Y Combinator hosted its ‘Startup School India’ event in Bengaluru on Saturday, bringing founders, engineers and builders from across the country under one roof. Alongside YC partners Jared Friedman, Ankit Gupta and Jon Xu — who attended as speakers and organisers — founders from startups like Meesho, Razorpay and Groww also took the stage.
The Bengaluru event saw a large turnout of builders and developers at the Electronic City venue. But amid the expected buzz, YC partner Ankit Gupta found himself in an unexpected interaction with a security guard working at the event.
Gupta, a US-based computer scientist and entrepreneur, said he met a security guard who turned out to be an aspiring entrepreneur and mechanical engineering student with a product set to launch soon.
(Also read: Who is Harshita Arora? UP-born school dropout becomes Y Combinator's general partner)
“India is truly cracked”
Harvard-educated Gupta took to X to praise India’s startup ecosystem after his encounter with the security guard. He said that the “security guy” showed him the product that he will be launching next week.
“One of the security guys helping us out with Startup School India is a mechanical engineering college student and just showed me the product he’s launching next week. India is truly cracked,” he wrote on X.
{{/usCountry}}“One of the security guys helping us out with Startup School India is a mechanical engineering college student and just showed me the product he’s launching next week. India is truly cracked,” he wrote on X.
{{/usCountry}}In the comments section, a person claiming to be the security guard in question shared a picture he took with Gupta.
“It’s me btw,” claimed Karthik Nagapuri, sharing a selfie that shows Gupta dressed in white with a Y Combinator lanyard around his neck.
Several people in the comments section called the encounter a “Peak Bengaluru” moment.
“What's the product? always curious what college kids are shipping these days,” one person asked.
“Yes we have a huge potential in India for startups. We need a supporting ecosystem for startups that can guide these young talents,” another said.
What is Y Combinator’s Startup School?
Y Combinator’s Startup School is a free programme designed to help people learn how to build startups. It is created by Y Combinator, one of the world’s most well-known startup accelerators, and is aimed at early-stage founders or anyone interested in starting a company.
The programme offers online lectures from YC partners and successful founders, covering topics like coming up with ideas, building a product, finding users, and growing a startup. Participants typically follow a structured curriculum while working on their own ideas.
The event that YC hosted in Bengaluru was a curated real-world meetup to connect YC with Indian founders.
(Also read: YC founder Paul Graham defends fame, money as valid startup motivations after Indian entrepreneur’s tweet)