NEW DELHI / CHENNAI, 29th August 2026: Shri Jayant Chaudhary, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Education, Government of India, congratulated IIT Madras Global Research Foundation (IITM Global) on organising ‘Bharat Ascend’, a national innovation mission, in Delhi on Friday (28th Aug 2026).
Led by IITM Global in partnership with Ideabaaz, India’s first media-integrated startup platform, Bharat Ascend aims to discover 100 high-potential ideas from Tier-2, Tier-3 cities and emerging innovation ecosystems across India in 365 days, and create pathways to transform these ideas into prototypes, pilots, investable ventures, market-ready products and globally scalable enterprises.
The mission seeks to contribute to the larger national vision of Viksit Bharat @2047 by helping build an India that is not only a large market for innovation, but a Product Nation and a Startup Nation—a country that imagines, designs, develops, owns and takes globally competitive products and technologies to the world.
Sharing a message that was read out during the occasion, Shri Jayant Chaudhary, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Education, Government of India, said, “India’s next chapter will be written not just by those who find jobs but by those who create them. The energy to build new enterprises is not limited to our metros – it is alive in every district, every small town, every college campus across this country. Bharat Ascend is our commitment to ensure that a young person in a Tier-2 or Tier-3 city has the same shot at building a world-class product as anyone else. Entrepreneurship is how we turn local talent into national strength.”
DEMOCRATIZING THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD
Sharing his message, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “The ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’, as envisaged by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, will be a Start-up Bharat, a Product Bharat. To become that technology superpower, it is very important that for us to encourage all great ideas that originate from the nook and corner of our country. Ideas are not just restricted to the metropolis or cities. It can come out from any part of our country. We need to provide a platform that will democratise the opportunities for these ideas to get converted into products. The Bharat Ascend initiative, led by IIT Madras Global Research Foundation in partnership with Ideabaaz, is that platform. It is trying to democratize the opportunity for every idea to become a great product that will bring a lot of socio-economic value to our country. IIT Madras Global Research Foundation will provide the required knowledge for this entire partnership while Ideabaaz will take care of the reach of this initiative to the nook and corner of the country.”
India’s transformation into a developed economy will require the creation of a much broader innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, where opportunities are not concentrated only in established metropolitan startup hubs. Bharat Ascend seeks to discover entrepreneurial and technological potential wherever it exists and create pathways for that potential to translate into economic and societal impact.
Ideas can come from anywhere. Bharat Ascend seeks to ensure that the opportunity to build a product, create a startup and reach a global market does not depend on where an innovator is born or where an idea originates.
As the Strategic International Arm of IIT Madras and the institution leading the mission, IITM Global will bring together IIT Madras’ deep-tech expertise, academic and research capabilities, industry relationships and international networks to help promising innovations move from local ecosystems to national and global markets.
Further, Prof. Preeti Aghalayam, Dean (Global Engagement), IIT Madras, said, “India’s innovation story is increasingly one of ideas that can emerge from every corner of the country and find relevance far beyond our borders. Bharat Ascend creates an important bridge between local ingenuity and global opportunity. By connecting innovators with IIT Madras’ knowledge ecosystem, international networks, industry and markets, we can help promising ideas move confidently from Bharat to the world. The goal is not simply to discover talent, but to create the conditions in which that talent can build products, enterprises and solutions with global impact.”
Elaborating on the initiative, Mr. Thirumalai Madhavnarayan, Chief Executive Officer and Director, IITM Global, said, “Bharat Ascend is about creating a national pipeline from ideas to impact. Our focus will be on measurable outcomes—prototypes developed, pilots conducted, customers acquired, capital raised and innovations taken to global markets. The partnership brings together Ideabaaz’s reach into emerging innovation ecosystems, IIT Madras’ technology and research capabilities, and IIT Madras Global’s international network.”
Further, Mr. Mudit Kumar, COO and Co-founder, Ideabaaz, said, “India does not have a shortage of ideas; it has a discovery and access gap. Bharat Ascend is designed to ensure that promising innovators are not overlooked simply because they come from outside the traditional startup hubs. Through Ideabaaz’s reach across emerging innovation ecosystems, we aim to bring these ideas into a national pipeline where the right mentorship, technology, market access and capital can help turn local ingenuity into globally relevant products and enterprises. Our ambition is to make sure the next great idea from Bharat is not only discovered, but given the opportunity to scale.”
Mr. Thirumalai Madhavnarayan added, “Our larger ambition is to ensure that geography does not determine the destiny of an idea. We want to help create an ecosystem where an innovator can discover an opportunity in a Tier-2 or Tier-3 city, build the product in Bharat, find customers in India and ultimately take that product to the world.”
By creating access to mentorship, technology, industry, capital, customers and international networks, Bharat Ascend seeks to bridge one of the critical gaps in India’s innovation journey—the journey from idea to product, product to enterprise, and enterprise to global scale.
FROM BHARAT TO THE WORLD
Bharat Ascend is designed to create a structured national pathway for innovators, helping bridge the gap between an idea and its first prototype and its first customer, and a startup and its first global market.
As part of its first-year mission, Bharat Ascend aims to: Discover and select 100 innovations
Provide structured mentoring and validation to 50 innovations
Support 25 solutions towards functional prototypes or MVPs
Enable 15 real-world pilots or customer validations
Take 10 ventures towards investor-readiness
Connect 5+ ventures with international markets or strategic partners
The mission will follow a five-stage journey—Discover, Nurture, Accelerate, Empower and Impact—helping selected innovators progress from ideation and validation to prototyping, pilots, investment, market entry and scale.
The solutions identified through the mission could address challenges and opportunities across sectors including agriculture, healthcare, education, climate, mobility, manufacturing, energy, financial inclusion and emerging technologies.
A NATIONAL INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
Bharat Ascend calls upon the wider innovation ecosystem to participate in this national mission.
Corporates can provide pilot opportunities, industry mentorship and first customers. Investors can identify and back high-potential ventures emerging from non-traditional geographies. Universities and colleges can become discovery engines for innovation. Mentors, industry leaders and successful entrepreneurs can help innovators navigate the journey from idea to enterprise. Governments and local ecosystems can help create enabling environments for entrepreneurship and innovation.
The mission is therefore designed not simply as a programme for 100 ideas, but as a demonstration of a scalable national model for discovering and developing entrepreneurial talent beyond India’s traditional innovation hubs.
365 DAYS. 100 IDEAS. ONE NATIONAL AMBITION.
The launch of Bharat Ascend marks Day One of a 365-day national mission to discover innovators beyond India’s traditional startup hubs and create pathways for them to build, scale and compete globally.
The larger ambition is clear: to help build a Bharat where innovation can emerge from anywhere, products can be built anywhere, enterprises can scale from anywhere—and ideas born in Bharat can create impact across the world.
Bharat Ascend seeks to contribute to the journey towards Viksit Bharat @2047 by helping build not just a larger startup ecosystem, but a stronger Product Nation and Startup Nation—one idea, one innovator and one enterprise at a time.
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