IIT Madras HTIC MedTech Incubator (MTI)

Pick the right route

• Incubation programme: for a healthcare-technology idea, prototype or early product that needs desk space, mentors and access to the HTIC research lab.
• NIDHI Accelerator: a 6-month cohort for healthcare startups with an MVP. The last call listed closed on 25 October 2025, so watch the page for the next one.
• NIDHI PRAYAS and NIDHI-EIR: early support for a physical prototype or a first-time founder. Both pages show old or no dated calls, so write to the programme inbox before preparing an application.
• BIG and SPARSH: BIRAC schemes. HTIC MTI helps applicants prepare for BIG and is one of the SPARSH centres.

How applications work

• Fill in the online application form on the Apply page. It asks for your founders and their backgrounds, your team, your product and stage, what funding you have had, your revenue model and the support you need.
• The secretariat checks that the form is complete, then screens it.
• Shortlisted teams present to the HTIC-MTI Screening Committee.
• Selected teams complete the paperwork and sign a contract that includes a transfer of some equity shares.

What reviewers look for

• Technical merit, potential usage and economic viability are the stated tests.
• Pick the area on the form that best matches your product, and say clearly what clinical need it solves.
• Show where your funding will come from. The incubator expects some source of funding before you start incubating.
• You can apply as a sole founder, at idea stage or with a prototype.

Before you apply

• Confirm intake is open. The site footer is dated 2016-2023 and the home-page news ticker stops at December 2022.
• Ask whether seed funding is available to incubated startups. The incubator's two pages say different things.
• If you are not selected, you can re-apply as a fresh applicant using the screening committee's feedback.

HTIC MedTech Incubator (MTI) at IIT Madras is a healthcare-technology incubator in Taramani, Chennai. It is a wing of the Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC), a joint initiative of IIT Madras and the Department of Biotechnology, and it is supported by BIRAC. It is for founders building medical devices, diagnostics, digital health and other products for Indian healthcare, and it is open to people from outside IIT Madras.

How incubation works

The main route in is the incubation programme. The incubator describes four spaces that follow a product's journey: The Curious, for people with an idea in medtech who want to play with devices and test whether it could become a product; The Builder, for turning a defined clinical need into a prototype and proof of concept; The Marketer, for pilots with hospitals and healthcare companies, regulatory compliance, and fund raising; and The Operator, for building the team and the business plan. Selected startups are allocated 2-4 seats, subject to availability and requirement, and the initial incubation period is 18 months. It can then be extended, or the startup exits or graduates, depending on growth and performance. The incubator reviews each startup monthly and expects monthly progress reports, quarterly cash flow and profit-and-loss summaries, and yearly audited accounts.

Incubation is not free of conditions. Selected startups sign a contract and transfer some equity shares. The incubator says it does not itself provide seed funding, although incubated startups can apply for funding through the IIT Madras Incubation Cell. Its other page says startups get access to the IIT Madras innovation fund and seed fund, so ask which applies to you before you apply.

Who can apply

Researchers with a promising idea, early startups, startups with a product that needs validation, and individuals with an early idea can all apply. You can apply as a sole founder, with an idea or a prototype, and you do not need to be an IIT Madras student or alumnus. Anyone with a basic background in medtech can apply. The incubator says there should be some source of funding before you start incubating.

What you get

The incubator lists workspace, access to business support services, industry interactions, mentoring and training. Legal, secretarial, accounting and web development support is offered within a stipulated scope, and consultants cover strategy, operations, manufacturing, regulation and policy. Because the incubator sits inside a research centre, incubated startups can work with HTIC researchers and product experts on joint technology development and on clinical, design and market validation, and can use the attached research lab. Only incubated startups can use these facilities.

Government schemes it hosts

HTIC MTI has also run schemes of the Department of Science and Technology and BIRAC. Its latest dated call is the DST NIDHI Accelerator, a 6-month cohort programme for healthcare startups with an MVP or early proof of concept, which closed on 25 October 2025. It lists NIDHI PRAYAS and NIDHI-EIR, the BIRAC SPARSH fellowship, and support for BIRAC's BIG grant as an associate partner. Several of these pages show only old call dates, such as 30 June 2023 for PRAYAS, so treat them as past calls until a new one is announced.

Applying and what to expect

The application form asks about your product, founders, team, stage, funding so far, revenue model and the support you need, and asks you to place the startup in one of nine areas, such as medical imaging and point-of-care diagnostics, assistive technologies, wearables, digital health and telemedicine, surgical tools, or medical VR and AR. Applications go to the HTIC-MTI secretariat, then to initial screening, and you are called to present to the HTIC-MTI Screening Committee. Applications are assessed on technical merit, potential usage and economic viability. If you are not selected you get feedback and can re-apply as a fresh applicant.

Portfolio and people

The portfolio page lists 50 startups, including Kornerstone Devices, ZASTI India, Sonolight Imaging Innovations, Bioni Healthtec and Vyug Reality Solution. The incubator is led by its Chief Executive Officer, with a faculty member of IIT Madras as Faculty in Charge, and its steering committee includes the chairman of HTIC and a BIRAC representative.

Check before you apply

The site footer still reads 2016-2023 and the news ticker on the home page stops at December 2022, so confirm that intake is open before you put time into an application. The application form on the Apply page was live when we checked, and the incubator also lists an events page, a careers page for the incubator and a careers page for its startups.