GDC, IIT Madras

The Gopalakrishnan-Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GDC) was established in 2017 at IIT Madras by IIT alumni Kris Gopalakrishnan (Infosys co-founder) and Desh Deshpande (serial startup founder and philanthropist). GDC's primary objective is facilitating the lab-to-market transition of science-based research into impactful deep-tech startups.

GDC works with faculty, researchers, students, and budding entrepreneurs in STEM colleges across India to commercialize research-based ideas. Its flagship I-NCUBATE program is an 8-week bootcamp where teams comprising a Faculty Lead, Entrepreneur Lead, and Business Mentor go through customer discovery exercises for their business ideas. GDC also runs the DST-GDC I-NCUBATE program in collaboration with the Department of Science & Technology.

GDC has collaborated with approximately 100 STEM institutions and incubators, supporting over 375 startups. More than 120 startups have gone to market, with many securing external funding exceeding INR 100 crore.

Who Benefits

STEM faculty, researchers, and student entrepreneurs across India seeking structured support to commercialize deep-tech research into viable startups through customer discovery and lab-to-market methodology.