A collective of notable start-up founders, featuring InMobi and Glance CEO Naveen Tiwari, has committed Rs.100 crore to establish the Millennium School of Technology and Society (MSTAS) at their alma mater, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur.

Additional contributors comprise NoBroker's Amit Kumar Agarwal, Yulu’s Amit Gupta, and the creators of Knowlarity and Card91, among others. The contributors are from the 2000 batch of IIT Kanpur, commonly referred to as the Millennium Batch.

The group also included senior executives from firms like Nvidia, Microsoft, Intel, BCG, Morgan Stanley, and GIC in its alumni. MSTAS is designed to be a hub that unites technology, public policy, and social influence.
It will emphasize cultivating critical thinking, leadership abilities, and a worldwide perspective in students. The new pledge is reportedly the largest-ever made by any group at IIT Kanpur.

Out of the total Rs.100 crore fund, Rs.30 crore will be contributed by InMobi’s founder. Besides government funding, IITs are increasingly seeking industry collaborations, alumni donations, and endowment resources to accelerate growth and facilitate their expansion strategies.

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IITs in Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai (Madras) have established significant financial resources via alumni and corporate support, and IIT Kanpur is now intensifying its efforts to enhance these connections and utilize them for its own advancement.

In 2022, Rakesh Gangwal, one of the founders of IndiGo Airlines, donated Rs.100 crore to his alma mater, IIT Kanpur, doing so in a personal capacity.

IIT Madras has subtly positioned itself as possibly India's most effective incubation hub for deep-tech start-ups, with venture capitalists now queuing up, eager to tap into a stream of companies that have been developed over more than ten years in an environment where technical risks are methodically mitigated before any funding is secured.

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Annual fundflows to IITMIC-incubated start-ups have surged significantly in recent years, hitting $121 million in 2024 and $291 million to date in 2025, a rise from only $13-22 million annually from 2015 to 2018, as reported by Venture Catalyst.

This year at IITMIC featured water-tech startup Greenvironment India obtaining $1 million, EV-as-a-Service company Fyn Mobility landing $2.5 million, deeptech startup Plenome Technologies raising Rs.6.5 crore in initial funding, and space-tech venture Inbound Aerospace securing over $1 million in a pre-seed round.

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The change is evident in both startup valuations and effects. Currently, IITMIC’s portfolio includes some of India’s most prominent deeptech achievements, such as Ather Energy (the initial IITMIC-supported firm to go public), Uniphore (worth $2.5 billion), Agnikul (which recently secured $15 million at a $500 million valuation), and rising global contenders like GalaxEye, MediBuddy, and Stellapps.