IIT-M Pravartak keen on recasting R&D playbook
In an interview with TOI, Dr M J Shankar Raman, CEO of Pravartak, spoke about the challenge of translating academic research into real-world applications and what it means to be a non-profit housed at India's top patent-filing academic institution. Excerpts:
What does Pravartak Technologies Foundation do?
Funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems, our aim is to take academic research from lab to field.
We support entrepreneurship by funding and incubating startups, forging corporate and international R&D partnerships, and bridging the skill gap. Our focus areas include sensors, networking, actuators, big data, machine learning, cybersecurity, and databases.
What's your approach to tech development?
While IIT-Madras focuses on fundamental research, our goal is to create market-facing solutions. We support startups developing cutting-edge technologies with our subject matter expertise in certain areas.
For instance, we assisted Mindgrove (fabless chip startup) in building IoT chips using IIT-M's Shakti microprocessor. Folium, which works on optical fibre-based sensing and SecurWeave, which develops hardware-based platforms to protect critical software.
Moreover, we can take up any area with IIT-M's expertise. The idea is to push IIT's research into the mainstream so that it is useful for society.
What do you think is your USP?
Our incubation extends beyond technological support.
We train entrepreneurs in areas such as finance, marketing, help them get customers, connect with venture capitalists (VCs) and handhold them throughout the process. We provide up to Rs 50 lakh funding for our startups. The venture capitalists usually do not fund deep-tech efforts due to the associated risks. This is where organisations like Pravartak can help.
We can shoulder some of the risk and help build the customer base, and guide entrepreneurs to pivot based on market realities.
In some cases, we hand them to IITMRP for incubation and hope to complement the ecosystem. We also co-develop technologies with companies like Accenture and Samsung, and help firms find domain-specific talent.
What are some of your flagship projects?
Pravartak Technologies has contributed to real-time translation of parliamentary proceedings into 22 Indian languages, and legal document translation for the Supreme Court, through the Bhashini platform.
We work closely with ministries including Defence, Finance, Electronics & IT, and Telecom, giving us experience in translating IP into scalable solutions. I think we have done a commendable job in this.
What's your role in skilling?
We provide technical skills for both students and working professionals in areas like AI, data analytics, embedded applications, networking. We aim to kindle curiosity in fundamental research among young students by introducing 'Out of the box' programmes focusing on critical thinking in maths.
For India to emerge as a key player in innovation, we need to encourage students to understand maths and sciences, not memorise theoretical concepts.
We are taking a small step in that.
What next?
We have raised Rs 300 crore so far, including Rs 170 crore in DST grants. We became self-sufficient as a tech hub well before the mandated five-year window. When you look at R&D in India, there is a lack of private participation and we want to improve this by collaborating more with private institutions. We mentor 40-odd startups out of which six are graduated. We have taken some bold bets from backing efforts to build commercial hyperloop transportation and secure IoT chips and hope to continue this.
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