In a major development for India’s startup ecosystem, global accelerator Y Combinator (YC) has partnered with Polaris School of Technology and Emergent to introduce a dedicated pathway for student founders in the country.
The initiative, called the Vibecon Student Track, is a hackathon-style program aimed at identifying high-potential student builders and giving them direct exposure to YC’s ecosystem. The program focuses on a “build-first” approach, where students are evaluated based on their ability to create and execute ideas in real time.
Students from across India can apply in teams of two to three members by sharing short pitches on social media, outlining the problem they aim to solve and their plan to build it using the Emergent platform.
From thousands of applications, only the top five teams will be shortlisted for the final round, which will take place at the Polaris campus in Bengaluru on April 16–17. During the finals, participants will engage in a live build sprint and present their solutions to a panel of judges from the startup ecosystem.
The judging panel includes Mukund Jha, CEO of Emergent; Mukul Rustagi, Co-founder of Polaris School of Technology and Classplus; Shashank Kumar, Co-founder of Razorpay; and Hemant Mohapatra, Partner at Lightspeed, among others.
The winning team will receive a unique opportunity to directly interview with Y Combinator partners for an upcoming cohort, bypassing the usual global application process. In addition, the top three teams will share $10,000 in cash prizes and receive over $10,000 worth of tools and cloud credits from partners such as AWS, Anthropic, and Razorpay.
Mukul Rustagi highlighted that bringing YC to the Polaris campus reduces the gap between Indian student founders and global opportunities, making it easier for young innovators to access top-tier platforms.
Polaris School of Technology, co-founded by Mukul Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal, is known for its skills-first approach to computer science education. The institution focuses on practical learning, with students engaging in live coding, internships from the first year, and real-world projects. It has also seen strong global exposure, with over 40 percent of its students securing internships with international organisations.
Through this collaboration, Y Combinator, Polaris, and Emergent are promoting a shift in how talent is identified in India, moving away from traditional academic metrics and focusing instead on real-world problem-solving and execution.
The initiative is expected to open new doors for student entrepreneurs in India, giving them a chance to showcase their ideas on a global stage.
-By Shivani Solanki
