President Murmu inaugurates MSME Idea Hackathon 5.0 at IIT Indore to support early-stage startups

The MSME Idea Hackathon 5.0 held at IIT Indore was inaugurated by the Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, as part of the official launch by the Ministry of MSME. 

MSME Idea Hackathon 5.0

The Ministry of MSME organised the event to support innovative and sustainable company ideas. Students, businesses, and individuals with original ideas can apply through the official MSME portal, choosing IIT Indore as the host incubator till July 31, 2025. 

Funding, mentorship, incubation, and investor access of ₹15 Lakh + Incubation are available to participants.

The selected participants can receive up to ₹15 lakh in grant-in-aid for prototype development, market validation, and pilot deployments. 

Applicants will benefit from organised mentoring, enterprise-grade infrastructure, and networking possibilities, such as prospective investor or VC connections.

IIT Indore’s incubation centre has an impressive track record: [Source: Ascendants]

• 89 startups incubated so far, with 38 proudly graduated

• These ventures have collectively created over 500 jobs

• Currently, 51 startups are undergoing incubation, with about 10 in the market validation stage

• The centre has helped secure over ₹8 crore in funding, including ₹5 crore from the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme

IIT Indore Director, Prof. Suhas Joshi, shared that the incubation ecosystem allows access to R&D labs, product validation support, and critical go-to-market guidance.

He said, “IIT Indore Incubation Centre offers a thriving environment for entrepreneurs to grow their startups. We are happy to support the innovative ideas with the structured incubation programs and personalised mentorship.

We also help startups provide access to funding through investor networks, VCs, and government schemes and support in prototyping, product validation, and go-to-market strategies. The startup will have collaboration opportunities with IIT Indore’s faculty, labs, and research ecosystem.”

The incubator unlocks connections with government initiatives, VCs, and strategic investors to provide comprehensive support to early-stage startups.

As reported by Ascendants, low-cost, high-speed camera technology for research and teaching was one of the most remarkable ideas from the previous Hackathon (4.0), which received a ₹15 million prize.

Also read: YC-backed Indian AI startup CodeParrot shuts down, “Startups are brutally hard,” says cofounder (startuppedia.in)

MSME Idea Hackathon 5.0 has the following benefits

1. Empower grassroots innovation in Tier 2/3 cities and academic settings.

2. Provide non-dilutive finance, removing equity pressure on early-stage founders

3. Promote employment development and integrate entrepreneurs into academic and industrial research networks.

Also read: Indian electronics exports cross $40 billion: Ashwini Vaishnaw (startuppedia.in)