IIT Madras To Conduct ‘Sports Tech Startup Conclave’ In Delhi On 12-13 July

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) Centre of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA) is going to organise a ‘Sports Tech startup Conclave’ in New Delhi on July 12 and 13. The Conclave will showcase IIT Madras’ commitment to promoting sports startups in India and its plans to technologically support the Indian Government in hosting the Olympics 2036. Supporting indigenisation in the sports goods manufacturing firms will also be a focus area, according to a release.

A key objective of this centre is to work towards indigenisation and technology support for Atmanirbhar Bharat in this field. The Conclave will witness the launch of far-reaching programmes that align with the Government of India’s vision for sports development in the Nation and just ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, scheduled to commence on July 26.

Key objectives of the event include promoting technology startups in sports and creating a technology ecosystem in sports. The CESSA will support 10 novel sports tech startups with a total investment to the tune of Rs 5 crore investment through IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies with incubation support as well. Over the next five years, IIT Madras will lead the drive to incubate at least 200 sports technology startups from India with novel ideas.

Speaking about this event, Ramesh Kumar, CEO, CESSA, IIT Madras, said, “Along with the research, innovation and development in sports technology at IITM CESSA we want to take the lead in creating a support infrastructure for Sports Tech for various players in India by creating awareness about opportunities in this space, showcasing some products and applications, enabling networking opportunities for various players and bringing both public and private players under one roof to enable collaboration opportunities.”

The conclave will also spell out the vision and plans for access to quality sports education through digital platforms of IIT for various players in the country's sports ecosystem and potential collaborative models between various players involved in the sports education ecosystem in the country. It will also pave the way for creating supporting structures to support the initiatives of the Government of India and various sports bodies towards hosting the Olympics 2036 with active technology support from IIT Madras CESSA, the release said.