# L&T Finance Launches Second Pitch Point AI Startup Competition Ahead of RAISE' 26 > L&T Finance opened applications for the second Pitch Point AI startup competition until October 31, 2026. - Published: 2026-10-24T09:01:14+00:00 - Section: Product Launches - Author: News Desk - URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-24/lnt-finance-pitch-point-ai-startups - Source: [The Tribune](https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/advertorial-disclaimer/lt-finances-pitch-point-launchpad-for-ai-start-ups-past-winners-arrowhead-ai-and-spoofsense-share-success-stories-ahead-of-the-second-edition) ## Key takeaways - L&T Finance launched the second edition of Pitch Point, an AI startup competition, with applications open until October 31, 2026. - Five finalists will present live at RAISE' 26 on December 16, 2026, at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. - Arrowhead AI and SpoofSense won the first Pitch Point cohort, and Arrowhead AI now serves as L&T Finance's voice AI partner. [L&T Finance](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/02lz3cb/l-t-finance) launched the second edition of Pitch Point, a competition for AI startups, ahead of RAISE' 26, offering early to growth-stage startups a chance to pitch to venture capitalists, L&T Finance senior management and global industry experts. [The Tribune](https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/advertorial-disclaimer/lt-finances-pitch-point-launchpad-for-ai-start-ups-past-winners-arrowhead-ai-and-spoofsense-share-success-stories-ahead-of-the-second-edition) reported the launch on October 24, 2026. Applications are open until October 31, 2026, and the final shortlist will be announced on December 1, 2026. ## How Pitch Point 2026 Works Startups must submit a registration form and pitch deck online, and their product must align with one of the domains listed for the programme, including cyber security and fraud prevention, rural and agri fintech, Gen AI applications, embedded finance, alternate data based lending, AI-driven credit scoring and risk assessment, regulatory technology and compliance tools, AI-powered collections and recovery, AI-based BFSI-ready enterprise agentic AI, image processing and recognition, AI geospatial and remote sensing, portfolio optimisation, and quantum computing for BFSI. Shortlisted applicants will be invited for a virtual interaction round, and five finalists will then present live at RAISE' 26 on December 16, 2026, at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. Dr. Debarag Banerjee, Chief Data & AI Officer at L&T Finance Ltd., said, "As L&T Finance advances its vision to become a Risk-first, Technology-first, AI-native Retail financial services institution, Pitch Point 2026 serves as a strategic launchpad for high-potential early-stage AI startups." ## Arrowhead AI and SpoofSense on the First Cohort [Arrowhead](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0004gij/arrowhead) AI and SpoofSense emerged as winners from the first Pitch Point cohort. Ms. Devyani Gupta, CEO of Arrowhead AI, an enterprise voice AI startup, said, "Pitch Point came to us at exactly the right moment. Being chosen as one of five finalists and then as one of the two winners gave us direct access to senior decision-makers and the credibility to turn that access into real deployment." Arrowhead AI now serves as L&T Finance's voice AI partner across different verticals. The Times of India reported in September 2026 that Arrowhead plans to use upcoming funding for international expansion, having already operated in Southeast Asia, after previously raising a $3 million seed round led by Stellaris Venture Partners. Mr. Kartikeya Bhardwaj, Founder of SpoofSense, a provider of AI-driven digital identity verification and fraud prevention, said, "The main benefit for SpoofSense was enterprise validation, it gave us direct feedback from decision-makers who evaluate AI solutions on scalability, security, and operational readiness." SpoofSense used L&T Finance's feedback to refine its APIs for enterprise deepfake and liveness detection. ## L&T Finance's Scale Behind the Programme According to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data), L&T Finance's loan book expanded 27% year-on-year to Rs 1.3 trillion as of Q1FY27, net profit grew 29% year-on-year to Rs 900 crore in Q1FY27, and net interest income rose 28% to Rs 2,920 crore in Q1FY27. The same records list total funding of $104.7 million, with a debt-funded round in July 2026. ## Earlier L&T Finance Announcements L&T Finance announced its Lakshya 2031 plan in October 2026 to more than double its loan book to over ₹2.6 lakh crore by 2031, aiming to cut credit costs below 2%, Outlook Business reported. The Tribune reported on October 12, 2026, that two Pitch Point winners will receive rewards and opportunities for Proof of Concept and equity funding discussions with L&T Innovation Fund. Business Standard reported on October 16, 2026, that L&T Finance will remain cautious on rural lending in H2FY27 due to crop output, liquidity and weather risks, and expects loan-book growth over 20% in H2FY27 driven by urban finance and festive demand. ## Companies in this story - [L&T Finance company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/02lz3cb/l-t-finance) · website: https://www.ltfinance.com - [Arrowhead company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0004gij/arrowhead) · website: https://www.arrowhead.ai - [Larsen & Toubro company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00004b4/larsen-toubro) · website: http://www.larsentoubro.com --- News for Agent · https://newsforagent.com/llms.txt