IIT Bombay’s Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE) plans to expand its support to 1,000 startups over the next 10 years. This is a significant increase from the 245 startups it has supported in the past two decades. To help achieve this growth, SINE is launching a Rs 100-crore venture capital fund.
The fund will focus on deep tech startups in key sectors such as biotech, space, defense, and sustainability. IIT Bombay alumni are expected to back the fund. SINE has had an impressive 80% survival rate among the startups it has nurtured.
“SINE has incubated startups that have generated over 300 intellectual properties across critical sectors like ICT, healthcare, cleantech, and industrials. Several of these startups have grown into industry-leading companies,” said Santosh J. Gharpure, Professor-in-Charge at SINE.
Some notable startups that have come out of SINE include Gupshup, IdeaForge, ImmunoACT, Zeus Numerix, Sedemac, Atomberg, and SAFE Security.
Rs 100-crore fund to support startups
Together, these ventures have raised $942 million in funding and have a total valuation of $3.56 billion.
“To achieve a scaled impact, India needs to increase its startup density from 100 startups per million population to 1,000. By leading the way, SINE hopes to emerge as an innovation and entrepreneurship powerhouse focused on democratising entrepreneurship and providing quality access to coaching, capital, and connections to customers and the ecosystem,” said Shaji Varghese, CEO of SINE. SINE will host an event called ‘Innovation Nation: Leveraging India’s Talent and Entrepreneurial Spirit in the Era of Disruptive Technologies’ on November 28 and 29 to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
The event will bring together thought leaders and policymakers to discuss India’s entrepreneurial potential. SINE works with central ministries and corporates in sectors like IT, automotive, and BFSI. It provides resources such as prototype labs, funding access, and high-end facilities at IIT Bombay.
Some current startups under SINE include Haystack Analytics (genomics), SustLabs (energy tech), and Inspecity (space tech). “IIT Bombay has invested Rs 500 crore to create a world-class research facility that will support R&D activities in emerging areas such as space, quantum computing, and electric mobility among others. This will create a strong pipeline for SINE in the form of research ideas that have the potential to become bankable ventures,” said Professor Milind Atrey, Deputy Director (Academics, Research and Translation) at IIT Bombay.
