Sanjeev Arora inaugurates Food Startup pitching event in presence of business stalwarts

Ludhiana, November 19, 2025: Ludhiana Angels Network (LAN) invited Sanjeev Arora, Minister of Industry & Commerce, and Investment Promotion to its flagship program named as Fuelerator in Park Plaza in the presence of eminent personalities from Ludhiana including the owners of Hero Enterprise, Highway Industries, Hero Eco Tech, Centex, Vardhaman, etc. 7 food startups pitched in front of industry leaders, investors and family offices for funding and mentoring support.

The DC of Ludhiana was the Guest of Honor. All the stakeholders of the startup ecosystem like Startup Punjab, PSCST, Chandigarh Angels Network, TiE Chandigarh, IIT Ropar, Chitkara University, GNDEC, PAU, Gadvasu, UBS, etc were all present during the event.

Fuelerator event was sponsored by Startup Punjab, Cremica Foods, Mrs Bector, Bonn Group of Industries and Eastman Group. All the 7 food startups those who pitched in the event were revenue Staged startups with product in the market. The outcome of the event was a few industries were impressed by the pitching and agreed readily to fund or/and handhold some of the startups to take them into the Growth stage.

Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Enterprise came all the way from Delhi to attend the startup pitching event. He is one of the pioneers of Startup Investment in India. He, along with many of his family members, were following the pitching session minutely. Most of the industry leaders in Ludhiana are bound by the resolution that Punjab’s first unicorn should be from Ludhiana, a city that has given India scores of brands like Hero, Vardhaman, MDH, Avon, Monte Carlo, Oswal, Kangaro, Duke, Octave, etc.  

SK Rai, director of LAN and chairman of Punjab Startup Committee, the force behind Fuelerator wants to make it as a launching pad for startups with industry mentoring and funding in place. LAN CEO, Shibananda Dash and Shri S. K. Rai are very sure of the fact that Ludhiana is going to present some of the finest startups to India and Fuelerator is going to be the driving force of it.

Highlights of the event:
• 7 food and beverages startups pitched
• 15 food startups put their stalls for product showcase
• 30 startups from across Punjab participated in the event
• 30+ business houses attended the event

 

The next year’s Fuelerator is on Textile and is slated to be held in the last week of February 2026. The extravaganza will see some of the finest fashion and textile startups. The event will launch some of the brands that have the potential to go and make it huge in the panorama of fashion and apparels.