IIT Kanpur hosts UpStart 2025 in South Korea, expands startup outreach

IIT Kanpur’s Entrepreneurship Cell has taken its flagship startup pitching competition beyond India for the first time, hosting UpStart 2025 in South Korea as part of a new collaboration with Seoul-based Unicorn Incubator.

The cross-border edition was held on Dec 12 at KITA Startup Space in COEX, Seoul, bringing together 12 startups alongside investors and venture capital firms. The event aimed to provide early-stage founders in South Korea with access to global mentorship, funding networks, and international markets.

According to the press release, the Seoul leg marked the first instance of UpStart being organized outside India, reflecting the expanding global footprint of IIT Kanpur’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. Evify, a regional winner from UpStart India, also participated, along with an Indian delegation from Startup India.

“The event also marked the first time in the event’s history to be hosted in an international venue, highlighting the growth of UpStart and IIT Kanpur’s Entrepreneurship Cell over the years,” the release said.

Winners from the five UpStart rounds held in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Seoul will compete in the final pitching round during the UpStart finale at IIT Kanpur’s campus. The finale will be hosted as part of the institute’s E-Summit, scheduled from Jan 23 to Jan 25, 2026.

Separately, IIT Kanpur has reported a strong start to its 2025–26 placement season. The institute said students received 672 job offers on Dec 1, marking its highest-ever day-one placement count.

In a statement, IIT Kanpur said the current placement cycle has recorded a 16% increase over last year’s day-one numbers, with figures expected to rise further as results are still being finalized.

Pre-placement offers accounted for a significant share of the total, with 253 PPOs recorded. This represents a 27% increase compared with the previous year and an overall 20% rise in placements driven by PPOs. The institute also confirmed that nine students secured overseas job offers.

More than 250 companies have expressed interest in recruiting from IIT Kanpur this year, including Accenture, BlackRock, HSBC, SAP, Airbus, PwC, Navi, Qualcomm, and Deutsche Bank.

Despite the improved momentum, placement numbers for the 2024–25 cycle remain below the peak levels recorded during the 2021–22 season across all 19 IITs nationwide.