Chennai, Feb 28 (PTI) Union Education Minister Dharmendrra Pradhan on Friday said India has emerged as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem with a combined valuation exceeding USD 354 million.
The minister was virtually addressing the inaugural session of the third edition of IINvenTiv, a national research and development expo being hosted by IIT Madras.
IInvenTiv is a flagship event of the Ministry of Education, which was first held in 2022 at IIT Delhi featuring exhibits only from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
Pradhan also extended invitations to international representatives and sought to strengthen research ties to foster global start-up opportunities.
“As of 2025, India has emerged as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, with a combined valuation exceeding USD 354 million. Tamil Nadu has always been a land of innovation, entrepreneurship and excellence and has given India some of the brightest entrepreneurs, innovators, scientists and researchers who have made significant contributions to nation building,” the minister said.
Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar, who was here to attend the inauguration, said with the significant participation of representatives from higher education institutes and the industry, IINventiV is set to emerge as an iconic brand in the innovation sector.
“I am sure that the industry leaders attending the event will find many of the technologies on display useful, leading to further technology transfers in the near future,” he said.
The second edition of the event with participating institutions from the top 50 of NIRF, apart from IITs, NITs, IISc and IISERs, was held at IIT Hyderabad last year.
“We are now bringing together a platform in which industry leaders can look at technology transfer, investors can look at avenues for funding and foster future collaboration. We have more than 180 exhibits from 39 participating institutions,” said IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti.
“These feature the latest Research and Development that have been happening in these institutions, startups that have arisen out of the R&D done at these institutions as well as technology that is now available for commercialisation in the industry,” he added.
The thematic areas that would be covered during the two-day event include Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies; Aviation, Defence and Space, Marine Technology; Medical and Healthcare Engineering; Rural Technology; Smart Cities and Infrastructure; Advanced Manufacturing (Industry 4. and 5.0) and Circularity and Sustainability (Energy and E-mobility).
A coffee table book on leading technological innovations from Indian higher education institutions which have led to great impacts on the industry was also released during the inaugural session. PTI GJS KSS KSS
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