Startup Game: How IIT-Delhi is playing it and reaping the patents

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Multiple startups incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) have raised substantial funding, helping the elite institution exit such investments and raise revenue for future research projects, director Rangan Banerjee said. The institute had research and development (R&D) grants of ₹500 crore for FY25, an amount that keeps growing, Banerjee said on the sidelines of releasing its first research impact report covering the past six years.

“This helps our research build startups that generate direct employment, and leverage technology transfers from academia to compete in the industry," he added. For comparison, the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and IIT Madras had R&D grants of ₹626 crore and ₹681 crore respectively in FY24, as per their annual reports. “The balance of research funding is tricky for Indian institutes compared with global ones.

Here, most funding comes from the government—and these are competitive grants. Compared with previous years, the industry component of research funding is increasing, but its share is still relatively smaller," said Banerjee, who heads the IIT ranked second among India’s best engineering colleges. Government initiatives such as the Anusandhan National Research Fund (ANRF) could help, Banerjee added.

ANRF funds research projects and assists in setting up research infrastructure. Among startups incubated by IIT-Delhi affordable internet startup Wiom and connected car infrastructure startup Vecmocon raised $17.1 million and $10 million respectively, Banerjee added. Preeti Ranjan Panda, dean, corporate relations at IIT Delhi, said these are part of a growing base of successful private ventures building large companies