Startup Weekend by Masters’ Union: Profile Building Programme for School Students

Masters’ Union leaves no stone unturned when it comes to its learning-by-doing pedagogy. This time, the classroom extended to young minds still in school. On 4th-5th October, the DLF Cyberpark, Gurugram campus buzzed with excitement as over 150 students from top schools including Pathways School, Neerja Modi School, Aditya Birla World Academy, Indus International School, and Delhi Public School gathered for Startup Weekend.

Far from a typical workshop, the two-day sprint immersed students from Grades 8-12 in the real-world startup ecosystem, where they learned how to identify problems, build solutions, and pitch to actual venture capitalists just like Masters’ Union’s undergraduate students do.

Each participant walked away with a Letter of Recommendation, certification, and hands-on exposure to the process of building a business under the mentorship of industry leaders. With curiosity, creativity, and entrepreneurial zeal, these young founders-in-the-making proved that innovation has no age limit.

A 2-Day Profile Building Programme for Creative Thinkers & Problem Solvers

Participants were challenged to identify meaningful problems, design actionable solutions, and bring their ideas to life using AI-driven tools. Along the way, they developed minimum viable products (MVPs), crafted compelling pitch decks, and presented their startups before a panel of experienced investors and mentors.

Judges Pranav Obhrai, an angel investor and strategy expert with experience across startups and consulting, and Utsav Patodia, Associate Director at Masters’ Union, with extensive experience in growth strategies, management consulting, and private equity, provided expert feedback, highlighting the commercial and practical viability of the ideas.

Discover the Startup Weekend 2025 Winners 

The weekend showcased ideas that combined creativity, technology, and societal relevance. The top three teams demonstrated the power of youth-driven innovation:

Team Karigar – First Place
Innovation met tradition. Karigar transformed rice husk waste into eco-friendly cutlery, plates, and spoons. Their solution not only addressed sustainability but also presented a scalable business model in the food and hospitality space.

Team VayCasa – Second Place
VayCasa tackled a unique real-estate challenge: enabling middle-class families to co-own vacation homes. Their platform allowed users to invest in properties, share ownership, and generate rental returns, making real estate accessible despite limited time and resources.

Team Helmair – Third Place
Focused on healthcare and tech integration, Helmair developed solutions that leveraged AI to optimize patient care management in small clinics, aiming to improve operational efficiency and outcomes.

Other notable teams included Lockify, which explored blockchain and CBDC to reduce digital fraud in e-commerce, and Clustr, a curated community to help high-school innovators connect and launch startups with the right co-founders and mentors.

Learning by Doing from Real-World Experts

The presence of mentors like Pranav Obhrai and Utsav Patodia added immense value. Pranav’s background in strategy, angel investing, and consulting gave students insights into startup viability, fundraising, and scaling. Utsav’s experience in private equity, management consulting, and growth strategy helped students understand market-fit, business model validation, and investor expectations.

Their guidance ensured students didn’t only ideate but thought about execution, monetization, and sustainability, critical skills for any entrepreneur.

Beyond Winning, Building a Founder Mindset 

While prizes and recognition were exciting, the Startup Weekend was not about who won but who stepped out of their comfort to form a valuable business. The programme was designed for school students to have an experiential learning by doing. 

This curriculum enhances confidence in kids and clarity in their thoughts when they perform the tasks from scratch. Their ability of critical thinking, ideation, public speaking along with hands-on projects allow them to think out of the box in the most strategic manner possible.

During this business learning programme, the participants could:

1. Identifying genuine problems worth solving

2. Rapid prototyping using AI and digital tools

3. Creating business models that balance innovation with market reality

4. Pitching convincingly to investors and mentors

This experiential approach ensures participants leave not only with ideas but with a framework for entrepreneurship that can be applied long after the weekend ends.

A Celebration of Innovation and Collaboration

The two-day event highlighted the potential of India’s young innovators. By combining technical skills, creativity, and mentorship, students demonstrated that impactful solutions can emerge even in a short sprint. The Startup Weekend wasn’t just about competition; it was a celebration of collaboration, resilience, and the entrepreneurial spirit.

Masters’ Union continues to bridge the gap between education and real-world business exposure, ensuring that students learn to think critically, act decisively, and innovate meaningfully. As Karigar, VayCasa, and Helmair proved, today’s young thinkers are tomorrow’s industry leaders.