UST,IITMIC tie-up to promote start-ups in healthcare, life sciences
UST, a global AI and technology transformation company, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) to accelerate innovation, entrepreneurship, and research-led solutions in healthcare and life sciences.
IITMIC, the country’s leading deep-tech startup hub at IIT Madras, supports a portfolio of more than 500 startups spanning manufacturing, space, climate tech, medtech, biotech, AI, mobility, and sustainability, collectively valued at over $6 billion. The new collaboration is designed to build on this foundation and help founders move breakthrough technologies from lab to market.
What the partnership enables
The MoU establishes a collaborative framework for joint programs, deep engagement with incubate companies, and industry partnerships across high-impact domains. The partners plan to:
- Identify high-potential startups and provide focused mentorship
- Offer targeted funding and go-to-market support
- Expand pilots and proof-of-concept initiatives
- Forge strategic collaborations with industry and academia
- Create scalable pathways for next-generation technologies
By combining IITMIC’s cross-domain innovation capabilities with UST’s global reach and industry relationships, the initiative aims to create a repeatable model for nurturing founders, accelerating research-driven ideas, and delivering real-world impact in healthcare and life sciences.
First joint program: Pitch to Win — Pharma 4.0 Edition
As the first outcome of the MoU, UST and IITMIC conducted the “Pitch to Win: Pharma 4.0 Edition” innovation challenge, with Pfizer as knowledge partner and AWS as technology partner. The challenge drew more than 90 applications from 32 cities, underscoring strong momentum in the sector. Ten shortlisted finalists received a month of mentorship from UST before presenting to a jury at IITMIC.
The top three teams were:
- Nucleo-Vir Therapeutics — Winner
- ChemBioSens — First runner-up
- LN Infosphere Tech Transformers — Second runner-up
They received cash awards of ₹1,25,000, ₹75,000, and ₹50,000 respectively. In addition, UST will offer combined conditional funding of up to ₹45 lakh, along with go-to-market and other scaling support to help these startups progress from prototyping to adoption.
Leadership perspectives
UST described the partnership as a strategic step to harness deep-tech innovation more systematically—supporting not only startups, but also the founders behind them, and accelerating the development of solutions that can transform businesses and communities.
IITMIC highlighted the shared vision to advance India’s deep-tech innovation landscape, especially in healthcare and life sciences, noting that the collaboration pairs IITMIC’s research depth and startup pipeline with UST’s global network and execution expertise.
Looking ahead
The partners plan to scale the model through additional challenges, targeted mentorship programs, and industry collaborations, creating a robust pipeline of pilots and proof-of-concept deployments. With a focus on translational research and commercialization, the tie-up aims to shorten the journey from cutting-edge lab work to real-world impact—bringing affordable, reliable, and scalable solutions to healthcare and life sciences markets.
