This Impact Assessment Study, undertaken by CREST at IIT Madras on the mandate of MeitY Startup Hub, evaluates the outcomes and effectiveness of the Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0) Scheme, which supports startups through a network of empanelled incubators organised into three incubator groups. The assessment builds a reconciled, startup-level analytical base by mapping scheme records against incubator closure reports and other available data sources on a common startup identity, with data limitations explicitly quantified and addressed rather than merely noted, and aggregates reported both with and without outliers alongside medians to avoid distortion from a small number of high-performing startups. This quantitative analysis is triangulated with Focus Group Discussions conducted with incubators across all three incubator groups, along with a parallel set of discussions with startups, with the qualitative evidence graded by strength and examined against a defined set of cross-cutting tests. Together, these methods allow the study to track startup-level outcomes such as revenue growth, profitability, employment, follow-on capital raised, and intellectual property generated, as well as incubator-level performance, and to assess the scheme against its stated objectives of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and impact, culminating in evidence-based recommendations for strengthening future incubation programmes.

The CAMS IITM Fintech Innovation Lab (CIFIL) is a research initiative at IIT Madras that focuses on advancing Fintech capabilities through data driven tools and solutions. As part of the CIFIL Exploratory Grant in Fintech, this project aims to develop a quantitative model to estimate the valuation of early stage start ups, an essential requirement for fundraising. Traditional valuation methods rely on discounted cash flows, but these approaches are difficult to apply to early stage ventures due to limited financial history and unpredictable growth trajectories. To address this challenge, the study proposes a quantitative comparable company approach, where valuation is inferred by identifying similar start ups using machine learning techniques and benchmarking against their valuations. This model will leverage the comprehensive start up datasets available through the CREST information platform. The resulting valuation framework is envisioned as a practical tool to support start ups, investors, and ecosystem stakeholders, forming one component of CREST’s broader mission to enable sustainable growth and enhance value creation for emerging ventures.

CREST, in partnership with BIRAC, is developing a comprehensive digital dashboard that tracks, visualises, and showcases biotech start-ups across India. Building on CREST’s national platforms, including the VIBGYOR dashboard for the Ministry of Textiles and the ONE-INNOVATION framework for the Ministry of Education, the initiative consolidates dispersed information on start-ups, founders, investors, and funding into a unified system. IIT Madras and CREST continuously curate and enrich data from public sources and BIRAC’s portfolio, while engaging with relevant agencies to further strengthen the dataset. The evolving dashboard supports BIRAC in monitoring ecosystem developments, demonstrating program impact, enabling data-driven decision making, and offering greater visibility to stakeholders across start-ups, incubators, investors, and government bodies.

The Startup India initiative is envisioned to catalyse the start-up culture, with start-ups being recognized through the initiative and entrepreneurs availing the benefits of launching and conducting their own business in India with ease. In recent years, India has seen a steady increase in the number of start-ups incorporated, especially in sectors such as IT and ITES. The annual growth rate of start-ups as of early 2022 was around 15.5 percent. The number of registered start-ups grew from 223 in August 2016 to more than 83000 in December 2022. Several policy changes and new schemes have been introduced by 129 different ministries, to encourage and support start-ups. Government’s support is critical in providing the essential funding, mentorship, and market access support required by start-ups. In line with the same, MEITY’s start-up support programs contain various provisions to incentivise key start-up stakeholders such as incubators and institutions of higher education among others so as to promote holistic development for India’s start-up ecosystem. The objective of this study is to analyse the start-up landscape and understand the impact of the Start-up policy introduced by the National Government in 2016, with a specific focus on start-ups in digital technologies.

Entrepreneurship and startups are considered drivers of technological innovation and economic growth in today\'s economy. Through these engines of economic growth, cities attract fresh ideas, talent, technology-driven businesses, and venture capital (VC) funding. Several studies have shown that along with business acumen and creativity, intellectual property rights play a role in helping firms survive competition in the market. There is an increasing number of patents filed by start-ups in India; the number of patents filed by Indian start-ups increased by 353% between 2015 and 2019. Startups patent for a variety of reasons: to gain a competitive advantage, prohibit competitors from utilizing their technology, raise capital by indicating to investors the appropriability of their technology and own an asset that adds to the company\'s value.

Health Equity is the absence of unfair, avoidable, or remediable differences among groups of people, whether those groups are defined socially, economically, demographically, or geographically or by other dimensions of inequality (e.g., sex, gender, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation). It also requires attention to health inequities, which are differences in population health status and mortality rates that are systemic, patterned, unjust, and actionable, as opposed to random or caused by those who become ill. Health equity is an issue within all our countries and is affected significantly by the global economic and political system. Startups have unique capabilities such as revenue generation, poverty elevation, and strengthening the local economy, etc. that can help them achieve health equity. This proposed research focuses on how these startups and entrepreneurship can contribute to health equity and address inequities in health.

In today\'s world, where industrialization and technological advancements strain resources, the urgency for sustainable transformation is paramount. Businesses hold a significant social responsibility to positively impact the communities they serve. For countries like India, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals poses a significant challenge due to its vast and varied population. However, through resolute initiatives from all stakeholders, progress towards the UN 2030 targets is underway. Embracing the circular economy concept, which minimizes waste, optimizes resources, and restores natural systems, promises accelerated sustainable development. Companies can lead by integrating circular design principles, promoting product reuse and recycling, and innovating business models. Policymakers must support these efforts by incentivizing resource efficiency and facilitating access to financial resources. In the context of India\'s rapid economic growth and thriving start-up scene, this study aims to explore how established companies (incumbents) and (start-ups) new ventures are embracing circular principles by seeking to identify the factors driving Indian manufacturing firms towards circular economy practices and examine the business strategies of both circular start-ups and incumbents for achieving circularity.

Over the past decade, student entrepreneurship has seen a successful evolution. Many higher educational institutions have recognized this potential and are actively imparting entrepreneurship knowledge to their students. The resulting success of these student startups has motivated a growing number of young people to pursue entrepreneurial ventures. This research delves deeper, investigating the factors that influence the success of student startups beyond just access to resources. It examines how student entrepreneurs’ socio- economic backgrounds, venture-specific characteristics, and traditional factors like market fit and team dynamics contribute to the varying success rates of early-stage student startups.