FITT Forward 2025: IIT Delhi Summit Charts India’s Deep-Tech Decade

Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) Forward 2025 summit at IIT Delhi brought together startups, investors policymakers and industry leaders. Positioned as a launchpad for India’s deep-tech decade event showcased market-ready solutions across health mobility robotics and smart materials while also facilitating policy dialogues, investor connects and SME collaborations.

 

FITT IIT Delhi and AIC IIT Delhi Sonipat in partnership with Cadence, launched a 24-month incubation program to groom fabless semiconductor startups in chip design, IP, EDA innovations and edge-AI hardware. Announced at FITT Forward by FITT MD Dr. Nikhil Agarwal, initiative targets building India’s next generation of semiconductor champions. The program offers startups access to Cadence’s EDA tools, IIT Delhi’s labs and prototyping facilities, as well as technical and business mentorship, investor connects, legal/IP support and milestone-based grants. A national selection process will shortlist 15–20 teams for a bootcamp, with up to two ventures taken forward for full incubation.

 

Its focus areas include fabless SoCs, NPUs and AI accelerators, RISC-V, AI-driven design tools, supply-chain intelligence and energy-efficient design workflows. “India is at a important moment in semiconductors. This program provides the missing bridge from brilliant design talent to globally competitive deeptech companies,” Dr. Agarwal said at launch.

 

Speaking at TechFront panel, Rajat Taneja, President of Technology at Visa, said trust and security is core of technology development. As technology becomes borderless, he noted, regulators, academia, researchers and industry need to work together to make it responsibly. He added that Visa is committed to making a secure and seamless and future-ready financial system that enables safe commerce for everyone to align with India’s Viksit Bharat goals.

 

At FITT Forward, session on “Unity in Diversity- Embassies in Dialogue” brought together diplomats from Germany, Australia, Switzerland and the UK alongside NITI Aayog to discuss international collaboration in science, technology and innovation. Speakers highlighted how cross-border partnerships in deeptech, space tech, AI and startup exchanges are strengthening ecosystems, underscoring that diversity is not only a principle but a strategy for resilience.

 

At FITT Forward award ceremony, Honeyloop Technologies won ₹3 lakh cash prize, while Earth Sense Labs received ₹5 lakh. Green Aero Propulsion was recognised as most promising startup, and Vecmocon Technologies was named most impactful startup.