Dr SV Kota Reddy, Vice-Chancellor, VIT-AP University, B Nagarjuna, Director, VTBIF, Dr Ameet Chavan, Director, VIT-AP IIEC, and Prof S Mohanasankar, Professor-in-Charge and Director IITMIC, Dr Tamaswati Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, and Ms Jaya Umadikar exchanging documents after signing the MoU on Thursday

Vijayawada/Chennai: In a significant move to strengthen the deep-tech innovation ecosystem in India, IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) and VITAP Technology Business Incubator Foundation (VTBIF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on nurturing and accelerating deep-tech startups.

This partnership marks a strategic step in expanding the entrepreneurial landscape across Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Dr SV Kota Reddy (Vice-Chancellor, VIT-AP), B Nagarjuna (Director, VTBIF), Dr Ameet Chavan (Director, VIT-AP IIEC); and Prof. S. Mohanasankar (Professor-in-Charge and Director of IITMIC), Dr Tamaswati Ghosh (IITM CEO) and Jaya Umadikar (Chief Incubation Officer).

This incubation-level partnership builds on the broader academic collaboration between VIT-AP University and IIT Madras. The academic alliance is geared towards driving joint research in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, IoT, Electric Vehicles, and Advanced IC Design, including initiatives under the ISEA Cybersecurity project.

Through this incubator-level collaboration, IITMIC and VTBIF aim at further accelerating the launch and scaling of deep-tech ventures emerging from academic research and student prototyping/venture ideation activities. This partnership underscores a shared vision to foster impactful, deep tech entrepreneurship, leverage complementary resources, and transform cutting-edge ideas into globally competitive solutions. Together, IITMIC and VTBIF are well-positioned to drive India’s deep-tech startup ecosystem forward in its journey towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.