The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras is collaborating with Guidance Tamil Nadu to develop ‘INNOVATION-TN,’ a first-of-its-kind state level dashboard for start-ups and innovation.
The platform provides a comprehensive overview of the start-up ecosystem of Tamil Nadu and showcases the innovation prowess to different stakeholders such as investors, industries, financial institutions, and start-up founders. Guidance Tamil Nadu is the Government of Tamil Nadu’s nodal agency for investment promotion, IIT Madras said in a press statement.
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Thiru T.R.B. Rajaa, Minister for Industries, Investment Promotions and Commerce, Government of Tamil Nadu, highlighted the importance of the innovation dashboard, and said, “The launch of the Tamil Nadu Innovation Platform marks a pivotal step in our journey towards promoting innovation and strengthening our entrepreneurial ecosystem. It reflects our government’s vision to position Tamil Nadu as the national leader in innovation, advanced manufacturing, and inclusive economic growth, ensuring that opportunities are accessible across every district, not just in metropolitan hubs.”
Notably, there are close to 19,000 startups in Tamil Nadu as of August 2025, the press statement informed. It added these start-ups have created more than 2.2 lakh jobs, and have attracted investment exceeding ₹1,20,000 crores.
In addition, there are forty-five start-ups, each of which has attracted investment of ₹200 crore or more. The state also has 228 active incubators and start-up enabling organizations, the largest number for any state in the country.
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Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, shed light on how the dashboard can contribute to the development of the innovation and ecosystem in Tamil Nadu, and said, “The dashboard will help policymakers to focus on the sectoral strengths of the different districts and develop suitable policy policies and programs. The dashboard also showcases the pool of start-ups to National and Global investors, thereby attracting investments from global Tamil diaspora as well as savvy angel and institutional investors.”
Prof. A. Thillai Rajan, Faculty, Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, and Head, CREST, IIT Madras, said, “The dashboard can be a big benefit to entrepreneurs, start-up founders and corporates who have the greatest need for access to information. The platform helps the start-ups to quickly identify the most relevant and appropriate incubators, investors, and banks for their ventures, thereby not only saving significant time and effort but also improving the chances of success. Corporates and large industries would find the dashboard to be a one-stop source to identify suitable start-ups to partner with in their innovation journey.”
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Dr. Darez Ahamed, MD & CEO, Guidance Tamil Nadu, stated, “The Tamil Nadu Innovation Platform is a catalyst for collaboration between industries, startups, R&D firms, and academic institutions across the State. By spotlighting sectoral strengths in each district, we are enabling corporates to integrate into thriving local ecosystems, investors to identify promising opportunities, and policymakers to design targeted interventions that accelerate inclusive and sustainable growth”
INNOVATION-TN has been conceptualized by the Centre for Research on Start-ups and Risk Financing (CREST), an Institute of Eminence Research Centre at IIT Madras along with IIT Madras-incubated start-up YNOS Venture Engine and leverages the most comprehensive start-up and investor platform developed by CREST.
An MoU was signed on July 23, 2025 at Chennai between Guidance Tamil Nadu, IIT Madras and YNOS for the development of INNOVATION-TN dashboard.
As part of the agreement, IIT Madras would provide the academic oversight and research inputs to ensure the robustness, reliability and relevance of the Innovation Dashboard.
Further, Guidance Tamil Nadu would promote long-term strategic engagement between academic and industry and provide institutional support, visibility, and alignment with the State’s innovation priorities.
