The IITs serve as a highly successful incubator for India's deep-tech ecosystem, fostering high-growth startups.
India's IIT ecosystem has emerged as a global deep-tech powerhouse, with IIT Madras alone incubating 475 startups valued at over ₹50,000 crore. These institutions are producing breakthrough technologies across AI, space exploration, quantum computing, semiconductors and sustainable mobility.
The following 13 startups, ranging from conversational AI unicorns to electric vehicle manufacturers and space-tech innovators, are serving Fortune 500 clients and proving that India can build world-class deep-tech enterprises competing globally.
Ather Energy manufactures India's first smart electric scooters and EV charging infrastructure, pioneering premium electric mobility solutions. Founded by IIT Madras alumni and incubated at the IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) and Rural Technology and Business Incubator. (RTBI). The company agreed to allot 5% equity in exchange for office space, mentorship and resources. Ather Energy has secured approximately $630 million in total funding through various rounds. Later, Ather successfully launched its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April at ₹321 per share, delivering IIT Madras approximately ₹50 crore in returns from its early investment.
Agnikul Cosmos develops 3D-printed rocket engines and customizable orbital launch vehicles capable of carrying payloads up to 100 kg to lower Earth orbits. Incubated at IITMIC, the company was founded by Srinath Ravichandran and Moin SPM. Agnikul Cosmos has raised a total funding of approximately $67 million as of late 2024, including a ₹200 crore ($26.7 million) Series B round in 2023 from Celesta Capital, Rocketship.vc, Mayfield India and other investors
GalaxEye Space builds multi-sensor Earth observation satellites combining synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical multi-spectral imaging (MSI) for all-weather, high-resolution satellite imagery.
Founded in 2020 by former Team Avishkar Hyperloop members and incubated at IIT Madras, the company serves the defence, agriculture, maritime and surveillance sectors.GalaxEye's total funding is approximately $22.1 million. The most recent funding being a $10 million Series A round in November 2024. It included ₹17 crore from Infosys, with participation from Mela Ventures, Speciale Invest and ideaForge, targeting its Drishti Mission satellite launch by Q126.
Mindgrove Technologies is a leading Indian fabless semiconductor startup that remains officially incubated by the IITMIC and the IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation. Co-founded by IIT Madras alumni, Mindgrove focuses on designing high-performance system-on-chips. Its flagship product, Secure IoT, is India's first indigenously designed commercial-grade microcontroller SoC. Mindgrove Technologies has raised a total of $10.36 million across two funding rounds, with the most recent being a Series A round of $8 million in December 2024
CynLr develops universal robotic systems equipped with human-eye-inspired vision technology that enables robots to recognise and manipulate unknown objects of any shape, size or material without pre-programming. Founded by IIT Madras alumni Gokul NA and Nikhil Ramaswamy and incubated at IITMIC, the Bengaluru-based startup serves manufacturing industries. CynLr has raised $15.2 million in total funding, including a $10 million Series A round led by Pavestone and Athera Venture Partners, with participation from Speciale Invest and Infoedge Redstart.
Planys Technologies pioneers underwater infrastructure inspection using proprietary marine robotics, ROVs and AI-powered digital analytics platforms for steel and concrete structures in energy, maritime and defence sectors. Founded in 2015 by IIT Madras alumni Tanuj Jhunjhunwala, Vineet Upadhyay, Prabhu Rajagopal, and Krishnan Balasubramanian, the company was incubated at IITMIC as a spin-out from the Centre for Non-Destructive Evaluation. In 2024, Planys raised ₹43 crore ($5.8 million) led by ace investor Ashish Kacholia, serving clients including Reliance, IOCL, BPCL and Indian Railways.
Green Aero Propulsion is a deep-tech company revolutionising aerospace with a focus on sustainable propulsion systems. They recently made headlines for successfully test-firing 'The Blue Dragon', which they call India's first hydrogen-powered aero engine core. The startup, incubated at IIT Delhi, has secured total funding of $2.08 million across multiple rounds, including a $1.6 million Seed round led by pi Ventures with participation from Antler. Their mission is to decarbonise aviation and shipping by developing fuel-agnostic, high-efficiency engines for civilian and defence applications.
Inbound Aerospace is a Chennai-based space-tech startup focused on building the foundational infrastructure for the burgeoning microgravity economy. They are developing an autonomous, reusable re-entry spacecraft -- a 'lifting body' spaceplane -- designed for long-duration microgravity research and in-space manufacturing. Inbound Aerospace is incubated at the IITMIC and has secured a pre-seed round of over $1 million led by Speciale Invest, with participation from Piper Serica.
The ePlane Company develops electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft designed to reduce urban travel times from hours to minutes. The e200 model under development is capable of carrying three to four passengers and serving as an air ambulance.
Founded in 2017 by IIT Madras professor Satya Chakravarthy and Pranjal Mehta, the startup is incubated at IITMIC.The ePlane Company has raised over $21 million across several funding rounds to develop its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) flying taxi. Its funding includes a $14 million Series B round in late 2024, led by investors such as Speciale Invest, Micelio, and 3one4 Capital. The company is also reportedly planning to raise up to $50 million for its next round.
Detect Technologies provides industrial AI and SaaS solutions for real-time intelligent monitoring, predictive maintenance and automation using drones, ultrasonic sensors and IoT for oil and gas, petrochemical, construction and steel sectors. Founded in 2016 by IIT Madras alumni, the company was incorporated at IIT Madras Research Park. Detect Technologies has raised a total of $45.7 million in funding across seven rounds, with the most recent being a $28 million Series B round on July 11, 2022, led by Prosus Ventures.
Aereo, formerly known as Aarav Unmanned Systems, develops autonomous UAV-based solutions for industrial asset management, agriculture, 3D mapping for mining and urban planning, thermal inspection for power transmission, and precision agriculture applications. Founded in 2013 by IIT Kanpur alumni Nikhil Upadhye, Suhas Banshiwala, Vipul Singh and IIT Bombay alumnus Yeshwanth Reddy, the Bengaluru-based startup was incubated at SIDBI Innovation and Incubation Centre (SIIC) at IIT Kanpur. Aereo has raised multiple funding rounds from StartupXseed Ventures, 3one4 Capital, growX Ventures, 500 Startups and BellWether Advisors.
QNu Labs is a quantum cybersecurity company that develops hardware-based quantum-safe security solutions to protect critical communications against future quantum computing threats. Founded and incubated at IITMIC, the Bengaluru-based startup serves finance, defence, telecommunications and critical infrastructure sectors with its flagship QShield platform.
QNu Labs has raised $20 million in funding, including a recent ₹60 crore ($7 million) Series A round in April led by India's National Quantum Mission under the science and technology department. Lucky Investments, Speciale Invest, Tenacity Ventures and Singularity AMC also participated.