IIT Madras hosts its first ‘Nirmaan Demo Day 2024’ to showcase student innovations

NEW DELHI : The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), held its first-ever ‘Nirmaan Demo Day 2024’ to showcase student innovations today, September 27. Nirman is India’s first pre-incubator on a college campus at IIT Madras. Through this strategic partnership with IIT Madras, Nirmaan connects students to real-world entrepreneurial support, helping them turn their ideas into sustainable ventures, the IIT Madras statement said.

As per the IIT Madras statement, a total of 30 start-up ideas in sectors such as – AI, health, deep tech, and sustainability were presented to the investors, and industry experts at the IIT Madras, during the event. Moreover, the institute plans to make the ‘Nirmaan Demo Day 2024’ an annual event.

Nirmaan supports more than 85 student-led start-up groups in various fields. Around 26 groups have already been graduated from this programme. The valuation of these start-ups has collectively reached over Rs 1,000 Cr and raised more than Rs 108 crore in venture funding, the IIT Madras statement added.

“Some of the successful start-up groups of Nirmaan include – Urban Matrix, Modulus Housing, Tan90, Tocal, Infyu Labs, Involve, Melvano, Susstains, GIMS, Plenome Technologies, Prescribe, and Galaxeye Space, which recently raised Rs 17 Crore from Infosys.”

Also read IIM Lucknow, TalentSprint announce executive programme in sales and marketing

Nirmaan, IIT Madras

Nirmaan stands out for the unique opportunities it provides to aspiring entrepreneurs. A few of Nirmaan’s programmes like ‘Pratham’ and ‘Akshar’ offer a supportive environment to its students with its dedicated workspace, targeted mentorship, and customized training, the IIT note adds.

“Start-ups are accepted at the idea stage and participate in the eight-week Pratham workshop, where they learn from industry experts and seasoned entrepreneurs how to build a business. During this program, they receive a seed grant to create a Minimally Viable Prototype, conduct market research, and create a business plan,” said the IIT Madras statement.

The event was inaugurated by V Kamakoti, the director of IIT Madras.

The guests of the event included – Srikanth Sundararajan, general partner at VentureEast; Navratan Kataria, director (startup engagement & innovation ecosystem) NASSCOM Centre of Excellence for AI and IoT; Sathyanarayana N Gummadi, dean, IIT Madras; Prabhu Rajagopal, advisor (innovation and entrepreneurship) at IIT Madras, with other students and faculty members.

While addressing the students during this event, V Kamakoti said: “The inaugural Demo Day is a key milestone for our pre-incubator, and we are thrilled to showcase the talent, creativity, and drive of our student entrepreneurs. This event is a testament to IIT Madras’ commitment to fostering innovation and offering our students a platform to shape the future.”

Prabhu Rajagopal, advisor at IIT Madras, highlighted the importance of event and said: “At Nirmaan, we strive to catalyze faculty and student innovations into market-ready prototype and start-ups. With the motto of ‘IITM for all’ as per the vision of V Kamakoti, director. Our support services are now also available for teams in the wider region who wish to connect with IIT Madras in some way.”