IIT Madras Incubation Cell Features over 100 Startups on its First Edition of 'Chennai Demo Day'


IIT Madras Incubation Cell Features over 100 Startups on its First Edition of 'Chennai Demo Day'

Indian Institute of Technology Madras Incubation Cell and TiE-Chennai organized the first edition of ‘Chennai Demo Day’, that is intended to demonstrate India’s leading Deep Tech Innovation and Startup Hub to Investors, Industries, Startup community and the Government. Over 100 technology startups from the IITM Incubation Cell showcased their technology in the event which was aimed to provide a platform for Startups incubated by IIT Madras as well as startups in Chennai to interact with investors, industry, government and institutions across the nation.

Speaking on this occasion, Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Co-Chairman, IITMIC and IITMRP, says, “The IIT Madras Research Park is a non-profit company, started by IIT Madras but independent of IIT Madras and its objective is to enable innovation and interaction between academia and industry, which is the key. The Research Park represents a symbol in the country of maturing of the interaction between industry and academia. Innovation happens when three sets of people come together – experienced industry person, a knowledgeable faculty and youngsters who do not know that it cannot be done. This facility now has around 80 companies who have set up their R&D units here and are collaborating with IIT Madras faculty. Today, we have more than 50 faculty members who have set up their own startups through the IIT Madras Incubation Cell. We will incubate 60 to 70 companies every year and will soon touch 100 companies every year”.

Startups that participated in the event spanned various sectors including, manufacturing, automobiles, electric vehicles, robotics, Internet of Things, Agritech, Solar-DC, HealthTech, Biotechnology, AI/ML/ AR-VR/Data Sciences, Edtech, Water, Waster and Consumer Tech. Senior executives from various corporate firms including the Murugappa Group, ITC, Google Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Ivy Cap ventures and Dow Chemicals besides Government agencies such as Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), ONGC participated in the event.  

Pankaj Pawan, Founder & CEO, Maximl, says, “Events like ‘Chennai Demo Day’ help us connect with industry personnel which provides two things - Their first-hand experience about the problem, which helps us shape our product development roadmap and business opportunities to commercialize and scale our product”.

Founded in 1959, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) offers undergraduate and post graduate programmes leading to the B.Tech., M.Sc, M.B.A, M.Tech., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in a variety of specializations. It fosters an active entrepreneurial culture with strong curricular support and through the IITM Incubation Cell. IITM was also ranked as the No.2 in the category of Overall Institutions in 2017 and 2018 Rankings, released by the National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Human Resources Development, and Govt. of India.

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