The next breakthrough may begin with a problem a young person sees every day: unsafe drinking water, stubble burning, barriers to communication or a gap in local services.

The 16 startup founders mentoring Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026 finalists say young innovators are increasingly drawing on their own experience and understanding of the people they want to serve. Among them are Ankit Garg, Robin Singh, Samridhi Bhardwaj and Dishant Mishra. They see wider access to technology and information helping ideas emerge from smaller cities and communities across India.

“They really want to solve a problem that is actually hurting someone somewhere. Even if the market is looking small, these young innovators are attempting it, they are going for it, and they are solving those problems,” said Dishant Mishra, founder of IIT Delhi-incubated Water Resources. “Creating a market is going to be the second step, and they are not focused on the second step. Perhaps that is the refreshing change that I have observed with this year’s cohort.”

Robin Singh, founder of water-quality intelligence startup Cluix, has seen how an idea can continue beyond the programme. A team he mentored from rural Bihar developed a filtration system to address arsenic contamination in water, won the challenge and went on to commercialise its product.

“They came from rural Bihar and, essentially, they could see that there was no solution available in the field. At a very young age, when they were just students, they developed a filtration system. That filtration system won the challenge, and now they have gone on to commercialise the product,” Singh said.

This year, Singh is mentoring SignBridge AI, a team working to help people with disabilities communicate more independently. He said, “I think this increases inclusivity in the society, and we need such solutions.”

Samridhi Bhardwaj, a founder working in women’s health, said access to technology has changed the relationship between geography and opportunity. “Students across India, including those in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, have access to technology and the kind of exposure that many of their peers and seniors did not have. So, I don’t think geography is a hindrance anymore. Any innovative solution can come from any part of India.”

For Ankit Garg, founder of clean-label food brand EemuMasale, local problems can have relevance well beyond the communities where they first emerge. “Stubble burning is not a local issue. It is a national challange that they are working to solve. They have seemingly developed a prototype that could also address nutrition in India by providing alternative protein options,” he said.

Half of the ideas in this year’s cohort came from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, according to Singh. He said, “The ideas that people are getting in tier 2 cities are sometimes even better than the ones that you see in tier 1 cities. The exposure has increased, and the application of such ideas has become better.”

The founders see mentorship as a way to help young innovators move from identifying a problem to developing and testing a solution. Samsung Solve for Tomorrow brings finalists together with startup founders, academia and industry, offering guidance and opportunities to develop their ideas.

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is Samsung’s global innovation and education programme for young people. The 2026 edition marks its fifth year in India.

Avi Mohan Kumar and Yash Varshney are developing Sentinel, a solar-powered AI edge device that uses cameras, radar and seismic data to detect wildlife approaching human settlements and provide early warnings.

Watch the team share what making it to the Top 20 means to them and how they hope technology can help build safer coexistence between communities and wildlife.

Manoj Kumar, Jena R and Chriswin William D are developing NeuroStride, an AI-powered wearable that seeks to distinguish involuntary Parkinson’s tremors from intentional muscle movement and provide targeted electrical stimulation.

Watch the team share what reaching the Top 20 means to them and how they hope to explore new possibilities in assistive wearable technology.

Led by Vidit Bhayana, the team is developing Sense Guard, a low-cost AI wearable designed to identify physiological patterns associated with sensory meltdowns in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and provide caregivers with early alerts.

Watch Vidit share what being among the Top 20 means to him and how he hopes the idea can support children and their caregivers.Sport & Tech

Shiva is developing a wearable navigation system that detects when visually impaired swimmers veer from their intended direction and provides haptic cues to help them make course corrections.

Watch Siva share what making it to the Top 20 means to him and how he hopes to make swimming more accessible through technology.

Led by Aarna Gupta, the team is developing a low-cost construction debris net designed to capture and degrade airborne pollutants while integrating with existing scaffolding.

Watch Aarna share what reaching the Top 20 means to her and how she hopes to address an everyday environmental challenge through innovation.

A V Kruthi Krishna and Bhavya Chawat are developing StepSense, a sensor and edge-AI system that turns footwear into a gait-monitoring platform to identify indicators associated with fall risk, neuropathy, fatigue and other health conditions.

Watch the team share what reaching the Top 20 means to them and how they hope to explore new possibilities in wearable health technology.

Sofiur Rahaman and Sayak Samanta are developing an AI-powered platform that translates Indian Sign Language into text and speech in real time, with potential applications across schools, hospitals, workplaces and public spaces.

Watch the team share what making it to the Top 20 means to them and how they hope to enable more inclusive communication through technology.

Led by Abhinav Jaiswal, the team is developing VaakSetu, an offline mobile application that uses AI to read documents such as loan papers, land deeds, FIRs and hospital forms, and explain them in simple spoken language.

Watch Abhinav share what being among the Top 20 means to him and how he envisions making important documents more accessible through AI.

Prabinder Singh, Anish Grover and Deepesh Kakkar are developing a smartphone-based AI solution for post-stroke monitoring that analyses changes in voice, facial movement and reaction time to identify potential neurological deterioration.

Watch the team share what reaching the Top 20 means to them and how they hope to explore technology-enabled monitoring for post-stroke care.