In Tamil Nadu’s 12,000-strong startup economy, women lead half of the registered ventures, compared to a scarce participation of women in the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem.   

This will come to the fore as Tamil Nadu looks set to hog the limelight when the Global Startup Summit 2025 will be rolled out in a few days. 

From being the top performer in state startup rankings to being the NITI Aayog’s show-stopper Model State for Innovation, the state has quietly built its credentials as a perfect breeding ground for tech innovations. 

Chennai ranks 18th in Asia in the Global Startup Ecosystem Report and is among the top 10 cities for affordable intellectual talent. Secondary hubs such as Coimbatore and Madurai are also emerging, showing that activity is not limited to the capital.

All these will draw attention at the Tamil Nadu Global Startup Summit (TNGSS) 2025 at Coimbatore’s Codissia Trade Fair Complex. Organised by StartupTN, the summit will see a host of global leaders sharing the stage with Tamil Nadu’s very own entrepreneurs. A meeting ground for ideas, opportunities, and ambitions is set to be launched when Chief Minister MK Stalin kicks off the two-day event on October 9. 

“The Summit stands apart for its inclusivity, showcasing regional hubs, student founders, women entrepreneurs, and social justice schemes, alongside unicorn founders and global investors,” said Sivarajah Ramanathan, mission director and CEO, StartupTN. 

Through StartupTN’s focus on inclusivity and wider participation, TNGSS 2025 aims to create space for startups that are being built with a purpose. It will not just celebrate how far Tamil Nadu has progressed, but also map out the road ahead, which runs through the state’s buoyant urban landscape and its thriving startup ecosystems.

The summit is expected to draw over 30,000 attendees and 300+ global stakeholders, including 150 speakers, more than 100 investors, 10 unicorns and soonicorns, and 75 incubators. Around 50 Tamil Nadu-based brands and 50 student-led startups will also showcase their work in 750 stalls. 

In the run-up to TNGSS 2025, around 500 investor-mentor meetings and 100 partner events are already underway. The event aims to secure investment commitments of approximately INR 100 Cr. Keynote addresses and expert sessions will focus on emerging sectors, including deeptech, climatetech, spacetech, and life sciences. 

Coimbatore was a deliberate choice by the administration to demonstrate to the world that innovations are not confined to Chennai alone, but rather, the ecosystem has grown holistically across the state. 

Connecting Ideas, Innovators And Industries

Conducive policies and supportive infrastructure helped Tamil Nadu script one of the finest success stories, with the state’s startup economy surging nearly 10-fold from $3 Bn in 2021 to $27.4 Bn in 2024. 

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It is this momentum that built the rationale for StartupTN Global Startup Summit 2025to choose its theme – Disrupt to Rise.

The event is designed not just to create a congregation of policymakers, stakeholders, unicorn and soonicorn founders, but also to foster a productive atmosphere through interactions and exchange of ideas. 

Speakers like Orhiane Savarese, associate director of Center of Incubation & Acceleration at HEC Paris, Mahima Jinah Kim, the founder and MD of Unicorn Incubator, Robert Burris, chief content officer and cofounder of Venture Studio Forum, USA, Prakash Sangam, CEO of RedBus, Shashank Sinha, CEO, Drools, Reeju Datta, cofounder, Cashfree Payments, Shyam Sundar Singh, founder, Dehaat and Rikant Pitti, cofounder of EaseMyTrip, Suhun Kim, CEO and founder of DeltaX, Jesper Gade, MD of Dansk Industrial India, will share their journeys and insights along with leaders from global giants like Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Google. 

Woven around the main theme of ‘disrupt to rise’, a host of subjects have been lined up for discussion. The experts will share their views on topics like building businesses in the age of AI, driving innovation at scale, exploring India’s innovation decade, and the growing role of women entrepreneurs in the ecosystem. 

But conversations are just one part of the global summit. The 750 stalls at the venue will host an exhibition by startups, corporates and ecosystem enablers. A dedicated Government of India Pavilion will also showcase programmes from more than 10 central departments and 10 State Innovation Missions, helping entrepreneurs chart out the way to scale. 

A SpaceTech Pavilion will host high-growth startups and an exclusive Corporate Pavilion will bring together major corporate houses and feature open innovation challenges for startups. 

Corporations like Samsung, Decathlon, Bosch, and Daimler India will participate in the Innovation Challenge and corporate-startup matchmaking sessions, connecting over 100 curated startups with potential partners. Several companies are also expected to formalise collaborations, giving participating brands visibility among investors, policymakers, and global peers.

An exclusive networking dinner, which enables closer interactions and cements connections, will conclude the event. 

Aiming To Be A Global Startup Hub

Tamil Nadu established StartupTN to harness the wave of innovation beyond Chennai and to regions such as Villupuram, Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Madurai, and Hosur. 

The state now has more than 124 incubation centres supporting over 2,500 local startups, with a focus on SC/ST and women entrepreneurs. With the Global Startup Summit 2025, the government aims to elevate this ecosystem to a global stage, positioning Tamil Nadu as the primary hub for startup activities.

Having long held its ground in manufacturing, Tamil Nadu has expanded to the global startup landscape and is working towards meeting the international benchmarks. StartupTN has developed the TNGSS app, which is designed to use AI matchmaking to help attendees access event details, request and schedule meetings, and receive personalised recommendations on sessions and networking opportunities.

From the speaker line-up to the curation of the two-day agenda, StartupTN intends to position Tamil Nadu as the next best platform for startups. The strong culture of innovation is expected to get renewed momentum from the event as it will unleash before it a wider vista to attract investors, lawmakers, vendors, corporations and, of course, funding. 

TNGSS 2025 hopes to broaden the awareness of entrepreneurial concepts among aspiring founders and encourage grassroot entrepreneurs and innovators. 

Once famed as the Land of Temples, Tamil Nadu is today a vibrant landscape of startups, aiming to touch the horizon. And, events like TNGSS 2025 are designed and structured to propel this dream into a reality sooner than expected. 

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