Startup Incubation & Innovation Centre (SIIC), IIT Kanpur has crossed the 100 startups-mark with a combined valuation of USD 1 Billion. The SIIC is a multidisciplinary team of dedicated experts that work to build a framework to scale a business idea.
Supported by IIT Kanpur, The Foundation for Research & Innovation in Science & Technology (FIRST), a Section-8 company launched in 2018. Initially, FIRST was registered and incubated by the Technology Business Incubator of IIT Kanpur popularly known by its brand name, Start-up Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC).
The Director of the institute, Abhay Karandikar, during whose tenure this idea (FIRST) took shape, congratulated the team for the sustained efforts and said that SIIC has compounded IIT Kanpur's efforts towards establishing a unique incubation ecosystem with a vision to contribute to the nation's growth.
Every incubated company is welcome to harness IIT Kanpur's infrastructure. Moreover, the institute and the faculties are proud of SIIC for taking entrepreneurship to the hinterlands of India and creating a legacy of innovation. Further, he said that the IIT-K mission has helped and assisted the fostering of next-generation innovations and merging profit with purpose.
Supported by the vibrant, dynamic IIT Kanpur ecosystem, the incubator has inspired entrepreneurs to achieve excellence in product innovation at par with global standards. The Professor-in-Charge, Innovation & Incubation, IIT Kanpur, Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, added that SIIC is a powerhouse of visionary talent that pushes boundaries to create impact at the bottom of the pyramid.
Moreover, SIIC facilitates the conversion of ideas into products and the team looks forward to supporting more promising technologies that put quality at the helm of innovation. At present, SIIC is home to more than 100 companies across multidisciplinary domains of healthcare, agri-tech, cleantech, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and waste to value.
The reports of IIT Kanpur suggests that more than 50% of SIIC incubates have remained active and sustainable for more than 5 years since the incorporation of the companies. Currently, over 37 per cent of SIIC incubated companies are in the revenue-making stage.
The CEO of FIRST, Nikhil Agarwal said that the companies have solved the nation's pertinent challenges through tech services. When the first wave of COVID-19 hit the country, Noccarc stepped up and developed a ventilator within 90 days. It was a victory that galvanized FIRST'S belief to overcome formidable odds.
Meanwhile, FIRST has partnered with MSME manufacturers and set up oxygen plants pan India under the Mission Bharat O2. With these initiatives, the FIRST team is moving a step ahead in the vision of making India an indigenously supported, state-of-the-art manufacturing hub, he concluded.
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