The collaboration between IITMIC and Samunnati Foundation has been fostered with an objective of encouraging innovative technologies in agriculture and allied areas in India.

Through this partnership, the organizations will provide incubation support/facilities to entrepreneurial ventures, prepare position papers and propose policy recommendations.

By partnering with IITMIC, Samunnati aims to provide strategic and operational guidance, training, mentoring, networking, and other necessary resources to help India’s visionary agritech startups establish themselves and scale their presence.

‘We as a country are witnessing a buoyancy in the entrepreneurial energy especially in agriculture. It is heartening to see several youngsters from IIT/IIMs taking up entrepreneurship in agriculture.’

We also see a lot of private capital flowing into these young start-ups, he said. Speaking about the collaboration between IITMIC and Samunnati Foundation he said being an eco-system player, Samunnati aims to nurture this entrepreneurial energy by collaborating with premier institutions to incubate, nurture and scale these ideas which can transform the agri space in this country with focus on the small holder farmer.

We are excited about this partnership with IITMIC, which has been the cradle for many deep tech and social startups that have scaled successfully.

With IITMIC focusing on agriculture, we are confident that the eco-system will see a huge fillip to start ups in agriculture, he said.

This partnership between IITMIC and Samunnati Foundation focusses on encouraging innovative technologies in agriculture and allied areas, he said.

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‘We will work together in developing the ecosystem necessary to support entrepreneurs, and jointly incubate startups in this space.’

This partnership between IITMIC and Samunnati Foundation will offer mentoring support for product development, advisory services, networking for business development, training, funding assistance and technological support and will focus on strengthening the agriculture entrepreneurial ecosystem, said Professor Ashok.

1. Promotion of Alternative crops – Research on the types of Millets and promotion of millet-based menus through commercialization of millet food items.

2. Adopting a green agricultural ecosystem- green agricultural machinery, solar pumps, finance related technology products, electric vehicles for Agri transport

3. Food processing technologies- To look at indigenously developed medium scale technology to pre-process packaged food locally while retaining nutritional quality.

4. Support services for agricultural community- To look at supporting farmers through enabling purchase and sale of produce, finance, insurance against price & weather fluctuations, agricultural advisories, transport & agricultural machinery hire and labor hire.

IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) has emerged as India’s leading Deep Technology Startup hub with Innovation and Impact as key differentiators/drivers.

Over the last 8 years of its operations, IITMIC has overseen more than 244 new incubations, founded by IITM members (faculty, staff, students, and alumni) and external entrepreneurs (48%).

The companies span the breadth of deep tech areas in globally critical domains, including manufacturing, robotics, energy, e-mobility, IoT, data sciences, healthcare, water, agri-tech. Today, the incubated startups are together valued at close to ₹11500 crores and have created more than 5200 direct jobs.

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) was established in 1959 by the Government of India as an ‘Institute of National Importance.’

The activities of the Institute in various fields of Science and Technology are carried out in 16 academic departments and several advanced interdisciplinary research academic centres.

The Institute offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes leading to B.Tech., M.Sc., M.B.A., M.Tech., M.S., and Ph.D., degrees in a variety of specialisations.

IITM is a residential institute with more than 600 faculty and 9,500 students. Students from 18 countries are enrolled here. IITM fosters an active entrepreneurial culture with strong curricular support and through the IITM Incubation Cell .

This collaboration agreement seeks to capitalize on the strengths of both institutions, broadening the learning experience for students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science (BS) programs at IIT Madras and undergraduate programs at IIT Palakkad.

To date, over 30,000 students are actively participating in this program, fostering a vibrant and interactive learning community, say sources from IIT Palakkad.

Director of IIT Madras

Welcoming this collaboration, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said IIT Madras is committed to reach quality education to every deserving student in our country. This initiative with IIT Palakkad is a very significant step towards reaching the goals.

We are enthusiastic about mentoring these bright minds. Our courses and internships have a strong emphasis on hands-on learning and innovation, said director of IIT Palakkad.

This collaboration with IIT Madras will build a robust foundation that equips students with the skills, insights, and networks they need to excel, he said.

Key features

The key features of this collaboration include:

Ø Credit Transfer from IITPkd Courses: IIT Madras BS (Data Science and Applications) students who meet the eligibility criteria can fulfil their credit requirements by taking courses at IIT Palakkad, promoting an exchange of academic resources and expertise.

Ø Access to IIT Madras Courses for IIT Palakkad Students: The MoU allows undergraduate students at IIT Palakkad to enrol in courses on Data Science and Programming from the IIT Madras BS program, ensuring equitable access to these cutting-edge skills.

Ø Support for Additional Initiatives: The collaboration will also facilitate student exchange programs, internship opportunities, and other joint initiatives.

Commitment

This collaboration between IIT Madras and IITPkd highlights the commitment of both institutions to enrich student experiences through cross-disciplinary exposure, practical learning, and research opportunities.

It aims to create a robust academic ecosystem that utilizes the expertise and infrastructure of both IITs.

Collaboration

IIT Madras has been collaborating with other leading institutions in the country to provide in-person learning opportunities for final-year students in the BS program.

IIT Gandhinagar, IIIT Hyderabad, and Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) have already made their campus courses available to eligible students from the IIT Madras BS (Data Science) degree program.

About IIT Palakkad

Established in 2015, the Indian Institute of Technology, Palakkad is dedicated to creating an environment that enables students and faculty to engage in the pursuit of knowledge, to dream, think, and innovate thereby becoming change agents for a better world.

Having begun with just 120 students in July 2015, IIT Palakkad has since grown into an establishment that is about a thousand students strong and with the best manpower in key positions.

IITPkd aims to become a multi-disciplinary institution with 5000 students by its 10th year. The Institute recognizes collective growth, in collaboration with industry and other academic institutions, as the need of the time and emphasizes blue-sky research and directed research as two essential pillars of technology development.

The Institute embraces a vision to be a leader in cross-disciplinary inquiries, and to contribute to the potential that India’s demographic dividend represents for the country and the world, which is embodied in the motto of the institute “Nurturing minds for a better world”.

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