UST and IIT Madras Incubation Cell Join Hands to Accelerate Deeptech Healthcare Startups

UST, an AI and technology transformation solutions company, has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC), to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and research-driven solutions in the healthcare and life sciences sector.

The MoU aims to create a collaborative framework between UST and IITMIC to drive innovation through joint programs, engagement with incubates, and industry partnerships, it said.

Manu Gopinath, president, UST, said, “Our partnership with IIT Madras Incubation Cell is a strategic leap in how we harness deeptech innovation across industries. With IITMIC’s proven incubation ecosystem and access to cutting-edge research, we are not just backing startups; we are nurturing bold founders, accelerating research-driven ideas, and building a strong pipeline of solutions that can transform businesses, communities, and society at large.”

Joint innovation programme

A first in a series of joint innovation programmes, this collaboration, in partnership with Pfizer and Amazon Web Services (AWS), jointly conducted the ‘Pitch to Win: Pharma 4.0 Edition’.

The agreement sets to identify promising startups, support them with mentorship and targeted funding, expand pilots and proofs of concept, enable strategic collaborations, and drive go-to-market efforts.

The challenge received over ninety startup applications from 32 cities across India., where the top ten finalists received a month’s worth of mentorship support from UST and presented before a panel at the final pitch day, held at IITMIC, Chennai.

The top three winners include Nucleo-Vir Therapeutics securing the first position, ChemBioSens as the runner-up, and LN Infosphere Tech Transformers occupying the third position, receiving cash awards of ₹1,25,000, ₹75,000 and ₹50,000 respectively. In addition, UST will offer a total conditional funding of up to ₹45 lakh to the three startups, along with other strategic support.

“Through initiatives like Pitch to Win: Pharma 4.0, we’re not only nurturing high-potential startups but also building bridges between academia, industry, and investors to scale impactful solutions that can improve lives globally,” Dr. Tamaswati Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, IITMIC, said.

IITMIC is the innovation and entrepreneurship hub of IIT Madras, supporting over 500 deep-tech startups across sectors with a combined valuation of more than USD 6 billion. Backed by IIT Madras faculty and a strong network of mentors, investors, and corporate partners, it offers end-to-end support from incubation and seed funding to R&D and go-to-market, and counts two unicorns and one IPO in its portfolio.