We recently concluded JPMorganChase's third annual Technology Innovation Forum in Bengaluru, highlighting the firm's dedication to fostering innovation through partnerships with emerging technology startups and the venture capital community. Over 40 startups were invited to pitch their innovative products and solutions, which aligned to JPMorganChase's technology priorities across key focus areas.  

The environment was full of excitement, bringing together technology leaders, startups, and top academic institutions to explore emerging technology trends and to foster collaboration.  

The India forum adopts the format of an Innovation Forum hosted by our Global Technology Strategy, Innovation & Partnerships team in the US, which celebrated its 16th year in 2024. Innovation is at the heart of our operations, and this forum provides our firm with a great opportunity to actively engage with the startup ecosystem in India.  

The forum kicked off with an inaugural ceremony. The second day saw pitches from startups who showcased their ideas and solutions across areas such as payments, cloud engineering, cybersecurity, data, the developer experience, and forward-looking research from top academic institutions. 

Kaustubh Kulkarni, Senior Country Officer and Vice Chairman Asia Pacific, shared insights into the evolving fintech landscape, highlighting the forum’s focus on creating strategic partnerships, providing the right guidance, and ensuring that fintechs have the tools and resources they need to thrive.  

Vibhavari Jahagirdar, Head of Global Technology for India, emphasized the crucial role of collaboration with startups, venture capital firms and academic institutions. She highlighted how these partnerships are essential in integrating fresh perspectives and cutting-edge solutions into JPMorganChase's capabilities.  

Vibhavari shared how interacting with the startups provided invaluable insights to fuel our innovation journey, and it was especially inspiring to reconnect with startups from past editions who continue to collaborate with us in meaningful ways. 

We also had a panel discussion focused on India's innovation landscape. The day concluded with a networking reception, where attendees continued to build connections and have informal conversations with their peers and leaders.  

Hearing the pitches and innovative solutions from these emerging tech companies gave us a deeper insight into the startup ecosystem in India and the tech trends that are developing.  

Amid the rapidly evolving technology ecosystem, we leave inspired by the invaluable insights that we garnered from these startups, VCs and academia, which will help further our innovation journey.