Kanpur : The Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) at IIT Kanpur successfully hosted the inaugural edition of FUEL 2025 – Funding, Upscaling, Enabling Leaders – a premier strategic investor meeting designed to bridge high-potential startups with investors, corporates, and public institutions. Held at IIT Kanpur’s SIIC Innovation Hub in Noida, the event reinforced SIIC’s mission of accelerating innovation from lab to market.
FUEL 2025 convened an ecosystem of venture capitalists, angel networks, corporates, government representatives, and academia, creating a platform for 20 SIIC-incubated startups to showcase their solutions in clean energy, defence and aerospace, healthcare, deep tech, agritech, medtech, and cybersecurity. Each startup engaged in focused 15-minute one-on-one pitching sessions with investors, exploring opportunities for funding, co-creation, and market expansion.
The event was formally opened with a Welcome Address by Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Director, IIT Kanpur, who said: “Through FUEL 2025, we aim to strengthen the bridge between innovations and essential capital needed for taking these innovations from lab to commercially viable products. Our startup ecosystem has grown rapidly in the last five years, aligning with India’s Startup India mission. We’re creating special funds to enhance the rate of student and faculty startups, which will lead more ideas into real ventures. With the right support, we can build a much stronger innovation ecosystem.”
The Chief Guest, Shri Devesh Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, lauded the growing entrepreneurial spirit of India’s youth. He remarked, “Unlike earlier times when career options were limited, today’s young minds are boldly choosing startups as their path. The government is enabling this shift through initiatives like the Digital Agriculture Mission and Digital Crop Survey, giving farmers unique IDs linked to digitized land and crop records. These steps open vast opportunities for agri-tech startups in areas like precision farming, mechanization, and enhancing crop shelf-life.”
The Keynote Address was delivered by Shri Rahul Garg, Founder & CEO of Moglix, and a distinguished alumnus of IIT Kanpur, who shared lessons from his entrepreneurial journey. He stated: “There is no substitute for hard work, but success also comes from confidence balanced with humility. Entrepreneurs must not constrain themselves—large problems require bold solutions. Capital will follow if you remain passionate about the problem, execute well, and build with resilience. Above all, it’s important to enjoy the journey, as your energy inspires teams, investors, and customers alike.”
The event also featured an address by Shri Vinamra Mishra, Director (GA&TP), Ministry of MSME, Government of India, who emphasized the importance of collaborative platforms like FUEL in scaling innovative enterprises.
Among the event highlights, SIDBI’s SEED Equity Support (S4SIIC) was announced and disbursed to three SIIC-incubated startups — Lenek Technologies (₹1 crore), ScaNxt Scientific Technologies (₹96 lakh), and Voltworks (₹50 lakh). The EXIM Bank Seed Fund was launched by Shri Lakshminarayana Ponangi, General Manager, SIDBI, under the Ubharte Sitaare Programme to strengthen early-stage equity support for emerging ventures.
Two significant partnerships were formalized at FUEL 2025. An MoU was signed between SIIC and Samved VC to drive collaboration in consultation, leadership, mentoring, and digitization initiatives for startups. In another major step, SIIC and the Council for Start-up India (CSI) signed an MoU to jointly nurture entrepreneurship and support early-stage ventures by combining IIT Kanpur’s research strength with CSI’s outreach capabilities. The agreement was signed by Prof. Deepu Philip, Professor-in-Charge, SIIC IIT Kanpur, on behalf of SIIC, IIT Kanpur, and Shri. Pankaj Gupta, on behalf of CSI, in the presence of distinguished dignitaries including Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Ms. Meenu Ghosh, Vice Admiral S. N. Ghormade, Mr. K. Subramanium, and Mr. Piyush Mishra.
Showcasing the depth of SIIC’s portfolio, startups pitched breakthrough solutions: Chimertech presented advanced veterinary diagnostic kits; Prescience Insilico unveiled physics-based AI and scientific computing to accelerate R&D across pharma, materials, and FMCG sectors; Apeiro Energy displayed vertical-axis wind turbines; Adiabatic showcased upcycling end-of-life lithium-ion batteries; Aerosys Aviation and Maraal Aerospace introduced advanced drones and solar UAVs; Genomiki offered cloud-based genetic diagnostics; and Acquafront Infrastructure highlighted modular floating infrastructure with scalable solutions such as floating solar beams and self-adjusting jetties.
Shri. Anurag Singh, CEO, SIIC IIT Kanpur, remarked: “Our vision is to make IIT Kanpur the country’s leading incubator by building on three strong pillars – mentorship, thriving startups, and a robust investor network. With more than 497 companies, 224 women-led ventures, and a combined valuation exceeding ₹11,640 crore, our ecosystem offers world-class infrastructure, faculty support, and investor access. We have made great strides, but our journey has only just begun and we’re determined to set new benchmarks for startup success.”
The event concluded with close-room one-on-one meetings between investors and founders, paving the way for deeper engagements and strategic partnerships. The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Prof. Deepu Philip, marking the successful close of a landmark event.
FUEL 2025 has set the stage for SIIC to further strengthen its role as a national hub of innovation, empowering startups to scale and create transformative impact across sectors.
