Delhi Public School, Patna proudly participated in SPARKLE – The Student Startup Bootcamp, a flagship initiative of UDGAM ’26, the Annual Entrepreneurship Summit of IIT Guwahati. This prestigious PAN-India platform offered completely free participation, including registration, mentoring, accommodation, and meals, ensuring equal access and academic inclusivity for students across the country. The school was represented in the Senior Category by Ashmit Raj (Class IX-I) and Shreya Verma (Class IX-G), who, along with their mentor teacher Dr. Nidhi Kumari, participated at the IIT Guwahati campus. SPARKLE aims to introduce students from Classes VI to XII to entrepreneurship as a practical, skill-based academic discipline. SPARKLE 2026 followed a rigorous three-stage national selection process.

Stage 1 comprised an online quiz assessing entrepreneurship fundamentals, startup awareness, finance, logic, and product thinking, supported by learning resources from IIT Guwahati. Stage 2 involved the submission of detailed pitch decks, developed through expert-led workshops, interactions with startup founders, industry professionals, and continuous mentoring by IIT Guwahati. Stage 3 featured the final pitching round, where the top 16 teams nationally in each category were shortlisted. Junior Category students pitched virtually, while Senior Category finalists presented their ideas in person at IIT Guwahati. Students also gained exposure to several flagship events of UDGAM ’26, including InternFair, Startup Expo, Northeast Entrepreneurship Conference, Business Quiz, AI Hackathon (EnCode), PMx Product Challenge, UI/UX Design Challenge (D-Frame), along with career-oriented workshops and expert lecture series. These experiences strengthened the connection between classroom learning and real-world entrepreneurial application.

The level of competition was exceptionally high, particularly in the Senior Category, where participants presented fully functional startups with existing market revenue. Despite this, DPS Patna students demonstrated confidence, innovation, and strong presentation skills, earning national recognition. Achievements included 2nd Runner-Up in Senior Category by Ashmit Raj (₹10,000) and top three positions in the Junior Category by Arna Divya (1st), Shubhmay Raj (2nd), and Advay Sukrit (3rd). Dr. Nidhi Kumari received the Best Mentor Award from E-Cell, IIT Guwahati, while DPS Patna was honoured with the Zonal Startup School Award and Special Recognition for Quality Pitch Decks.