Jaipur, India, October 26, 2026 – Bitmela Launchpad 2026 will bring India's top five Money × AI builder teams to the festival's main stage in Jaipur on October 30, 2026. Following four weeks of mentorship, the finalists will pitch innovative solutions across Bitcoin, UPI, and agentic payments, competing for a cash prize pool starting at ₹2,00,000. Winners will be announced on October 31, the final day of the two-day Bitmela festival. The Launchpad is presented by title sponsor Cake Wallet, with Bitnxt as the official media partner of The Bitmela.
Bitmela Launchpad Ideathon 01 invited builders from across India to take on one challenge: bring money and AI together. The result is a frontier the organisers describe as money that thinks and agents that transact, tools that simply did not exist a year ago. Entrants were not asked for a finished product or prior expertise, only one sharp idea and the drive to build it.
Three tracks, one frontier
Submissions were open across three tracks:
Bitcoin – wallets and tools that make Bitcoin more usable, secure and accessible, with a focus on savings and protecting wealth.
UPI – apps and integrations that make India's instant payment rail faster, safer and more useful.
Agentic Payments – AI agents that transact on Bitcoin, UPI or both, including agents that pay for their own compute, autonomous commerce and machine-to-machine payments.
To spark ideas, Bitmela shared starting points such as an AI agent that pays for its own data and APIs through Lightning micropayments, a Bitcoin savings copilot with clear risk guardrails, a scanner that flags fake QR codes and scam patterns in UPI collect requests, and an agent that manages UPI Autopay mandates and recommends which subscriptions to cancel.
Bitmela Launchpad 2026: From Idea to Main Stage
The programme ran in four stages:
Submit (August 7 – 28): applicants sent a short form and a 90 to 120 second video pitch.
Top 5 (by September 14): entries were judged on originality, feasibility and how genuinely money and AI come together. Five teams advanced.
Build (September – October): four weeks of mentorship to turn each idea into a working prototype and sharpen the pitch.
Pitch (October 30): all five teams present live on the Bitmela main stage in Jaipur.
Entry was free and open to Indian residents, whether students, builders, early founders or first-timers, competing solo or in teams of up to four. Finalists receive food and accommodation in Jaipur.
Mentors and the room
Finalists were guided by confirmed mentors Santosh Vadivelu, a student of Bitcoin, and Freddie New, CEO of BHODL. Speakers at Bitmela include Harish BV, co-founder of Unocoin, and Raj Maitra, General Head of Bitshala. Venture capitalists and investors from across the industry are also expected in the audience for the pitches.
More than a cash prize
Cash prize pool starting at ₹2,00,000, split across the top teams.
Main stage slot in front of the founders, investors and builders shaping money in India.
Demo space on the festival floor for teams with a working prototype.
Mentorship, which organisers call the real prize: weekly guidance in the run-up to Jaipur.
Sponsor rewards: courtesy of Cake Wallet, three lucky submissions receive ₹5,000 in sats each.
Title sponsor
Bitmela Launchpad is proudly presented by its title sponsor, Cake Wallet, the open-source, non-custodial wallet. Cake Wallet is rewarding Launchpad participants directly, with three lucky submissions each receiving ₹5,000 in sats.
Organisations looking to put their tools in front of India's best builders, and gain direct access to talent working at the frontier of Bitcoin and AI, can become a Launchpad partner at tally.so/r/VLxVAM.
Media partner
Bitnxt is proud to be the official media partner of The Bitmela, and will bring the story of the Launchpad finalists, the main-stage pitches and the wider festival to its audience across India and the global crypto community.
Bitnxt (bitnxt.io) is a crypto discovery platform. Read the news that matters, read exclusive interviews with industry leaders, find events worldwide, and explore verified directories of exchanges, wallets, OTC desks, payment gateways, and more.
Media contact
Email: hello@thebitmela.com
Media & press requests: tally.so/r/XxNEkL
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Launchpad: thebitmela.com/launchpad
