Chandigarh University Launches Campus Tank Season 2 with US $15-Million Funding Pool to Help Young Innovators Take Ideas to Market; Accelerate India's Start

Chandigarh University Launches Campus Tank Season 2 with US $15-Million Funding Pool to Help Young Innovators Take Ideas to Market; Accelerate India's Start-up Growth

Chandigarh University Launches CU-IRP in Collaboration with IIT Madras as a Plug-and-Play R&D Hub to Connect Industry with Academic Research and Startups

CHANDIGARH, India, Oct. 10, 2026/PRNewswire/ -- Chandigarh: Expanding funding opportunities for India's next generation of entrepreneurs, Chandigarh University has launched Season 2 of Campus Tank – 'India's Next Unicorn', India's first university-led startup launchpad with a US$15-million funding pool up from US$6 million in Season 1, providing young innovators opportunity to pitch their ideas and access investors, mentorship and support to take their ideas to market and strengthen India's start-up growth and build capacity to develop market-ready products and technology-driven enterprises.

The announcements was made on the second day of the national-level Incubator & Capital Summit 2026 and ISBACON 2026, organised by Chandigarh University Technology Business Incubator (CU-TBI) in association with the Indian Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Parks and Business Incubators Association (ISBA) at Chandigarh University that brought together 400 incubators institutions from over 20 States and Union Territories, 100 curated startups, 80 investors and more than 60 government, policy and industry delegates on a common platform to strengthen India's startup and deep-tech capabilities. The launch builds on the overwhelming response to Season 1 that recorded 21,789 registrations from more than 1,200 cities including over 10,800 registrations from universities and colleges. The new season brings together eight investment partners including APNA, Venture Catalysts, Aeravti Ventures, PedalStart, Eaglewings, Faad, Be an Angel and Cube Founders Space.

Naveen Jindal, Member of Parliament and Chairman, Jindal Steel attended as Chief Guest alongside Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chancellor of Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu. The prominent among other dignitaries who participated in the summit were Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder, Infosys, Nirmit Parikh, Group CEO, Apna, Hemant Malhotra, COO, Venture Catalysts (VCats), Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, Dr. Gaurav Raina, Professor, IIT Madras, Dr Preet Deep Singh, Public Policy, Amazon, Umesh V. Waghmare, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India among others.

Speaking on the occasion, Naveen Jindal, Member of Parliament and Chairman of Jindal Steel said, "India's journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047 will be driven by youth of the nation pursuing their own ideas, passions and aspirations. Unlike 10 or 20 years ago, young people today have access to far greater opportunities, knowledge, funding and platforms to turn their ideas into reality. India does not lack talent or imagination what young innovators need is the right opportunity, an encouraging environment and support to realise their potential. Initiatives such as Chandigarh University Innovation and Research Park, in collaboration with IIT Madras, and Campus Tank Season 2 can help bridge this gap by connecting promising founders with investors, mentors and resources."