Four Mega Startups Target shift from India 1 to Global 1
IIT Bombay get set go
In 1988, Prof Nag laid the blueprint to take IITB from number 4 out of the five IITs to number 1. And then to go from India No 10 to number 1. I remember that day vividly and the Directors office in IIT. I was one of three alumnus to have got the honour of being in that room on that day. Today, it was a similar meeting. One that would lay the path from India no 1 to Global No 1. Corporatised entities, outward facing CEOs, global campuses in the Global North. And then a day at the Mega Startups of IIT Bombay.
Over forty years of investing, I can broadly feel a success coming. It reflects in the energy levels, the minute attention to detail, the cohesiveness in approach, the holiness of intent and the attracted connivance of the Universe to make things happen. In the 38 years since I graduated – a lot has changed. A 0.8 million sqft built up area campus is heading to 7.5 million square feet. There are over 4000 PhDs and post docs on campus. In our time, the total student count on campus was below 4000.
Bharat Gen, India’s sovereign AI crossed the start line with a Rs 1500 crore seed stage funding. The energies of the young team led by Prof Ganesh Ramkrishna and Hrishikesh Bal were palpable. The stage is now set to launch ai native smartphone apps for pro active search, population scale health monitoring, air taxi ready 3D navigation maps, speed training for spoken english and population scale rank voting. Five apps that will change the face of governance and quality of life. All set to fire in months.
With an end to end digital public infrastructure for hardware assisted algorithm development. For frugal innovation with a frugality multiple of 100 (do for one rupee what the rest of the world does for 100). Hardware includes a rs 1000 crore quantum lab, liquid helium cooling, an affiliate domestic neocloud and a plan to recruit the very best talent in the world. Ability to work from anywhere with any passport. A format which signals that geography is truly history and the nation state is just a tax jurisdiction.
As alumni, we all look forward to IITB 2.0 taking off. I met the 14 leaders who will drive this blueprint. And am fairly convinced Prof Kedare has got it right.
It is a 250 week path to Global No 1. And I believe this is a plan that is going to rock.