Bessemer Tech Catalyst Brings Together 300+ Engineers To Solve Real World AI Challenges From Bessemer Portfolio Companies

Bengaluru, September 7, 2026: Bessemer Venture Partners concluded the first edition of Bessemer Tech Catalyst, bringing together more than 300 engineers, developers and AI enthusiasts in Bengaluru to solve real world engineering challenges posed by four of its portfolio companies.

Held on September 5 at the Polaris School of Technology, the AI hackathon brought together talent and technology leaders from across the ecosystem for a day focused on building, problem solving and demonstrating technical capability. Participants worked on challenges from Aivar, dCortex, MoveInSync and TBX, with each company bringing a problem statement inspired by real challenges faced by their teams.

The event was organised in partnership with MetaMorph, which worked with Bessemer Venture Partners to conceptualise and execute the first edition of Bessemer Tech Catalyst.

Speaking about the first edition of Bessemer Tech Catalyst, Anant Vidur Puri, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners, said:

“AI is fundamentally changing the way everything is built, and for technical leaders, the challenge today is not just what to build or how to build it, but who to build it with. Traditional ways of engaging with and assessing talent are no longer enough - they don't always show how someone thinks through a problem. Bessemer Tech Catalyst gives our portfolio companies an opportunity to see young builders in action, while giving those builders a chance to experience the companies and products they could potentially build with.”

The first edition brought together engineers from across India's technology ecosystem, with participants given the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities by working on real-world challenges from Bessemer's portfolio companies.

Commenting on the talent and hiring opportunity behind the initiative, Deepa Pappanna, VP, Talent & Community, Bessemer Venture Partners, said:

“Over the last two to three quarters, almost every conversation I’ve had with our portfolio company leaders has been about AI talent - how to hire, where to find the right people and how to improve the way we evaluate them. We kept coming back

to how we could watch people in action and identify the right talent for our portfolio companies, and that’s where Bessemer Tech Catalyst came in. We wanted to help our companies spot and hire the right talent, while giving the broader ecosystem an opportunity to experience startups solving real-world problems with AI.”

Lavin Kotian, Co-Founder and CTO, TBX, said:

“The hackathon is a great place for us to find driven individuals who are able to get the most out of existing technology. What we’re looking for is the ability to think out of the box and evangelise the use of technology to drive business outcomes. We

want people who are not just thinking from a technology delivery perspective, but are trying to solve problems and find new ways of addressing them. The real-world problem gave us a very good insight into how candidates think - particularly when they have to work within constraints and deliver a solution in a short period of time.”

Over the course of the hackathon, participants developed solutions across four problem statement themes: an autonomous QA agent with design intelligence and self-healing test automation from Aivar; a Crew Ops Advisor for AI-driven operational superintelligence for airline crew control from dCortex; a finance assistant that actually understands you from TBX; and an agentic intelligence and reporting layer for enterprise mobility from MoveInSync. The event culminated in the announcement of three winning teams, with a ₹7 lakh team prize pool, four Individual Spotlight Awards worth ₹25,000 each, and additional rewards from event partners.

The participating companies brought distinctly different engineering challenges to the hackathon, giving participants the opportunity to work on problems spanning AI, enterprise technology, aviation operations, workplace mobility and financial infrastructure.

Savari Gotadki, Sr. Director - Human Resources, Aivar, said:

“Bessemer Tech Catalyst gave us a chance to engage directly with a curated pool of high-calibre tech talent. Seeing their work first-hand offered a real sense of the depth and potential. We're already looking forward to bringing a few of these engineers on board to help us build enterprise AI solutions that truly move the needle for our customers.”

At dCortex, participants tackled a challenge rooted in the complexities of aviation operations, requiring them to think about how AI can move beyond generating information towards enabling reliable, actionable outcomes.

“Bessemer Tech Catalyst brought together an incredible community of builders and thinkers, with conversations that went well beyond the usual networking. It was energising to be part of an ecosystem that is constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.”

- Barath Thangaraj, India Head, Engineering, dCortex

For MoveInSync, the challenge reflected the scale and complexity of managing workplace mobility for large enterprises, giving participants an opportunity to work on a problem grounded in a real operational environment.

Akash Maheshwari, CTO and Co-Founder, MoveInSync, said:

“It was exciting to see the range of solutions that came out of the Bessemer Tech Catalyst problem statement. Different teams approached the same problem in very different ways, and the depth of thought, creativity and technical execution we saw

was impressive. It gave us a great opportunity to see how engineers think through real-world challenges at scale.”Beyond the individual problem statements, the event was designed to create direct interaction between participants and the founders, CTOs and engineering leaders behind Bessemer's portfolio companies. Teams had the opportunity to receive feedback, discuss their approaches and understand the kinds of technical challenges being solved within high growth technology companies.The event also featured an AI Lightning Round hosted by Sarvam, giving participants an additional opportunity to test their ability to solve an AI focused challenge under time constraints.Protectt.ai, the Cybersecurity Partner for the event, extended the experience beyond the hackathon through a four week mentorship programme, with select participants going on to work closely with experienced cybersecurity leaders at Protectt.ai.The event culminated in the announcement of three winning teams. Alchemists, comprising Rishika Jassal, Surbhi Jain and Sudharsan S, were named the first runners-up. Smart Sync, comprising Shrikrishna Shiva Prasad, Jewal Paul and Swasthika Devadiga, were named the second runners-up. The Last Minute Mavericks, comprising Deepak Kumar, Harshit, Naman Goyal and Sabyasachi Upadhyay, were named the third runners-up.

In addition to the team prize pool, four Individual Spotlight Awards worth ₹25,000 each were presented to participants who stood out for their individual contributions during the hackathon.

Speaking about the role of the initiative in connecting companies and talent, Swati Gupta, Associate Partner, MetaMorph, and Sanam Rawal, Founding Partner, MetaMorph, said:“The way companies identify and hire talent is changing, particularly as AI reshapes both the skills companies need and the way work gets done. Access to talent is only the starting point; companies need better ways to identify capability, assess how people think and create meaningful opportunities for the right talent to engage with their teams. Bessemer Tech Catalyst brought these pieces together by connecting companies with engineers through real-world problems. At MetaMorph, we believe the future of talent is about moving beyond traditional hiring models to create more direct, meaningful and capability-led ways for companies and talent to find each other.”  The first edition of Bessemer Tech Catalyst marks the beginning of an initiative aimed at creating a more direct connection between India's growing pool of AI talent and the companies building the next generation of technology.By placing engineers in the middle of real problems, real constraints and real engineering teams, Bessemer Tech Catalyst aims to create a hiring and talent engagement model where capability can be demonstrated through what people build, rather than solely through conventional hiring processes.

Published on: Thursday, September 10, 2026, 10:00 AM IST