IIT Madras launches School of Innovation & Entrepreneurship to boost deep-tech start-ups

IIT Madras has launched the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to foster deep-tech start-ups through specialised degrees, industry collaboration, IP support, and funding mechanisms, building on its existing ecosystem of 475 start-ups valued at over ₹50,000 crore.

Hyderabad: The IIT Madras has launched a School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to create a world-class ecosystem to establish Deep-Tech Start-ups.

The School will offer a Minor Stream in Entrepreneurship, an MS (Entrepreneurship) degree. It will introduce novel programmes contributing to translational research besides a PhD Program and a unique ‘Entrepreneur-in-Residence’ (EIR) cohort to support returning professionals who want to pursue entrepreneurship as a career.

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These include practice-led degrees at the Undergraduate and Master’s levels, as well as an industry-defined ‘Innovation Doctorate’.

Headed by Prof. Prabhu Rajagopal, serial faculty-entrepreneur and a distinguished IIT Madras faculty, the School also aims to create IIT Madras-specific funding mechanisms at the initiation and scale-up stages for start-ups.

It will also run ‘IP clinics’ to help students understand the notion of IP filing and quickly convert their innovations into IP-backed products with support from IITM’s IPM Cell.

Presently, the IIT Madras is home to India’s largest ‘deep-tech’ startup ecosystem, with over 475 startups valued in excess of Rs. 50,000 crore under the aegis of IITM Incubation Cell, together with several sector-specific incubators. These start-ups have cumulatively created more than 11,000 jobs, filed over 700 patents and have attracted Rs. 12,000 crore in investments.