IIT Madras achieves ‘Startup Shatam’ for Second Year in a Row and Sustains ‘One Patent a Day’ Momentum

CHENNAI, 27^th April 2026: Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has achieved a key milestone in deep-tech entrepreneurship, incubating over 100 startups for the second consecutive year under its ‘Startup Shatam’ mission. Through its nodal incubator, IITM Incubation Cell (IITMIC), the Institute incubated 112 startups in FY 2025–26, building on last year’s historic milestone.

In parallel, IIT Madras continued its strong innovation momentum, filing 431 patents during the year, reinforcing its leadership in translating research into real-world impact.

FY 2025-26 also witnessed several ‘Firsts’ for the startup ecosystem at IITM. In its 13^th year, incubation at IITMIC crossed the 500-startup mark, reaching a total portfolio of 567 startups. The portfolio is collectively valued at over ₹74,100 Crore (~US$ 8 billion) based on latest funding rounds, and includes two unicorns and multiple mergers/acquisitions. A landmark moment this year was Ather Energy’s IPO, the first publicly listed company from IITMIC’s portfolio.

These achievements reinforce IIT Madras’ position as one of India’s leading higher education institutions for deep-tech entrepreneurship, translational research and intellectual property creation.

Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, who had set the goal of ‘100 startups a year’ in 2024 and ‘one patent a day’ in 2023, made the announcements to students, faculty, researchers and startup founders during World IP Day celebrations held on campus on Friday (24^th April 2026).

Congratulating all stakeholders, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “These milestones reflect the culture of innovation that has taken deep roots across IIT Madras. Our faculty, students, researchers, alumni and external entrepreneurs are creating technologies and enterprises that can serve India and the world. The combination of startup creation and strong patent activity demonstrates our commitment to translating research into real impact.”

Prof. Manu Santhanam, Dean (ICSR), added, “Supporting this sustained patent momentum is a robust institutional framework designed to help researchers convert ideas into protected and deployable technologies. IIT Madras has built an end-to-end support system that enables faculty, students and researchers to navigate the IP journey efficiently, from early-stage disclosures and prior-art evaluation to drafting, prosecution and long-term portfolio management. Housed under ICSR, the IP Management Cell works closely with inventors and legal experts to streamline every stage of the process, helping accelerate protection of high-impact innovations. The efforts towards technology implementation and commercialization, coordinated by the Technology Transfer Office at ICSR, have also increased significantly in recent years.”

Patents Filed

The celebrations were organised jointly by IP Management Cell, Office of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR), IIT Madras and  IITM Incubation Cell. The event featured keynote talks, expert discussions on sports and technology, recognition of top inventors through JC Bose Awards, and felicitation of startups receiving early-stage TechPioneer Grants aimed at accelerating product development and market readiness.

A key highlight of this year’s ‘Startup Shatam’ milestone is the growing maturity and diversity of startups entering the ecosystem. Over 60% of the startups were founded by external entrepreneurs across India, strengthening IITMIC’s pan-India reach and reflecting the ‘IITM for All’ vision.

IIT Madras students, faculty and researchers also continued to drive strong innovation output, with 431 patents filed during FY 2025-26, supported by the Institutes’ IP ecosystem and commercialisation efforts led by its IP Management Cell.

The newly incubated startups span a wide range of critical deep tech sectors, including manufacturing, robotics, automotive, batteries, defence, aerospace, AI, machine learning, quantum technologies, analytics, fintech, healthtech, agritech, biotech, climate technologies, IoT, and cyber-physical systems.

On the IP front, IIT Madras highlighted strong activity in frontier areas such as AI/ML, quantum technologies, semiconductors, 5G/6G, robotics, advanced manufacturing, sustainable energy systems, photonics, blockchain, AR/VR, biomedical imaging, and advanced materials.

Speaking on the entrepreneurship milestone, Dr. Tamaswati Ghosh, CEO, IITM Incubation Cell, said, “FY25 was a landmark year with 103 startups incubated, setting a new benchmark for the IIT-Madras ecosystem. FY26 has been a year of consolidation, with over 1,200 applications received from across India and 112 startups incubated while maintaining a strong focus on quality and deep-tech orientation. We are also seeing increasing maturity in startups entering IITMIC - more revenue-generating companies, funded ventures and serial entrepreneurs - reflecting a shift towards a more commercially mature and outcome-driven incubation ecosystem. With growing investor & industry interests, we will continue to build towards the next wave of high-impact companies, including future unicorns and IPO-bound startups.”

Prof. Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam, Faculty-in-charge, IIT Madras Incubation Cell, said, “Our focus on nurturing deep-tech startups is driving real-world impact. This milestone reflects the strength of our ecosystem and the collaborative efforts across IIT Madras. We remain committed to supporting startups that solve complex challenges through cutting-edge technologies and enabling them to scale globally. We’re excited for the future and remain committed to enabling deep-tech ideas to scale and succeed.”

Notable start-ups from the IIT Madras ecosystem include Ather Energy, Uniphore, MediBuddy, HyperVerge, Agnikul Cosmos, Planys Technologies, Detect Technologies, GalaxEye and NeoMotion, among others.

Innovation, patenting and technology transfer have contributed significantly to the Institute’s research and academic standing, including securing the top rank in the Overall category of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for the seventh consecutive year.

The World IP Day event Keynote Speaker Mr. Ramky S, Founder and CEO of SportsMechanics India Pvt. Ltd., spoke on ‘Unlocking new perspectives about modern sports and its associated challenges’, giving new insights into activities associated with Sports where IP plays a key role. This was followed by a fireside chat session moderated by Prof. Mahesh Panchangula, Faculty Head, Center of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA). Prof. A.N.Rajagopalan, Prof. Sreeram K. Kalpathy, Prof. Babji Srinivasan and Prof. Manish Anand constituted the panel.

Prof. V. Kamakoti presented JC BOSE awards to faculty and students in recognition of their contributions to maximum patent filings and commercialisation over five financial years (2020-21 to 2024-25).

TTO ACTIVITIES (Financial Years (2023–24 to 2025–26))

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