India's IIT-Madras to open first center in US with $7.5 million investment

One of the India's pretigious insitute, globally popular, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras Global Research Foundation has announced its first center in the United States. This move will help expand India’s deep-tech innovation into global markets.

The new center is located in Menlo Park. It was launched on April 24. The announcement was made during the SelectUSA Investment Summit held in National Harbour on Tuesday (5).

Thirumalai Madhavnarayan, CEO of IIT Madras Global Research Foundation, spoke about the new center. “The Menlo Park centre, enabled through our partnership with CA Startups, is a strategic anchor for IITM Global's US operations,” he told PTI.

He also explained the purpose of the center. “With a focused investment approach, we aim to build a platform that accelerates deep-tech ventures from lab to global markets, while also attracting global innovation into India,” he said.

The center will be built with a total planned investment of $7.5 million. Out of this, $4.5 million will be a greenfield investment from IITM Global, according to Madhavnarayan.

The location of the center is important. Menlo Park is close to Silicon Valley, which is known as a global technology hub. This will help Indian startups connect with investors, mentors, and global companies.

The IITM Center is designed to help Indian deep-tech startups grow. It will give them access to funding, global markets, and expert guidance. It will also help them build partnerships with international companies.

The center will focus on research and commercialization in deep-tech areas. It will also act as a hub for startup incubation. This means it will support new companies as they develop and grow.

Another goal of the center is to strengthen partnerships between industry and academia. It will also encourage venture capital involvement to help startups expand their innovations.

IITM Global also shared plans to open a second center in the United States. This new center will be located on the East Coast.

The East Coast center will connect with policy, finance, and academic systems in that region. It will help create a stronger and wider presence for IITM Global across the US.

A delegation from IIT Madras Global also visited the US. The group included founders of startups that were incubated at IIT Madras.

They met Vinay Mohan Kwatra during their visit. He shared his thoughts about the meeting in a post on X. “Had an insightful conversation with Thirumalai Madhavnarayan, Head of IITM Global, and the brilliant founders of five IIT Madras-incubated deep-tech startups, Atri AI, Zerowatt, Satori XR, Greenvironment, and @ePlaneCompany — on the sidelines of the #SelectUSASummit,” he said.

He also praised the work of the startups. “Truly inspired by the impressive work these young tech leaders showcased. We spoke about exciting new opportunities in India and the US tech ecosystem. The future of India-US innovation collaboration is bright,” Kwatra said.