BITS Pilani's PIED joins IITs, IISc to fund deeptech ventures under RDI scheme

Pilani Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Society (PIEDS), a technology business incubator at Birla Institute of technological and Science (BITS) Pilani, has been been selected as a fund manager for the Government of India's Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Scheme.

The initiative intends to strengthen the national research ecosystem through encouraging the private sector and enhancing public-private investments in advanced technology development. PIEDS will manage capital along with IIT Bombay, IIT Madras and IISc Bengaluru, with the initial cohort getting Rs 7,131 crore approved.

The operationalisation of the initial cohort of Focused Research Organisations (FROs) is expected to advance India’s research and development ecosystem. PIEDS will direct capital toward qualifying technology companies conducting research, development and innovation activities at Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 4 and above.

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Funding deeptech

PIEDS is one of the country’s long-standing academic incubators, established in 2004 with the support of the Department of Science and Technology. It has supported more than 280 tech startups, collectively valued at over $1 billion.

V. Ramgopal Rao, group vice chancellor of BITS Pilani, stated that "India has no shortage of research ideas" and that "the challenge is to turn more of them into products that reach society." He emphasized that deep technology ventures require "patient capital, access to research facilities and sustained industry engagement to make this journey."

Industry translation

Translating laboratory research into market-ready technology requires patient capital at stages where private investors traditionally hold back. The scheme aims to address this critical funding gap across the research ecosystem.

Rao noted that the RDI scheme serves as an important step in addressing this gap and expressed confidence that BITS Pilani will build on its research strengths to support ventures developing globally competitive technologies. PIEDS will deploy its research depth, industry networks, and incubation experience to identify and back enterprises building technology for the nation.