When a Gujarat-based hardware startup stepped into the icy waters of Oulu, Finland, it carried with it something far warmer: the ambition of India’s deep-tech ecosystem and the belief that homegrown innovation can hold its own anywhere in the world.

For most startup founders, a pitch event means a projector, a conference room, and a panel of judges. For Vicharak, it meant plunging into a frozen sea in northern Finland and delivering a pitch that earned them third place on one of the world’s most unconventional startup stages.

Vicharak, a semiconductor and FPGA-focused hardware startup, first caught global attention after winning the Polar Bear Pitching India Satellite Event held in New Delhi. That win opened the door to the main Polar Bear Pitching competition in Oulu, Finland, a globally recognised event where founders literally pitch while standing waist-deep in ice-cold water cut from the frozen Baltic Sea. The format is as much a test of conviction and composure as it is of business fundamentals.

Their journey from Delhi to Oulu is more than a competition story. It reflects the growing bridges between India’s and Finland’s innovation ecosystems, and the role T-Hub played in giving Indian startups the launchpad they need to compete internationally.

Winning in Delhi: The First Leap

The Polar Bear Pitching India Satellite Event, organised in collaboration with Business Finland, brought together some of India's most promising startups for a chance to represent India on the global stage. The format was designed to mirror the spirit of the main event in Finland, featuring sharp, high-energy pitches evaluated not just on business merit, but on the founder's ability to communicate a compelling vision under pressure.

Vicharak stood out. Their pitch addressed a genuinely unique space in computing hardware and Anshul Patyal articulated a sharp vision for making high-end AI hardware accessible at a time when the AI boom has made such machines prohibitively expensive for most. With three of the five judges being investors and a fourth representing FiBAN (Finnish Business Angels Association), Anshul’s clear explanation of Vicharak’s revenue model and business fundamentals proved decisive. His composure under pressure was particularly striking, a quality that would serve him well on the ice in Oulu.

For T-Hub, moments like these validate a core part of our mission: to connect India's most innovative startups with international platforms where their ideas can find new audiences, new markets, and new partners.

The Oulu Experience

Held annually in Oulu, a city in northern Finland known for its thriving tech scene and long winters, the Polar Bear Pitching event draws founders from around the world who pitch to a panel of judges while standing in a hole cut into the frozen sea. You get to pitch as long as you can endure the cold water. The stakes are real. The clock is real. The cold is very real. 

To prepare, Anshul refined his pitch to speak to global markets rather than just the Indian context. But nothing could fully prepare him for the physical reality. During a practice session the day before, the temperature was minus 16 degrees Celsius. On the day of the competition, Anshul entered the ice-cold water and stayed for six and a half minutes, nearly the longest of any competitor, while delivering a pitch that had the crowd hooting and high-fiving him as he emerged.

Vicharak’s performance earned them third place at the main event, a remarkable result for an Indian startup competing against founders from across Europe and beyond. The competition was fierce, with three investors on the jury and a particularly strong cohort of finalists representing diverse international backgrounds. As Anshul noted, no Indian entity had placed in the top three, making Vicharak’s third place finish a historic milestone.

Finland Through a Founder's Eyes

Beyond the competition itself, the trip to Finland offered Vicharak a window into one of Europe’s most respected innovation ecosystems. Finland consistently ranks among the world’s top countries for research and development, education, and startup-friendliness, and Oulu in particular has earned its reputation as a hub for deep tech, spanning wireless communications to health technology.

“The business side is extremely good,” said Anshul. “It’s not a very big country, so as soon as you start, you have to go global. The domestic market isn’t big enough for many companies to make a profit. Seeing how people there, from college students to PhDs, immediately start thinking about how to go global because they know how small the domestic market is, that was really impressive.” The team received incorporation invitations from at least three Finnish cities and is actively exploring the opportunity.

Shreshta Sharma from Business Finland sees growing potential in the India-Finland corridor, particularly in regions like Gujarat, where Business Finland has been actively expanding its footprint. “We did an event with the Honorary Consulate in Ahmedabad, and we also did a fact sheet on Gujarat,” she noted. “As Finland in India, we are trying to increase our footprint in that part of India.” Hanna Riski from Business Finland’s Helsinki office, who focuses on international startup attraction, echoed the sentiment, highlighting that this year’s event saw a notable rise in founders with international backgrounds, a sign that the cross-border startup bridge between the two countries is gaining real traction.

For Indian hardware and deep-tech startups in particular, Finland presents a compelling landscape. The country's strengths in R&D infrastructure, university-industry collaboration, and a culture of trust-based business relationships align well with the needs of startups working on complex, capital-intensive technologies.

Building Bridges Between Ecosystems

Vicharak’s journey from Delhi to Oulu is part of a broader pattern that T-Hub has been working to enable: creating structured pathways for Indian startups to access global innovation ecosystems. Through partnerships with organisations like Business Finland and platforms like Polar Bear Pitching, T-Hub is helping founders move beyond domestic recognition and into international networks where the right connection or conversation can reshape a company's trajectory.

“It’s a unique concept,” said Hanna Riski of Business Finland. “The event itself is not huge, but it’s really unique and gaining quite nice international media attention. The competitors among the top ten were really good this year, and it was a tough competition. Vicharak got really good feedback from the investors and for the business idea.” Riski also pointed to upcoming programmes such as the Sisu Launchpad, Experience Tampere, and the flagship Slush conference in Helsinki as further avenues for Indian startups to deepen their engagement with the Finnish ecosystem.

This is not just about individual competitions. It is about building sustained, institutional bridges: between ecosystems, between markets, and between the people who are shaping the future of technology on both sides.

What This Means for India's Startup Ecosystem

When an Indian startup stands in the Baltic Sea and earns a podium finish pitching against global peers, it sends a signal. It tells founders across the country that the world is paying attention, that the platforms exist, and that the support systems to get there, from incubators and accelerators to international partnerships, are real and accessible.

For Anshul, the message to other Indian founders is simple: the global stage is within reach, and the infrastructure to get there exists. “As someone told me, we were the first ones to break that,” he reflected. While an Indian founder had participated in the event the previous year, Vicharak became the first from India to secure a top three finish. “Hopefully next year, first. But yeah, it was really nice.” Vicharak is now actively establishing a European entity and exploring partnerships with fellow competitors from the event, including the overall winner, with whom they are in talks to integrate their products.

At T-Hub, we see this as just the beginning. As India's deep-tech and hardware ecosystems continue to mature, the opportunity to forge meaningful international connections will only grow. And we are committed to ensuring that the next generation of Indian innovators has every chance to make their mark, whether in a boardroom or in the icy waters.

Explore More:

Learn more about Polar Bear Pitching and how startups from around the world are pitching on the world's coolest stage.

Discover how Business Finland is fostering innovation partnerships between Finland and global ecosystems. 

Stay connected with T-Hub to learn about upcoming programmes, international partnerships, and opportunities for startups looking to go global.
Indian startups interested in the Finnish ecosystem can explore the Sisu Launchpad and Experience Tampere programmes, both offering one-week immersion stays in Finland in June, as well as the Slush conference in Helsinki in November, one of Europe’s premier startup gatherings. 

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