At TakeOver 2026 – NIAT’s cross-campus AI and engineering showcase over 30 student startup teams took the stage for a Shark Tank-style pitch session before a high-profile jury that included Midhula Devabhaktuni, Co-Founder of Mivi, and Dr. Kishore Indukuri, Founder and CEO of Sid’s Farm, – two founders who have built category-defining consumer brands from Hyderabad.
The pitches were the culmination of BRAVE – NIAT’s flagship startup accelerator initiative that runs on a hybrid model – three months of structured online mentoring followed by an intensive offline week. Across the cohort, 1 student team has generated 15 lakh in revenue over 90 days from real construction clients.
Among the teams that pitched, one team has built an AI-powered Construction Cost Intelligence Platform to solve a real pain point in India’s booming real estate sector. BuildTrack – an AI-powered Construction Cost Intelligence Platform for people management, inventory, procurement, and operations for construction companies. With 120 clients already on the platform, BuildTrack is not a prototype, it is a functioning business solving a structural efficiency problem in one of India’s largest and most fragmented sectors.
Speaking at TakeOver 2026, Midhula Devabhaktuni, Co-Founder, Mivi, said “Ideas are quite cheap. The real challenge is converting them into a product and, more importantly, selling it. Everybody has access to AI today; but as founders your strength will be in defining the right requirement and having the grit and persistence to push through problems and win. What impressed me today is that these students at NIAT have already done the hardest part – they’ve moved beyond ideas to building products that real customers are willing to pay for. That’s where true entrepreneurship begins.”
Dr. Kishore Indukuri, Founder and CEO, Sid’s Farm, said, “Winning your first client is never easy, but if you keep going, keep presenting, and keep improving, that becomes the foundation of entrepreneurship. Real success comes from digging deep, building a rock-solid foundation, and continuously strengthening your knowledge. Even the simplest problems hold immense potential for innovation when you commit to building depth and solving them with persistence.”
Nivisha Prabhakar, Regional Head of Education at Google Cloud – another jury member said, “I was truly inspired by the curiosity, teamwork, and clarity of thought showcased by the students. Innovation begins with bold ideas, but its real impact comes from taking those ideas forward and implementing them. The creativity and entrepreneurial spirit on display today reflect the potential of the next generation of product builders, innovators, and changemakers.”
As construction activity accelerates across India’s Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities and the NRI investment community grows, a significant gap exists in real-time project visibility – investors and buyers, particularly Non-Resident Indians, have no reliable way to track what is happening on their properties during construction. BuildTrack bridges this gap with a media and documentation solution that keeps stakeholders informed in real time, regardless of geography.
