Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing Kancheepuram

Choosing the right programme

• Pre-incubation and incubation suit founders who need mentoring, a space and a route to funding.
• NIDHI-PRAYAS suits innovators who need money to build a first prototype. Check the eligibility rules first, especially the age, startup-age and turnover limits.
• NIDHI-EIR suits budding entrepreneurs who want a fellowship while they work on a technology idea.

How applications work

• The incubator's sequence is: apply, get selected to pitch, pitch to experts, then get onboarded.
• NIDHI-PRAYAS and NIDHI-EIR take applications through their own forms, linked from their programme pages.
• Students and employees must get a no-objection certificate from their institution or employer before applying to NIDHI-PRAYAS.

What reviewers look for

• A clear route from the idea to a commercial product, and a stated plan to get there.
• Ownership of the intellectual property behind the idea.
• A design-led or manufacturing-led technology focus, in line with the incubator's stated sectors.

MaDeIT Innovation Foundation is the technology business incubator of IIITDM Kancheepuram, an Institute of National Importance on the outskirts of Chennai. It is a non-profit Section 8 company under the Companies Act, 2013, and it sits on the institute's campus off the Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road.

How the programmes work

MaDeIT is built around the institute's core strength in IT-enabled design and manufacturing. It supports design-driven startups, with a stated focus on manufacturing, healthcare and transportation. The incubator describes its approach as three needs: mentors, markets and money. Startups move from one stage to the next through mentoring, market access, funding connections and shared infrastructure.

The incubation page lists the support on offer: connections in the Bharat ecosystem, business enablement, access to domain and business mentors, networks at field, national and international level, coaching to become funding ready, and benefits from partner institutions. Startups get access to the institute's facilities as part of the programme.

The incubator runs three named programmes under the Department of Science and Technology's National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI). Pre-incubation and incubation form the core track. NIDHI-PRAYAS supports innovators from idea to prototype. NIDHI-EIR is a fellowship for budding technology entrepreneurs. MaDeIT also hosts a seed fund under the NIDHI Seed Support System, which gives financial assistance to incubatee startups.

Who can apply

The incubator says it supports startups from IIITDM's students, faculty and the wider ecosystem, so founders outside the institute can apply. Each programme has its own rules. A NIDHI-PRAYAS grantee must be registered for pre-incubation or incubation at the incubator for the whole programme, after going through its selection process.

NIDHI-PRAYAS is open to Indian citizens aged 18 or over, to individual innovators and teams, and to founders of startups that are less than 7 years old. Students and employees need a no-objection certificate from their institution or employer. The support can be used only once for the same idea.

NIDHI-EIR is open to budding entrepreneurs with innovative technology business ideas. The programme page does not list separate eligibility rules for it.

Facilities

The incubator offers access to a digital fabrication lab, the Fab Lab, where founders can turn ideas into prototypes. EIR fellows also get access to co-working space and administrative support.

Scale

The incubator's homepage shows counters for startups supported, graduated startups and startups that received funding support. These figures are self-reported and carry no date on the page.

Who runs it

MaDeIT sits under the institute's Office of Design, Innovation, Incubation and Continuing Education. The institute's own site names the dean of that office and a professor in charge of MaDeIT. The incubator's leadership and strategic advisory board are listed on its leadership page.

Locations

MaDeIT is based on the IIITDM Kancheepuram campus, Melakottaiyur Village, off Vandalur-Kelambakkam Road, Chennai 600127.