IIT-Madras, Tamil Nadu Join Hands to Build State Innovation Dashboard

Fast Summary

• Initiative: IIT Madras collaborates with Guidance Tamil Nadu to create a State-level dashboard for start-ups and innovation, named “INNOVATION-TN.”
• purpose: The platform aims to provide a complete overview of Tamil Nadu’s start-up ecosystem while showcasing its innovation potential to stakeholders such as investors, industries, financial institutions, and start-up founders.
• Current Landscape:

– Tamil Nadu has nearly 19,000 start-ups as of August 2025.
– These ventures have created over 2.2 lakh jobs and attracted investments exceeding ₹1,20,000 crore.
– Forty-five of these start-ups each secured an investment of ₹200 crore or more.
– Largest number of active incubators and enabling organisations in any Indian state (228).

• key Contributions:

– Innovative concept led by CREST (Center for Research on Start-ups and risk Financing) at IIT Madras along with YNOS Venture Engine-a startup incubated at IIT-Madras.

• MoU Signed: Between IIT Madras, Guidance Tamil Nadu, and YNOS to ensure collaboration on growth strategies for the dashboard.
• Benefits Highlighted:

– Policymakers gain district-specific insights for tailored policy creation.
– Enhanced visibility attracts national/global investments from angel investors & institutional backers.
– Enables startups to efficiently connect with relevant funding sources like banks or incubators.

Indian opinion Analysis

The partnership between IIT Madras and Guidance Tamil Nadu represents an notable step towards bolstering India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through technological advancements. Given that Tamil Nadu is already positioned as a leader in terms of the sheer volume (19k) and success metrics (₹1.20 lakh crore investment) of its startups along with the highest number of active incubators within India-this initiative strategically leverages those strengths.

The INNOVATION-TN dashboard can play a crucial role in streamlining access for startups looking towards targeted stakeholders while concurrently aiding policymakers’ decisions based on sectoral data analysis across districts. This coupling of academia-industry collaboration strengthens alignment between state priorities-like R&D expansion-while reducing barriers toward scalable growth opportunities beyond borders via professionals globally-invested diaspora networks !!”‘

Tailorable/publishable..