Founded in 2008, when India’s start-up ecosystem was still nascent, the Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) at IIIT Hyderabad has steadily grown into one of the country’s largest academic technology incubators. Spread across a 40,000 sq ft facility, CIE today houses 80 plus active start-ups and operates three focused incubators — deep tech, medtech, and social impact — each backed by national agencies including DST, DBT-BIRAC, DPIIT, and NITI Aayog. Over the last decade and a half, CIE has supported more than 300 start-ups, helped them raise over `200 crore in funding, and enabled the creation of 2,000 plus jobs. Now in its CIE 2.0 phase, the incubator is sharpening its research-to-market mandate, seeding ventures directly from labs and positioning IIIT Hyderabad as a critical bridge between academic research and real-world innovation. In conversation with CE, Nirupa Vijaykumar, Lead-Portfolio and Programs, CIE IIIT Hyderabad reflects on that journey, the gaps it set out to address, and the roadmap ahead.
Excerpts
What early gap did IIIT Hyd identify between research and entrepreneurship that led to the creation of CIE?
When CIE began in 2008, it wasn’t with the intention of enabling the start-up ecosystem at large. Initially, the focus was much narrower. We began by supporting students who wanted to commercialise their research or explore what they could do with an idea emerging from their academic work. Back then, entrepreneurship did not have the visibility or acceptance it has today. Not many people were talking about it, and there was very little information available. Over time, CIE also became a space for people who wanted to explore their ideas alongside their day jobs, before fully committing. The primary gap we identified was the lack of information, guidance, and — most importantly — community. You cannot build a start-up in isolation. You need a circle of people, a shared space, and a support system. CIE evolved to fill that gap.
CIE’s lab-to-land philosophy hinges on deep research translation. How do you identify which lab-stage innovations have real market viability?
When we talk about ‘land’, we are essentially looking at lab work as a research product with potential for commercialisation. There isn’t a rigid milestone framework that every project must fit into. Instead, the key question we ask is whether the research can translate into something commercially viable. Commercialisation itself can take many forms. Some research can become a standalone product, while other work may serve as an enabling layer for an existing solution or fit into a broader framework that someone is already building. Another important factor we consider is timing, which is often under-discussed. Even a strong technology may not succeed if the market is not ready for it. We ask whether there is a real market today, or whether the opportunity may emerge later. At a later stage in the lab-to-land process, we stop treating the work as just a feature or idea. Only when it is clearly identifiable as a commercialisable component do we take it forward as a start-up.
How does proximity to cutting-edge research labs shape the kind of start-ups that emerge from CIE?
The quality of technology emerging from IIIT Hyderabad is high because the institute has invested in building strong research labs over a long period of time. This depth of research gives credibility and validation to both faculty members and founders working with us. In many cases, founders already have a basic solution or technical prototype. Our role is to help them refine that technology, strengthen it, and make it robust enough to address real product-market fit challenges.
What kinds of research problems are most likely to translate into scalable products today?
Software-based research is generally easier to translate into products because it is more agile and easier to iterate on. Hardware, especially research-led hardware, is much harder. Research is not always conducted with immediate societal or market needs in mind. Often, it is about pushing the boundaries of technology. While this leads to beautiful research outcomes, it does not always translate into market-ready products. Hardware research is particularly challenging because it is less flexible and harder to integrate quickly into existing solution frameworks.
How has the definition of deep tech evolved at CIE over the years?
At IIIT, deep tech has always meant going beyond surface-level trends. While many discussions focus on incremental changes in AI, we look at foundational work — open-source stacks and core technologies that can serve a larger audience. The definition hasn’t changed as much as it has broadened. Today, deep tech at CIE includes areas such as computer vision, NLP, quantum computing, and cybersecurity. These domains feed into AI but also stand on their own. Rather than chasing trends, we focus on exploring the limits of technology. That philosophy has remained consistent over time.
How does CIE help start-ups navigate clinical validation, compliance, and real-world deployment, especially in healthcare?
In med-tech and healthcare, the challenges are very different. While CIE may not directly conduct clinical validation, we have built a strong network of hospitals, consultants, and partners such as IKP-FTBI who support start-ups in this process. We strongly encourage founders to leverage the broader Hyderabad ecosystem and collaborate with external experts and research institutions. Growth in this space depends heavily on partnerships and external validation.
How do you balance technological depth with affordability and accessibility?
This is a difficult balance to strike and has taken time to refine. Social-sector founders often operate with limited resources and may not have deep technical backgrounds. We take a more economical approach by absorbing some initial costs, supporting early validation, and connecting founders with the right faculty members. Applying for grants alongside faculty significantly improves the chances of success. Strong partnerships and ecosystem support are critical. For social start-ups, visibility and belief in their work are just as important as funding.
How has multi-ministry backing shaped the technologies incubated at IIIT Hyderabad?
This support has enabled us to serve start-ups far more effectively than we could have with only internal funds. It allowed us to build technology transfer policies that are better suited to deep-tech ventures. These programmes have also helped us work with start-ups beyond Hyderabad and Telangana, expanding our reach across India and increasing our visibility as an incubator.
CIE is deeply embedded in Hyderabad’s start-up ecosystem. What would you like to say about it?
It helps founders better appreciate the role of technology. Many founders are unaware that they can work closely with faculty or effectively build CTO-like relationships within an academic institution. This strengthens the ecosystem by enabling more robust, research-backed solutions — even in sectors where technology has not traditionally played a central role.
CIE start-ups have created over 2,000 jobs. How do they contribute to talent development compared to traditional tech companies?
Unlike traditional tech companies that emphasise specialisation, CIE start-ups accelerate talent development through early ownership, broad role exposure, and real-world problem solving. Employees gain hands-on experience across technology, product, and business, often working directly with founders and research teams. This creates adaptable, innovation-driven professionals who are industry-ready and capable of leading growth — both within start-ups and beyond.
CIE 2.0 marked a shift towards seeding start-ups directly from research. What internal changes supported this transition?
We focused inward and asked what truly differentiates CIE from other incubators. The answer was our faculty and long-standing research strength. The most significant change was actively enabling faculty-led entrepreneurship and working closely with faculty members to support research-driven start-ups.
What is the roadmap ahead for CIE?
Our goal is for at least 30 percent of our start-ups to emerge directly from pure research. We also want to make entrepreneurship a more viable and accessible path for faculty members. These are the two key priorities we will be focusing on going forward.