DGEMS-2025 Agenda

1:00 PM

🎤

Welcome Note by Forbes India

Join a network of 1000+ founders, including unicorn and soonicorn leaders from India, Europe, the US, and APAC. Gain access to global investors, Fortune 500 CXOs, and regulatory experts for long-term cross-border success.

Neha Bothra

Deputy Editor, Forbes India

1:15 PM

The DGEMS Founders' Network: Collaborative Global Growth for eXtrepreneurs

A strategic conversation with Divesh Sharma on how DGEMS has evolved from an annual summit into a curated global expansion movement. This fireside chat explores how founders can leverage the DGEMS eXtrepreneur community, the qualities that define DGEMS-ready companies, and the selection philosophy behind the Select 200 cohort. It sets the foundation for a borderless ecosystem where founders help founders accelerate international growth.

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Divesh Sharma

Founder & CEO, D Globalist

1:30 PM

Cross-Border Breakthroughs: How to Win Global Markets from India's Next Global leaders

Taking a deep dive into global expansion models, market-entry strategies, and international scale-up pathways, this panel will provide insights from the Top 10 founders on:

1. Designing your first international beachhead
2. Finding PMF in culturally different markets
3. Turning global problems into scalable products
4. Trade-offs between speed, capital, and compliance
5. Learning from failures and pivots during global entry
6. Building a founder-led cross-border sales engine

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Rajan Choudhary

Co-founder, Leap

Pushkar Mukewar

Co-founder, Drip Capital

Vivek Agarwal

Co-founder, Square Yards

2:15 PM

Investing Beyond Borders: How Global Capital Backs eXtrepreneurs

This panel explains what global VCs look for when backing Indian founders aiming for international markets. It sets the tone for evaluating global readiness, cross-border business models, and the emerging corridors of capital. The key points covered include:

1. What global investors want from India-born companies entering the US, Middle East, Europe, and APAC
2. Red flags VCs see when evaluating cross-border business models
3. The shift from “Domestic Market First” to “Global Market First” startups
4. How to structure companies, teams, and compliance to attract global capital
5. How AI, Climate, DeepTech, SaaS and FinTech are shaping cross-border funding corridors

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Luca Barbi

General Partner, Saudi Technology Ventures (STV)- Saudi Arabia

Deep Singhania

Venture Partner, KFC Ventures- Singapore

Swati Chaturvedi

Cofounder and CEO, Propel(x) General Partner, Calculus VC- United States of America

2:45 PM

Government Perspectives on the changing Geo-economic Scenario, Market Access & Expansion Corridors

A high-level dialogue with senior government representatives and trade officials from key global markets. This panel explores how policy, bilateral relationships, trade incentives and regulatory frameworks are shaping new corridors for cross-border business. It aims to provide founders with clarity on where global markets are opening up and what opportunities India’s high-growth companies can unlock through government-led initiatives.

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Ada Dyndo

Director India Desk, Indo Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IPCCI)

Hans Hörtnagl

Austria's Trade Commissioner & Commercial Counsellor to India, Head of Advantage Austria

Oliver Wooley

CEO and Co-Founder of Envestors, UK Endorsing Body

Dr. Najla Omar Yousif Jasim Aldookhi

Director of Marketing & Government Communication, General Directorate of Residence & Foreign Affairs, UAE

Seema Bhardwaj

Director India, Germany Trade & Invest, Germany

3:30 PM

☕️ Hi-tea

Hi-Tea and Photo Break for Conversations, Connections & Captured Moments

A dedicated break designed for Select 200 founders, investors, and global delegates to interact informally over hi-tea while capturing memorable moments at the DGEMS Photo Zone. This session strengthens the spirit of collaboration and celebrates the leaders shaping global entrepreneurship.

4:00 PM

Select 200 Alumni Perspectives on Building Globally Relevant Companies

This panel brings together distinguished alumni from previous Select 200 cohorts to share their growth stories, & how DGEMS accelerated their journey from high-potential companies to globally credible businesses. The discussion highlights real experiences, lessons from international markets, and the power of the DGEMS alumni network in enabling continued growth.

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Vipul Agarwal

Founder, Mugafi

Sunil Gupta

Co-founder, QNu Labs

Madhur Jain

Co-founder, Varaha

4:45 PM

Global Scale, Global Capital: Building Investor-Backed Companies for Multi-Market Growth

This panel moves deeper into addressing how companies evolve after the first global foothold, and what global VCs expect for Series A/B and growth rounds across borders.The key points covered include:

1. How global VCs evaluate scalability across multiple geographies
2. Unit economics, customer acquisition, and margin expectations for cross-border scale
3. Building global leadership teams and regional P&Ls
4. Partnerships, M&A, and second-market growth as funding accelerators
5. How founders prepare for global follow-on rounds, downstream investors, and international exits

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Ron Levin

Managing Partner, Alumni Ventures- United States of America

Maisy Ng

Founder & Managing Partner, Delight Capital- Singapore

Miriam Shtilman Lavsovski

Partner, Tal Ventures- Israel

Somshubhro Pal Choudhury

Co-Founder, Partner, Bharat Innovation Fund Ventures- India

5:30 PM

Building Borderless Businesses: Strategies for Global Scale, Capital, and Partnerships from India's Next Global Leaders

This panel covers insights from the founders of Top 10 Companies on how to structure teams, capital, technology, and partnerships to scale across continents. The key points covered include:

1. How to attract global investors
2. Structuring companies for multi-country operations
3. Building cross-border teams and leadership
4. Tech, AI and data infrastructure for international scale
5. The founder mindset required for a borderless organisation

Rikant Pittie

Co-founder, EaseMyTrip

Shashank Kumar

Co-founder, DeHaat

Utham Gowda

Founder, Captain Fresh

Avinash Godhkindi

MD & CEO, Zaggle

6:15 PM

Concluding Note by D Globalist.

6:30 PM

Memento Distribution

7:00 PM

🍹🎶

Networking & Musical Cocktail

Celebrating Global Ambition

An evening experience bringing founders, investors, government representatives, and global partners together in a relaxed setting.
A space to continue conversations, build meaningful relationships, and strengthen the global network that DGEMS represents.