Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is launching the IIT Madras Research Foundation to drive its global aspirations. It will be a catalyst for start-ups coming out of the Institute’s cutting-edge tech ecosystem landscape to access the global markets, capital, funding for research & innovation, scaling its Academic Master’s and Doctoral Programs through strategic University Collaborations as well as Industry Partnerships.

To realise this vision, Institute has appointed Mr. Thirumalai Madhavnarayan, a senior business management and technology professional, as the first CEO of IITM Research Foundation.

The ‘IIT Madras Research Foundation’ is being set up with a vision to expand IIT Madras’ global footprint, drive growth in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and increase engagement with Industry and R&D partnerships.

Outlining the vision for IIT Madras Research Foundation, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “IITMRF is a strategic initiative aligned with India’s vision to become the Vishwaguru and to be a creator of global startups. We are delighted to have Mr. Narayan, an industry veteran lead this initiative as its CEO.”

The Key focus areas of the foundation will include

• Patents and technologies ready for commercialisation
• Start-ups established by IITM faculty founders, students and researchers
• Explorations based on market thesis (e.g., Green growth)
• Giving global access to Start-ups from the IIT Madras ecosystem and providing them exposure to new markets, capital & technological adjacencies
• Access to IIT Madras-created technologies for alumni
• Scaling of International Academic Programs through Strategic Collaboration and Industry Partnerships

Elaborating on the key outcomes envisaged by the IITMRF, Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madras, said, “We believe that IITMRF will be a game changer not just for IIT Madras, but for the country because it would have demonstrated a model for an academic institution to take its innovation to the global stage.”

Mr. Madhav Narayan is an industry veteran with over 37 years of diverse multi-geo experience in strategizing, building, transforming, and scaling businesses for global technology multinationals such as Intel, HP, Dell, Samsung and Epson, among others. He was one of the founding members / makers of Redington Group. He has built strong long-term relationships with key stakeholders in governments, the broader tech ecosystem in many emerging markets of the MEA & APAC regions and Academic Institutions in India, the Gulf and the U.S. besides global forums like WEF.

Sharing his views on this initiative, Prof. Raghunathan Rengaswamy, Dean (Global Engagement), IIT Madras, remarked, “This is another significant and substantive effort from IITM in its multi-pronged internationalization initiatives.”

IIT Madras has an extraordinarily rich portfolio of Research and Innovation landscape in the international markets, including 161 Active Patents in the US. There are also over 10,000 IIT Madras alumni working across the U.S. in not only senior leadership positions of top corporate firms but have also founded many companies and start-ups.

Speaking about the goals of the Foundation, Mr. Madhav Narayan, Chief Executive Officer, IIT Madras Research Foundation (IITMRF), said, “The IITMRF would be a scalable and sustainable ‘plug and play’ platform with local flavour, to take IIT Madras assets global, fuelling exponential growth in innovation & entrepreneurship, enhanced Industry Engagement and R&D partnerships.”

In 2017, Mr. Madhav Narayan was invited by one of the leading Public Authorities of the Government of Dubai – The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority – to help build their Digital Strategy aligning with the Government of Dubai’s ambitious ‘10X program’.

This involved building strategic long-term partnerships with technology vendors (Microsoft, Google, SAP, Dell, HP, VMWARE, Huawei) Global leading Academia (MIT, UC Berkeley, Stanford), and WEF 4IR Centre, among others, to collaborate, co-Invest, co-Create, and co-Market digital solutions based on new age technologies to disrupt processes and create new opportunities for the entity.

He has won multiple recognitions and awards during his long career noteworthy of them being:

• CEO’s Gold award in Samsung
• Circle of Excellence award in DELL
• Outstanding Executive of the year award by CPI, a leading Media group in ME
• For two consecutive years between 2010 & 2012 ranked in the top 50 power list of influential channel executives in ME
• Featured in a major Indian Business magazine as a business front runner in the year 1990 (a recognition given to young managers who have grown to top management positions early in their career), Mr. Madhav Narayan was Country Head of EPSON India at the age of 26.