DTI Ideathon & Hackathon 2026 — ₹18 Lakh Mentorship Challenge — Frequently Asked Questions

It is a national online innovation competition run by Dolphin Tank India (DTI) and powered by the Industry Academia Community (IAC). Students, professionals, entrepreneurs and developers from anywhere in India can enter as individuals, picking either the Ideathon track or the Hackathon track, and the strongest entries move on to co-founder matchmaking, mentorship and an investor pitch. The entire competition happens online.

No fixed cash prize pool is announced — the listed amount for this award varies. The headline reward is mentorship valued at ₹18 lakhs, along with national recognition, incubation support, investor exposure, networking opportunities and participation certificates. The final stage is a pitch to investors for funding, which is where any actual investment conversation would take place, and no set investment amount is promised.

Anyone based in India can apply — students, working professionals, entrepreneurs and developers from all backgrounds. Prior startup experience is not required, so first-time participants are welcome. The one firm condition is that participation is individual rather than team-based.

No. Registration is individual, and each person submits their own idea or prototype. You do not need a co-founder to apply — the programme includes a dedicated Founder–Co-Founder Matchmaking stage after evaluation, which is where participants can find people to build with.

The Ideathon track is for developing innovative solutions to real-world social and business challenges, and it suits students, entrepreneurs, business thinkers, innovators and problem solvers. The Hackathon track is for building scalable technology solutions to real-world problems, and it suits developers, engineers, AI/ML enthusiasts, designers, product builders and technology professionals. Pick the track that matches how you like to work.

The competition is fully online, so participants from anywhere in India can take part without travelling. Registration and submission both happen through the official Unstop listing.

The deadline listed for this programme is 21 July 2026. The programme description also mentions registering by 31 July 2026, so because the two dates differ, confirm the final cut-off on the official Unstop page before you plan your submission.

Apply through the official Unstop page for the programme, which is linked from this listing. You register as an individual, choose your track, and submit your idea or prototype before the deadline.

An equity stake is not mentioned anywhere in the programme details. It is structured as a competition, and the rewards listed are mentorship valued at ₹18 lakhs, national recognition, incubation support, investor exposure, networking and participation certificates. Any funding resulting from the investor pitch stage would be a separate discussion with those investors.

No company registration is involved at the application stage — the challenge is built around individual participants. Neither DPIIT recognition nor MSME registration appears in the eligibility criteria, which simply require participants from across India, entering individually, with no previous startup experience needed.