Chennai: French aerospace and defence firm Starburst Accelerator SARL is partnering with IIT - Madras to set up an innovative hub for startups with a funding support of €100 million. Through this collaboration, IIT-Madras will enable the company to set up accelerator programmes to boost aviation, space and defence (ASD) ecosystem in India.

Starburst Accelerator SARL is looking to create venture capital funds for ASD technology, a statement from IIT- Madras said on 26^th March, 2024.

This partnership will enable export promotion and provide support for Indian ASD startups to explore international markets through the extensive network of the french firm. A key focus of this partnership will be on entrepreneurs, research parks, investors (public and private), government and corporate firms. The aim is to create innovative startups and help them grow rapidly to work in tandem with future aerospace and new space worldwide programs.

Some of the projects that could be taken up in India through this partnership include market analysis and scouting of identified technology for aerospace or defence players (disruptive market), international expansion strategy for SMEs, design and structuration of a lab for government or corporate and investment/M&A due diligence.

An MoU towards this collaboration was signed on 25^th March, 2024 by François Chopard, founder and CEO, Starburst Aerospace, Cedric Vallet, Innovation and Venture Director, Starburst Aerospace and V Kamakoti, director, IIT-Madras and Manu Santhanam, dean (ICSR), IIT-Madras, the statement added.

"We together aim at creating a robust ASD ecosystem that supports innovation in deeptech and the production in India, to meet the future challenges of aerospace, new space and defence worldwide players," said Chopard.

Kamakoti said, “Encouraging young entrepreneurs is extremely important as we embark on our journey to become a multi-trillion economy. To this effect, reputed higher educational institutions must aspire to nurture future employers than employees. In this context, such collaborations with accelerators to nurture startups in critical and emerging sectors are crucial and timely."