IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IIT-MIC) and Sona Incubation Foundation (SIF), Salem, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at IITM Research Park, Chennai. IIT-MIC has incubated 241 deep-tech start-ups so far, valued at ₹11,000 crore, and have generated over 5,200 jobs. This partnership aims to foster entrepreneurial ideas in a supportive environment to help start-ups scale and become successful, a release from the institute, said.
IIT-MIC is said to provide training, mentoring, enable networking opportunities, and amplify the reach of select start-ups among potential investors in the industry.
Strategic partnership
“We are delighted to bring the first group of ‘Partner Incubators’ jointly with IIT-MIC to Salem to support innovators and assist them in becoming technology-based entrepreneurs.” said Chocko Valliappa, Vice-Chairman, Sona Group of Institutions.
“The Sona College of Technology and Thiagarajar Polytechnic College together have been preparing engineering talent for nearly 65 years with a key focus on R&D and industry-academia partnership. We now look forward to exceptional ideas from students and alumni, diverse in areas like electric mobility and wearable technology for use in healthcare,” he added.
Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, President, IIT-MIC and IIT Madras Research Park, said, “In an effort to support entrepreneurs in the interiors of Tamil Nadu, we started our search for institutions engaged in R&D, industry collaborations and active student participation. At Sona Group of institutions, we found a deep commitment both to research and entrepreneurship.”
The MOU was signed by ProfAshok Jhunjhunwala on behalf of IITM Incubation Cell and Chocko Valliappa, Vice-Chairman, Sona Group of Institutions in presence Dr SRR Senthilkumar, Principal Dr Nirmalesh; K Sampath Kumar, Director, Innovation and R&D, Sona group; and IITMIC’s CEO Dr Tamaswati Ghosh, Head Academic Liaison Jaya Umadikar; Outreach Lead Pradeep Muralidhar; and Strategy Officer Seena Shivanath.