Avishkar Venture Studio Winter Cohort 2026

A 6-month co-creation program by CIE, IIIT-H for deeptech and deep-IP startups at the PoC stage, offering seed funding, research connect, and mentorship.

The Avishkar Venture Studio Winter Cohort 2026, spearheaded by the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at the International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT-H), is a meticulously designed 6-month co-creation program. It targets early-stage deeptech and deep-IP startups that are at the Proof-of-Concept (PoC) stage. The core objective of the program is to facilitate the transformation of these innovative PoCs into their first market-ready versions, or Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), through collaborative efforts with IIIT-H's cutting-edge research faculty and state-of-the-art laboratory infrastructure.

This venture studio model emphasizes a hands-on approach, allowing startups to leverage the academic and technical prowess of IIIT-H. It's tailored for ventures operating within critical emerging technology domains such as AI, computer vision, machine learning, robotics, natural language processing, augmented and virtual reality, speech technology, Indian language translation, large and small language models, signal processing, IoT, and smart cities. Additionally, the program has a strong focus on high-impact sectors including Medtech (medical devices, diagnostics, healthcare IT), Mobility (autonomous driving, road safety, human-machine interface), and Mediatech (AR, VR, AdTech, gaming, entertainment). The studio aims to provide a robust ecosystem where academic research meets entrepreneurial drive, fostering innovation and product development in areas with significant market potential and societal impact. A continuous cycle of innovation is ensured with new cohorts running twice annually.