IIT Madras launches School of Innovation, Entrepreneurship; offers UG,PG,PhD degrees for working professionals

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has launched a School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to create a ‘world-class’ ecosystem to establish ‘Deep-Tech’ startups. The objective of the innovation hub is to put the institute’s name on the ‘global map’ of the startup universities, as per the official statement.

The school will offer a minor stream in entrepreneurship, an MS (entrepreneurship) degree. It will also run a new programme to help translate research, along with a PhD course, and an ‘entrepreneur-in-residence’ (EIR) programme for professionals seeking entrepreneurship as a career.

Such programmes will include degrees at the undergraduate (UG) and master’s levels, and an industry-defined ‘innovation doctorate.’

V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras , said: “As we progress after having achieved 1.2 patents a day and exceeded 100 start-ups in the last financial year, now, it is time to institutionalize our Innovation and Entrepreneurship efforts. We have a large’I&E’ stack that spans the e-Cell, Centre for Innovation (CFI) and Nirmaan pre-incubator to the Gopalakrishnan Deshpande Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GDC and IIT Madras Incubation Cell.”

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BTech programme in Entrepreneurship, System Building

“We have already introduced in the second year of BTech program, a course on Entrepreneurship and System Building. Now, we will also have a minor. The PhD program is very interesting. This is going to be another USP of IIT Madras,” he added.

The institute through its newly-launched school also aimed to generate IIT Madras-specific funding mechanism at the initiation and scale-up stages for startups.

“It will also run ‘IP clinics’ to help students understand the notion of IP filing and quickly convert their innovations into IP-backed products with support from IITM’s IPM Cell,” the official statement read.

The school was inaugurated by Kamakoti on the campus on 4th August 2025. Ashwin Mahalingam, dean (alumni and corporate relations), IIT Madras; Anbarasu Manivannan, head, school of interdisciplinary studies; Prabhu Rajagopal, founding head of this new school, other stakeholders in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of the Institute; faculty, startup founders, students and distinguished guests from among alumni and industry partners were also present.

“The institute is already home to India’s largest ‘deep-tech’ startup ecosystem, with over 475 startups valued in excess of Rs. 50,000 Crore (US$ 6 Billion) under the aegis of IITM Incubation Cell, together with several sector-specific incubators. These start-ups have cumulatively created more than 11,000 jobs, filed over 700 patents and have attracted Rs. 12,000 Crore in investments,” according to the official press release.