as grand as the inauguration with Ms. Pooja Srinivasa Raja, founder of the Love Hope Company and Executive Director at Adyar Ananda Bhavan along with Mr. Sarathbabu Elumalai, the driving force behind Foodking and Hungerfree India and a motivational speaker addressing the gathering. They did not just talk entrepreneurship, they dug into social impact, sustainable growth and leading with purpose and innovation. Their words hit home with just about everyone in the room.
₹3,00,000 was distributed as prize money in total. But the real takeaway was students leaving with sharper analytical minds, stronger networking and a much clearer sense of what business decisions look like outside the classroom.
STARTEGIA’26 proved something simple, when you make competitions feel like the real world, students stop chasing grades and start thinking like professionals and that is what set this edition apart.