CHENNAI: IIT Madras is set to launch an AI Venture Studio to turn research in artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science into scalable companies, positioning the institute’s research ecosystem for a more active role in venture building.

The Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI (WSAI) initiative will help researchers and founders take ideas from the laboratory to the market, providing seed funding, cloud and compute credits, laboratory access, mentoring, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and product-market-fit support before a formal spin-out into the IIT Madras Incubation Cell ecosystem. 

“Our mission has always been to move AI from the lab to the real world. The AI Venture Studio takes that mission a decisive step further, not just publishing research, but building the companies that carry it into people’s lives,” said Prof Balaraman Ravindran, head, WSAI. 

Roopa Karemungikar, CEO, AI Studio, said that the initiative would turn research into companies built on defensible research, solving real problems for real markets. Prof Satya Seshadri, head, School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said that the studio marked IIT-M’s pioneering step into active venture building. 

The studio will be open to WSAI and IIT Madras researchers, academic founders from other institutions and external entrepreneurs. Applications for its inaugural cohort will open on October 3. Applicants will first undergo a training and boot-camp, followed by a six-month venture development and evaluation programme, extendable by three months. Two cohorts will be conducted annually.