UST, a leading AI and technology transformation solutions company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the IIT Madras Incubation Cell, India’s premier deep-tech startup hub anchored at IIT Madras, to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and research-driven solutions in the healthcare and life sciences sector.
IIT Madras Incubation Cell consists of a portfolio with over 500 startups across sectors including manufacturing, space, climate tech, medtech, biotech, AI, mobility, IoT, and sustainability, with a combined valuation exceeding USD 6 billion. Its portfolio includes two unicorns and one IPO. The incubation cell provides comprehensive support, including incubation, seed funding, intellectual property guidance, R&D access, mentorship, and go-to-market assistance.
The partnership aims to drive innovation through joint programs, engagement with incubated startups, and strategic industry collaborations, particularly in high-impact domains.
The MoU establishes a structured yet flexible framework to identify high-potential startups, provide mentorship and targeted funding, expand pilots and proof-of-concepts, form strategic collaborations, and create go-to-market opportunities.
The first initiative under this collaboration was the Pitch to Win: Pharma 4.0 Edition, conducted in partnership with Pfizer as Knowledge Partner and Amazon Web Services as Technology Partner. The innovation challenge received over ninety applications from startups across 32 cities, reflecting the growing momentum of India’s healthcare and life sciences startup ecosystem. The top ten finalists received a month of mentorship support from UST and presented their solutions at a final pitch event held at the IIT Madras Incubation Cell in Chennai.
The top three winners were Nucleo-Vir Therapeutics as Winner, ChemBioSens as First Runner-Up, and LN Infosphere Tech Transformers as Second Runner-Up. They received cash awards of ₹1,25,000, ₹75,000, and ₹50,000 respectively. UST also committed conditional funding of up to ₹45 lakh to support the three startups, along with go-to-market assistance and other strategic guidance to help them scale their solutions.
This partnership underscores UST’s commitment to advancing research-driven innovation and entrepreneurship, leveraging its global expertise to accelerate next-generation solutions within India’s Life Sciences 4.0 ecosystem. It also reflects IIT Madras Incubation Cell’s mission to nurture high-potential startups and bridge academia, industry, and investors to scale impactful technologies that can improve lives globally.
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