Kolkata: ‘What India Thinks Today Summit 2026’ is the fourth edition of TV9 Network’s signature thought fest. Held on 23-24 March, 2026, the highlight of the summit was the keynote address delivered by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, his third time gracing the stage of TV9’s signature ideas carnival.
Value remains to core to a company and for any long-term successful startup the two has to merge, experts said in unison at the WITT Summit 2026 on Monday. Chase value and valuation will take care of itself, was the substance of the absorbing discussion that involved four experts on startups.
The debate on value vs valuation in startups focussed on the latest challenges before startups and how the expectations from them are changing. The speakers for the session titled “The Values vs valuation: Building the business case” were Upasana Sharma, executive director, TiE – Delhi NCR; Arpana Shahi, co-founder, Gabit; Ankit Kumar, founder & CEO, Skye Air Mobility and Ashish Kumar, co-founder, Fundamentum Investment Advisors.
Uncertainty the new reality
With or without the war, uncertainty has become one of the defining aspects of the global climate and that is going to describe the field for anyone trying to build a new business, said Upasana Sharma, adding the other aspect is going to be the technological shift.
“When it comes to sustainability, it has two elements in the way a startup looks at it. One, what you are building whether it has the ability to survive on its own, has got the ability of using the capital very efficiently because we all know has capital has become very expensive today,” said Ankit Kumar, founder & CEO, Skye Air Mobility said the situation is changing almost every month, he added.
The question of sustainability
The global logistics ecosystem can help startups localise and develop things which can also help the country, thinks the Skye Air Mobility founder, whose company delivers parcels at doorsteps with the help of drones which reduces cost and the carbon footprint as well.
Kumar mentioned how a lot of startups are coming up in the domains to deep tech and space tech. However, he also remarked that building a product in India cannot happen in three years. “It is a 10-year process,” he said. He also mentioned that creating something that can impact the environment and public at large is also extremely valuable.
The investment test
But would investors put their money in companies which has the tech right but the rate of adoption is perhaps not up to the desired level? Ashish Kumar, co-founder, Fundamentum Investment Advisors said that value has to be created if an investor wants to make money from investing in a company. The only way to make money as an investor in a long-term asset happens when the value is aligned with the valuation with whatever you are doing. “We are not looking at 10% growth. We are looking for say 20% growth, but that does not have to happen every year,” Ashish Kumar said. The first few years of a startup goes into building capability. So one has to watch put for it, whether a company is doing it.
The founder of Fundamentum Investment Advisors emphasized that the expectations of an investor has not changed in the past few years and have always remained the same.
Gabit is creating the best health wearables in the world and in this domain they are better than the best equipment companies, said Arpana Shahi, co-founder, Gabit. The company delivers health wearables which claims to offer a bigger range of health parameters compared to even the biggest MNCs (such as Apple).