Mentorship & Funding Support announced for Winners of Pitch to Win – Pharma 4.0
UST , a leading AI and technology transformation solutions company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC ), India’s premier deep tech startup hub anchored at IIT-Madras, to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and research-driven solutions in the healthcare and life sciences sector.
The MoU aims to create a collaborative framework between UST and IITMIC to drive innovation through joint programs, engagement with incubates, and industry partnerships, especially in high ‑ impact domains. This agreement establishes a scalable, structured yet flexible partnership between UST and IITMIC to identify high ‑ potential startups, provide them with mentorship and targeted funding, and systematically expand pilots and proof ‑ of ‑ concepts, form strategic collaborations, and create go-to-market opportunities.
A first in a series of joint innovation programs, this collaboration of UST and IITMIC, in partnership with Pfizer as Knowledge Partner and AWS as Technology Partner, jointly conducted the Pitch to Win: Pharma 4.0 Edition . The innovation challenge received over ninety startup applications from 32 cities across India, reflecting the growing momentum of India’s healthcare and life sciences startup ecosystem. The top ten finalists received a month’s worth of mentorship support from UST and finally presented before a distinguished jury panel at the final pitch day, held at IITMIC, Chennai.
The top three winners of the Pitch to Win – Pharma 4.0 Edition were Nucleo-Vir Therapeutics (Winner), ChemBioSens (First Runner-Up) and LN Infosphere Tech Transformers (Second Runner-Up). They received cash awards of Rs.1,25,000, Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 50,000 respectively. In addition, UST will offer a total conditional funding of up to Rs. 45 lakh to the three startups, along with GTM and other strategic support.
Manu Gopinath, President, UST , said, “Our partnership with IIT Madras Incubation Cell is a strategic leap in how we harness deep tech innovation across industries. With IITMIC’s proven incubation ecosystem and access to cutting-edge research, we are not just backing startups; we are nurturing bold founders, accelerating research-driven ideas, and building a strong pipeline of solutions that can transform businesses, communities, and society at large. By combining IITMIC’s cross-domain innovation capabilities with UST’s global reach, industry partnerships, and mentorship, we are creating a scalable platform to bring impactful, next-generation technologies from the lab to the market.”
Dr. Tamaswati Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, IITMIC , added, “This collaboration with UST reflects our shared vision to advance India’s deep-tech innovation landscape, particularly in healthcare and life sciences. Through initiatives like Pitch to Win: Pharma 4.0 , we’re not only nurturing high-potential startups but also building bridges between academia, industry, and investors to scale impactful solutions that can improve lives globally.”
This partnership underscores UST’s dedication to advancing research-driven innovation and entrepreneurship, leveraging its global expertise to accelerate next-generation solutions within India’s Life Sciences 4.0 ecosystem.
Source: Business Wire India
