Aspiring south asian founders pitch to Angels - Hustle Games
Startups Pitching in the Event:
1. Sanjana Scaria Mannanal @ 4some, The only 4some your mom is happy with.
2. Kami Mainkar SymbioFlow, redefining emergency medicine through Hybrid Intelligence
3. Arun Balakrishnan @ Nool, Helping AI companies to safe guard their code-base from AI agents messing it up + AI EU act compliance.
4. Dr. Farbod @ Alpha Minoris, Making property investment in Germany simple (watchout Hypofriend)
5. Rohit Batra @ callSaul, Voice AI that finally does Sales right, (Watchout tell)
6. Varun Jain @ MrktGenie , finally an AI-Powered Marketing for Founders, done right (watch out Buffer)
7. Anandh Shankar @ ShotNews, An app decluttering news for everyone, finally done right
8. Pranjal Kumar @ ApexSignal , turning geo political problems (volatility) into clarity, foresight, and competitive advantage for companies
9. Zubin John, @ KnowGuard AI, AI Infrastructure that prevents financial leakage and compounds enterprise intelligence.
Hustle Games is a Shark Tank-style founder pitch evening in Berlin, bringing together selected South Asian founders, angels, investors, mentors, and the wider startup community.
On 18 June, 10 selected startups will pitch on stage at Engelnest. Each startup will get 3 minutes to pitch, followed by 3 minutes of jury Q&A.
This is not just another networking evening. It is a founder challenge, a preparation journey, and a summer pitch night built around serious builders.
Why attend?
Meet a curated community of South Asian founders, angels, VCs, and startup operators
Watch selected early-stage startups pitch live
Connect over chai, desi snacks
Meet potential collaborators, mentors, and supporters
Get access to founder-focused masterclasses before the main event
Become part of the founders-only WhatsApp community for ongoing support
Who is this for?
This event is primarily for South Asian full-time founders and co-founders, especially those building at the early stage.
We also welcome angels, early-stage investors, startup mentors, and selected community members who want to support serious founders.
Pitch selection
To qualify for the final pitch stage, founders are expected to participate in the Hustle Games founder masterclass series before the main event.
The selection process is designed to identify committed founders and help them prepare before they get on stage.
To be considered for the final pitch lineup, founders should:
Register for the main Hustle Games event
Attend at least 4 out of 5 founder masterclasses
Submit a pitch deck after the masterclass series
Join the invited founder Q&A / pitch deck review session
Be shortlisted for one of the 10 final pitch slots
Final stage format
Each selected startup will get:
3 minutes to pitch on stage
3 minutes for jury Q&A
Founders should prepare a short, sharp, and focused pitch deck that fits clearly within the 3-minute stage slot.
Prizes and founder support
We are also working on prizes and support for the pitch winners. More details will be announced soon.
Expect a mix of visibility, introductions, feedback, and founder support that can help selected startups move forward.
Event Agenda
17:30 - Check-in, chai and welcome
18:00 - Opening remarks
18:30 - 19:00 - Hustle Games - Startup pitches: 5 founders
19:00 - Audience Vibe check / Live song performance by Akshata
19:00 - 19:30 - Hustle Games - Startup pitches: 4 founders
19:30 - Angels / VC panel and jury interaction
20:00 - Community awards, next steps and closing
20:15 - Networking with angels, mentors and founder circles over more Chai, Samosa & Snacks.
21:30 - Event close
Jury Members
The pitch session will be reviewed by investors, operators, and ecosystem builders across venture capital, accelerators, AI, Web3, climate, built world, SaaS, and immigrant-founder ecosystems.
Angie Mahtaney
Investor | Built World & Innovation
Focus areas: climate tech, energy infrastructure, robotics, workforce solutions, built environment innovation.Gaurav Jha
Founder, TAG Capital | Investor
Focus areas: pre-seed and seed B2B tech, venture infrastructure, B2B SaaS, global investor networks.Jay Mehta
Venture Advisor, Earlybird Vision Lab
Focus areas: early-stage startups, immigrant founders in Germany, AI, finance, venture building.Kanika is a Berlin-based operator with over 10 years of experience across finance, fundraising, GTM, operations, and strategy spanning big finance at PwC, B2C scale at About You, and early-stage startups across SaaS, legaltech, food tech, and AI. She is currently Chief of Staff at peopleIX, an AI-powered organizational intelligence startup, and hosts the Built By Her podcast, supporting South Asian women building companies. Her investing thesis is focused on impact, specifically startups that improve accessibility and inclusivity.
5. A VC in EnergyTech and Infra for AI access-to-power gap
Community Partners Shoutout:
- Indians in Berlin FB group by Amit Chougule
- BERLIndians WA by Abhishek (Aggy) Agarwal
- Pitch Bazaar by Shruti Kubér
- Indian Founders berlin WA by Satya Prakash Mishra
- WeDesi - Desi Indian Community for Everyone.
- Nikhilesh Dhure
- Desi Girls Berlin (IG: desigirls_berlin) by Mimansa Bhardwaj & Juili Kadam
- YUVA Berlin
Advisors for this meetup:
Note
More details on jury members, investors, side activities, food, prizes, and final pitch format will be announced soon.