Three day long Bengaluru GAFX 2026 brought together over 200 speakers representing India and 10 international countries across close to 100 sessions, including panel discussions, masterclasses, workshops, policy dialogues, investor forums, and six high-impact industry roundtables. The summit saw participation from 15+ State AVGC associations and hosted the AVGC Women Leaders Mixer, which convened 30 women leaders to discuss returnships, leadership pathways, and entrepreneurship in the sector. Dedicated tracks covered AAA gaming, console development, animation pipelines, immersive media, IP monetisation, distribution strategies, AI-driven production workflows, and education-led talent development.
Additionally, during the valedictory, ten original IPs from Karnataka were launched, exemplifying the state’s growing strength in creator-owned content and transmedia storytelling. These Ips included Arena Animation Originals by Arena Animation; Niko by Studio Jatayu; Garuda and Sacred Legacy by Neo Entertainment Studios; Nina – The Girl with the Magic Pot and Wild Bound by Quixotics Creative Limited; Gurucool and Devi Katha by Sanskriti; Nayanar: Origins by Plangle Studio; and Lacher (brand) by Aesuloid Media. Together, these projects reflected a strong focus on culturally rooted narratives, mythology-inspired storytelling, youth-oriented animation, and globally adaptable content emerging from Karnataka’s AVGC-XR ecosystem.
The summit also witnessed the formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) and ABAI. The MoU establishes a five-year, non-binding framework to strengthen collaboration across education, skilling, incubation, research, and ecosystem development within the AVGC-XR sector. It outlines cooperation in curriculum development, faculty engagement, startup mentorship, joint R&D exploration, and resource mobilisation, including CSR and philanthropic funding avenues. The agreement also enables institutional visibility through reciprocal participation at events and supports the potential rollout of national AVGC Content Creator Labs, with IICT as nodal agency and ABAI contributing its industry network and Centres of Excellence experience within Karnataka.
The three-day summit recorded over 10,000+ footfalls, with 56 sellers and solution providers showcasing innovations across animation, gaming, VFX, comics, AI tools, and immersive technologies, reflecting strong domestic and international engagement. The B2B Forum facilitated 300 curated business meetings, connecting studios, IP owners, buyers, and 11 strategic investors, while the dedicated Investor Pitch Platform hosted 35 live pitches with 21 additional online pitches scheduled, enabling 28 registered business entities to directly engage with leading investors. Strong academic and community participation further defined the summit, with 150 colleges and 500 students competing across multiple streams, 550 contestants across student and professional categories, 20+ national and international artists and 10 Muse artists featured at Sketch Alley, and 50 entries in the debut Cosplay segment spanning anime, gaming universes, and mythology. A total prize pool of ₹10 lakh, along with curated goodies, was awarded, reinforcing GAFX’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of AVGC-XR talent.
With the successful conclusion of Bengaluru GAFX 2026, Karnataka has reinforced its leadership in India’s AVGC-XR sector, accelerating its shift toward original IP creation and global production maturity. Through structured global consultations, curated investor engagement, and high-impact creative showcases, the summit aligned policy, capital, and talent under a unified growth roadmap. GAFX 2026 strengthened Karnataka’s position as a competitive creator economy hub in animation, gaming, VFX, and immersive media.
Bengaluru GAFX 2026 convened artists, studio professionals, entrepreneurs, policymakers and students for a focused dialogue on strengthening women’s participation in the animation, VFX, gaming and comics (AVGC-XR) ecosystem in a special segment titled as ‘The Women in Animation: Her Frame. Her Future.’
Designed as a dedicated and supportive platform, the mixer enabled curated mentor roundtables, lightning talks and structured networking, alongside a live opportunity wall featuring job openings, internships and collaboration pathways. The initiative aimed to create meaningful career visibility while reinforcing Karnataka’s inclusive AVGC-XR growth vision.
The session was led by the Karnataka government department of IT and BT secretary Dr. Manjula N (IAS) along with women industry leaders and emerging talent from across the country.
“Today’s discussion with women professionals in the animation sector was both insightful and necessary. We heard firsthand about the structural challenges they face-from career breaks and limited access to skilling opportunities to the need for stronger mentorship and institutional support,” said Dr. Manjula N.
She also pointed out,”Women’s participation in animation is currently less than 25 percent, significantly lower than in several other sectors. Yet women bring a distinct creative edge and are exceptionally well- suited to thrive in this industry. The opportunities within the creative economy are immense, and enabling and facilitating women’s contribution will be a priority takeaway from today’s engagement.”
“When women creators rise, the entire AVGC-XR ecosystem becomes stronger, more innovative and globally competitive,” said ABAI convenor and Bengaluru GAFX co-chair B.S. Srinivas.
“It was fantastic to see how many women are committed to growing in the AVGC-XR industry. The discussion focused on how we can bring women back into the workforce and create stronger opportunities for women entrepreneurs in this space. What stood out was the spirit of collaboration- women supporting each other across the nation. The beauty of this forum was to connect, network and embrace each other’s growth,” said Indian Digital Gaming Society (CII) Madhurima Manyara.
The Women in Animation mixer at Bengaluru GAFX 2026 reaffirmed that inclusive participation is central to Karnataka’s long-term AVGC-XR roadmap, positioning women as critical drivers of innovation, creativity and global competitiveness.
Delivering the special address at the valedictory function, “Mr. Biren Ghose, Chairman, Bengaluru GAFX & President, ABAI, said, “Bengaluru GAFX 2026 has exceeded expectations in both scale and strategic depth. Over the past three days, we witnessed high-impact showcases, strong investor participation, meaningful global collaborations, and an extraordinary response from creators across the country. The dedicated AI tracks this year sparked critical conversations around responsible adoption, AI-led production pipelines, and the future of immersive storytelling. The quality of dialogue across gaming, animation, VFX, and XR reflects the growing maturity of India’s creative technology ecosystem. This edition clearly demonstrated that India is not only contributing to the global AVGC-XR industry but actively shaping its evolution. The partnerships forged and momentum generated here will continue to drive original IP creation and innovation well beyond this summit.”
