IIT-Hyderabad gives wings to startup dreams

Over 100 startups incubated at the prestigious institution have generated ₹100 crore revenue, 800-plus jobs

When the Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) came up in Kandi, Sangareddy, the district headquarters town got a new look. The set of high-rise buildings on the Mumbai Highway would invariably draw the attention of passersby. The coming up of this prestigious institution also pushed up land rates multi-fold and that of real estate ventures in the vicinity.

That is one side of the story. The other side is not only much bigger and brighter, but inspiring too. IIT-H gave wings to more than 100 startups through its iTIC incubator.

iTIC is a technology business incubator (TBI), under the aegis of IIT-H supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. iTIC is a not-for-profit society, which focuses on creating a supportive and nourishing environment for budding entrepreneurs in the field of technology. The focus areas of iTIC incubator are deep tech sectors such as healthcare, artificial intelligence/ machine learning, quantum computing, augmented reality/ virtual reality, cybersecurity, robotics, IoT, Industry 4.0, blockchain, electronics, advanced materials, drones and biotechnology.

iTIC aims to help entrepreneurs leverage a premier quality research and startup ecosystem with the goal of building a comprehensive platform to practice innovation and entrepreneurship so that these entrepreneurial ideas can be turned into sustainable, scalable profit-making business ventures. iTIC provides support to startups such as mentoring, financial aid, IP support, networking, and access to dedicated office/ co-working space, softwares, IITH technological infrastructure, and Makerlab, says IIT-H director B.S. Murty.

“Since its inception in 2015, iTIC has supported 100-plus startups through pre-incubation, incubation, and acceleration programmes, and has sanctioned more than ₹5 crore to startups directly while supporting them in raising more than ₹50 crors from external sources. So far, the iTIC startups have generated over ₹100 crore revenue and created 800-plus jobs,” he added.

One of the startups incubated at IIT-H includes PureEV, which is in the business of manufacturing electric two-wheelers under the brand ‘PURE EV’ and high-performance lithium batteries under the brand ‘PURE Lithium’. PURE stands for ‘Power Using Renewable Energy’, and since inception, the company has focused on enabling the transition to sustainable energy sources. It is currently one of the leading EV2W brands in India and also has a dominant position in exports to South Asian countries.

Another one is WiSig Networks Private Limited, which is focused on developing 5G mobile communications products and solutions. It was incubated in 2016 by a group of researchers and inventors with the intention to develop further and commercialise the new 5G communication technologies being indigenously invented.