Indian Institute of Technology Madras has achieved a major milestone in innovation and entrepreneurship in FY 2025-26. Under its ‘Startup Shatam’ mission, the institute has incubated more than 100 startups for the second consecutive year.
During this period, the institute’s incubation centre, IITM Incubation Cell, supported a total of 112 startups, surpassing last year’s record. Alongside this, IIT Madras strengthened its research and innovation efforts by filing 431 patents in FY26, reaffirming its leadership in translating research into real-world applications.
New Record in Startup Ecosystem: Portfolio Crosses 500 Startups
FY 2025–26 proved to be a landmark year for IIT Madras’ startup ecosystem. In its 13th year, IITMIC crossed the 500-startup milestone, reaching a total of 567 incubated startups. These startups have a combined valuation of over ₹74,000 crore (approximately $8 billion). The portfolio includes two unicorns and several mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
A major highlight of the year was the IPO of Ather Energy, which became the first publicly listed company from the IITMIC portfolio.
Ambitious Goals Achieved: ‘100 Startups a Year’ and ‘One Patent a Day’
The Director of IIT Madras, V Kamakoti, had set ambitious targets of incubating 100 startups annually and filing one patent per day goals that the institute is now consistently achieving. He noted that a strong culture of innovation has taken root at IIT Madras, with students, faculty, researchers, and entrepreneurs collaboratively building impactful technologies and enterprises.
Strong IP Framework Driving Research Commercialisation
IIT Madras has developed a robust framework to promote patents and intellectual property (IP). Under the ICSR department, the IP Management Cell provides end-to-end support to researchers from idea development to patent filing and commercialisation.
Dean Manu Santhanam highlighted that this system enables researchers to efficiently convert innovations into protected and deployable technologies.
Pan-India Participation Strengthens ‘IITM for All’ Vision
More than 60% of the startups incubated this year were founded by external entrepreneurs from across India, expanding IIT Madras’ national reach. This reflects the institute’s ‘IITM for All’ vision, which aims to provide a platform for innovators from across the country.
The newly incubated startups span diverse sectors including manufacturing, robotics, automotive, batteries, defence, aerospace, AI, machine learning, quantum technologies, healthtech, agritech, biotech, climate tech and IoT.
Growing Strength in Frontier Technologies
IIT Madras has demonstrated strong patent activity in frontier areas such as AI/ML, quantum technologies, semiconductors, 5G/6G, robotics, advanced manufacturing, sustainable energy, photonics, blockchain, and AR/VR. This highlights its leadership in future-focused technologies.
Rising Quality and Industry Interest in Startups
CEO of IITMIC, Tamaswati Ghosh, stated that over 1,200 applications were received in FY26, out of which 112 startups were selected. She noted that startups are becoming more mature, revenue-generating and investment-ready. With growing interest from investors and industry, IIT Madras aims to build the next wave of unicorns and IPO-ready companies.
Global Impact and Future Outlook
Faculty-in-charge of the incubation cell, Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam, emphasised the institute’s focus on nurturing deep-tech startups that solve real-world challenges and scale globally.
Notable startups from the IIT Madras ecosystem include Ather Energy, Uniphore, MediBuddy, HyperVerge and Agnikul Cosmos.
Through sustained efforts in innovation, patenting, and technology transfer, IIT Madras has secured the top rank in the Overall category of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for the seventh consecutive year, reflecting its excellence in education and research.
