Nucleo-Vir Therapeutics, winners, at the Pitch to Win: Pharma 4.0 Edition Innovation Challenge, conducted by IITMIC with Pfizer as Knowledge Partner and AWS as Technology Partner.
Leading AI and technology transformation solutions company UST has signed an MoU with the IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) with a viewto fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and research-driven solutions in healthcare and life sciences.
IITMIC is country’s leading deep-tech startup hub and an umbrella organisation for nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship at IIT Madras. It today boasts a portfolio of over 500 deep-tech start-ups across manufacturing, space, climate tech, medtech, biotech, AI, mobility, and sustainability with combined valuation of $6 billion+.
Joint programmes
The MoU will create a collaborative framework to drive innovation through joint programmes, engagement with incubates and industry partnerships in high‑impact domains. It provides for a scalable yet flexible platform to identify high‑potential startups; provide mentorship and targeted funding; expand pilots and proof‑of‑concepts; form strategic collaborations; and create go-to-market opportunities.
ChemBioSens, first runner-up, at the Pitch to Win: Pharma 4.0 Edition Innovation Challenge.
Pitch for start-ups
Along with Pfizer as knowledge partner and AWS as technology partner, UST and IITMIC recently conducted the ‘Pitch to Win: Pharma 4.0 Edition’ innovation challenge, first in the series of joint programmes. It received over 90 start-up applications from 32 cities, reflecting a growing momentum of the startup ecosystem in the sectors. Top ten finalists received a month’s worth of mentorship support from UST, and their entries were presented before a distinguished jury at the final held at IITMIC.
LN Infosphere Tech Transformers, second runner-up, at the Pitch to Win: Pharma 4.0 Edition Innovation Challenge.
Cash awards, funding
Top three winners, Nucleo-Vir Therapeutics (winners); ChemBioSens (first runner-up); and LN Infosphere Tech Transformers (second runner-up) received cash awards of ₹1,25,000, ₹75,000 and ₹50,000 respectively. UST will offer a combined conditional funding of up to ₹45 lakh, along with go-to-market and other support.
Strategic leap
Manu Gopinath, President, UST, said the partnership with IITMIC represents a strategic leap in terms of how the company plans to harness deep tech innovation. “With IITMIC’s incubation ecosystem and access to cutting-edge research, we not just back start-ups, but also nurture founders and accelerate research-driven ideas to build a pipeline of solutions that can transform businesses, communities, and society at large.”
Scalable platform
By combining IITMIC’s cross-domain innovation capabilities with UST’s global reach, industry partnerships, and mentorship, the partnership will provide a scalable platform to bring next-generation technologies from lab to market. Tamaswati Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, IITMIC, said the collaboration reflects a shared vision to advance deep-tech innovation landscape, particularly in healthcare and life sciences.
Published on December 18, 2025
